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Wednesday, September 7, 2022

Embarrass River - Day 281

  Today was more or less defined by the Embarrass River. I crossed it twice, and walked beside a couple of lakes along its length.
Embarrass River

The Mesabi Trail has sections completed that were not yet finished when we were here before. This bridge is part of the trail where I took the picture above.
Mesabi Trail Bridge

For some reason, the NCT does not follow the Mesabi as far as it's been completed. The NCT turns north on a roadwalk, where I crossed the Embarrass River again.
Embarrass River

The Embarrass flows into the St. Louis River that goes through Duluth, and into Lake Superior and the Great Lakes, and the St. Lawrence River to the Atlantic. There are Embarrass Rivers in Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Alberta. They all get their names from the fact that "embarrass" in French means an obstacle. When the Voyageurs encountered them, they were clogged with trees and were difficult to navigate. What an embarrassment!

It got a little hot this afternoon, but the sky sure was beautiful. I love the swirly clouds. Marie brought me cold drinks, and she always cheers me on.
clouds

We had trouble finding a campsite (First one we tried was full, and then the next four we tried to call all had bad phone numbers, and we were given a bad phone number for the visitor center. Then I talked to another campground that was full), but finally got one that's a little more expensive than I had hoped, and a little smaller than is comfortable, but we are fine. It's right on White Iron Lake in case I decide to start swimming instead of walking. However, I'd end up in Hudson Bay, not the Atlantic if I swam from here.
trailer in campsite

Miles today: 18.7 miles. Total miles so far: 3341.1

See True Blue Gumby II

3 comments:

Ellie said...

As always, thanks for the lovely pictures, and also for the explanation of the river name. I continue to be amazed by your ability to hike such long distances each day. You are an inspiration!

Ann said...

I was wondering how Embarrass River got it's name. Glad you mentioned it.
Nice campsite, right there on the water.

The Oceanside Animals said...

Lulu: "Hmm, are we sure the rivers didn't get their names because clumsy people fell in and then everyone laughed at them ... ?"