North of Wabasha, MN

The sun appeared as we cleared the Alma lock, Lock and Dam #4 on the Mississippi River. This lock is on the WI side of the river. Almost immediately, we began to see Bald Eagles. You must capitalize the name, they've earned honor with the amazing comeback since Rachel Carson's Silent Spring (can't find the underline!). Such magnificent birds. Pretty quickly we can identify them soaring and gliding over the bluffs, looking for fish. We can easily see them sitting in the dead trees, quiet and calm, looking for a meal opportunity.


One of these pictures is of our second night on the river, across from the entrance to Robinson Lake. We had motored up into the lake which was more like a shallow cove, but didn't find a good beach site. This little beach was just far enough from the main channel to protect us from the wake of most boats, and out of range of the huge barge/tugs that would surely be coming along. We spent the afternoon swimming and watching eagles. Stuart cooked dinner on the grill on the front deck, and we ate on our top deck, watching a beautiful sunset. An adult pair of eagles sat in a tree across the river all afternoon, watching their juvenile eagle hunting. I think they were watching us, too! No pictures of the eagles, too far away.
 
 
 
 
 

There isn't much traffic on the river. There is a big dredge project close to Great River Harbor, and the little tugs were pushing a sand barge up to a renourishment project just a few miles upriver, but above Lock 4, it's pretty quiet. Thankfully. You know, I'm a novice at driving a slab-sided vehicle with delayed response time, in moving water!