Days 2.5-7

First week down!

For anyone with bets on our trip, we've made it 195 miles in and have no intention of stopping until Memphis.

We've survived the last of the major natural hurdles and lost our ground crew (thanks, Bridget and James!)

The hurdle we were most concerned about was Lake Winnibigoshish, or Lake Winnie for short. It was a large open water crossing, meaning we would be far from shore and facing large-ish waves. I say large-ish because any WTFer's reading this should know that it's no Lake Michigan and we were fine. 7-8 MPH headwinds, swells no greater than 2-3 feet. AND we had our ground crew in a motor boat near by for morale boosts, direction finding aid, and last resort rescues. Inexperienced paddlers, or those without spray skirts, are right to be wary, but we were never beyond the limits of our preparation and experience.

Leah was not a fan of bouncing through the swell, but the crossing was easier than she anticipated. She was aided by an unexpected source of luck, courtesy of strangers met alongside the river:

Bawker, the giant sparkly floating good luck charm, balanced on Leah’s head after Lake Winnie.

We had several smaller practice lakes days 2.5-4 before hitting Lake Winnie on Day 5. Our favorite of these was Cass Lake, because it features a lake in an island in the larger lake.

The nested lake was called Lake Windigo. It was still as glass, in sharp comparison to the choppiness of surrounding Lake Cass. We decided to unload Leah's boat and carry it over to explore further.

Wildlife been another highlight of the trip. We've seen otters, beaver, eagles, a barn owl, and deer this week, as well as the crawfish and swans mentioned in the first update. We saw a snake on day 7, but that wasn't a highlight.

Crawfish

Milestones:

Day 2- We passed the Northernmost point.

Day 5- We logged our 100th mile

Day 6- We saw our first signs of industry

Day 8 (projected) - our first day without help

Industry in the distance

After Lake Winnie, we were on our own for less than 24 hours before being welcomed by the Bromenschenkel family, who have a free bunk house for paddlers. Their daughter generously let us shower, do laundry, and stay the night, even giving us a ride to and from the river. We are beyond grateful for their generosity and kindness. Thanks to their support, we are now 21 miles ahead of schedule.

We continued that pace on Day 7, ending at river mile 1140.6 Upper River.

Please continue to support our efforts to feed the hungry by donating at https://gofund.me/b50fa643 . Sharing word about the trip is also helpful. We are grateful for all of y'all back home and can't wait to see you again. More to come next week!