At the Headwaters

Our pilgrimage to The Headwaters of the Mighty Mississippi was one of the highlights of the trip. I was a little surprised by that because I remember our last visit as kind of a letdown. I think we made the mistake of going in the middle of the day when it was hot and so crowded you had to stand in line to get to the stepping stones. This time we got to the Mary Gibbs Headwaters center a little before 10 am, which isn't THAT early but apparently early enough. The parking lot was mostly empty and it was not yet scorching hot. We sauntered down the 1/4 mile path past many pleasant sights, including this early glimpse of the baby Mississippi. 


Pleasantly uncrowded at the famous stepping stones, but just enough gamboling children to make it seem exciting and convivial. The rocks weren't slippery at all - possibly because the water level was low due to the drought? Anyway, Richard had no trouble hobbling across the river with his pair of canes. The woman in the white t-shirt on the left is making a bee line towards him to "help him" but he was doing fine. 


And here's the self-important sign declaring this the absolute and only True Headwaters of the Mississippi.

I'm not buying it. After an hour or so at the Jacob Brower Interpretive Center perusing the tumultuous and hilarious 120-year timeline of the search for the headwaters I feel compelled to weigh in. If you really want to count this tiny little creek that flows (THE WRONG DIRECTION) out of Lake Itasca as a river, then you might as well count the little stream that flows into Lake Itasca, in which case the headwaters is Elk Lake. But I'm leaning toward one of the other frequently nominated choices: Lake Bemidji. Which I have never seen, actually. So maybe our next camping trip will be Lake Bemidji State Park.