Upper Mississippi River

Thanks for the ideas and suggestions. This is looking better and better.

At this point I'm thinking we will start down river from Minneapolis about Monday, Aug 24 which gives us 17 days to reach the gathering, which is about 40 miles per day. I suspect that there are some sections that will go fast, so we should have time to stop and visit towns and perhaps a side trip up the St Croix.

Our only previous experience on a river was on the Tennessee River where we joined some larger trawlers who plodded along at hull speed and averaged 50 miles per day, but didn't stop. We spent 4 days going upriver, and after a two day stop in Chattanooga we headed back down river alone and returned to our truck/ trailer in 3 days. There were few stopping opportunities as most of the towns were well away from the river.

Is this too fast? We were going to squeeze a week in at Rainy Lake before launching at Minneapolis, but we could drop that.

Any other boats want to join us, even for just part of the trip?

Chuck
 
It's interesting to read all the comments on Mississippi River travel. For some reason I had never seriously considered it - maybe my mistake.

We're in Beaufort (NC) and had happy hour last night with some folks on a 50' Ocean Alexander (very nice boat by the way...) who finished a seven month Great Loop circuit a year ago. When I commented on the Mississippi (not too favorably) their response was that they Loved the Miss. Hmm, may have to give this some more thought.

Then this morning I'm reading this C-Brat thread; now we really have to do some re-thinking!

Interesting (and useful) thread.

Best,
Casey&Mary
 
Casey and Mary, Traveling the Mississippi can be a worthwhile trip. I remember a number of years back taking my pontoon up from the Prairie Du Chein area up to Stillwater and back. Some great fun, and a few days of not so great fun (tornado warnings and lots of wind). (We did this over a week. The pontoon boat I had then also had a full enclosure, sort of like a softtop houseboat if you will. lol) You can chose between marinas or just beaching it at night. You do have to be careful of wingdams however. Going through the locks is a fun experience also. Some nice scenery and wildlife as well. Colby
 
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