Days 6 - 9

We're back, so here are pictures for days 6 - 9. We went to Frontenac State Park again and had a nice visit, lots of hiking, lots of sitting watching the lake, and lots of driving around looking for eagles, hawks and trains!
The first picture, for Day 6, was taken the evening of 10/2. It is a 10 minute, 51 second exposure, and the light tracks are trains and cars moving around the point. This is Maiden Rock with Lake Pepin in the foreground.

Day 7 is the same point during the following day. We spent several hours that afternoon lying in the sun and watching the barges and sailboats in the lake below.


Day 8: We drove south to Wabasha, then across the river to Alma, Wisconsin, hoping to see trains, barges or eagles. We did see eagles, but they were way too high in the sky to get more than black spots, even with my 500mm. What we did see was this, Lock and Dam number 4. There are 29 lock and dam systems between St. Paul, MN, and St. Louis, MO. This keeps the current lower and the vertical drop more in control to allow barge traffic up and down the river. This particular lock raised or lowered traffic about 9 feet, it may be that each lock's magic number is 9 feet? Who knows, it was cool watching the boats move in, drop 9 feet and then move out the other side. It made for some really boring photography so you get a cool photo of the dam instead!and Day 9: Here's a weird mushroom that Becky saw hiking around the bottom in the park.