Seg #31 Paul Bunyan Trail; S of Brainerd-Bemidji, MN 10/11-12/13

 

Start	S of Brainerd, MN			46.32485,-94.20749		NS miles 79.6
End	Bemidji, MN			47.48771,-94.87906		Trl lgth 112 Ride 109 miles
Ride 10:16 hr		AVS 10.4	MXS 18.5 mph		DST 109		T 68/46	Kcal 8087

 After driving to Brainerd the previous night and crashing at the American Best Value Inn, I got up, ate a hearty breakfast and then rode three miles north from the motel north to assure I would have overlapping latitude with the Willard Munger Trail at Willow River. In the process, I located Micki’s Pizza and Subs where the Jefferson Bus Line unloaded. Lucky me the Brainerd Public Library was directly across the street.  I locked the Trek to the rack at the library and used a smaller chain lock to fix my seat and rear luggage rack. Both of these items have quick release devices that can tempt someone to heist them. Locking the seat gave me solace that I would have something to sit on while pumping up the 100+ mile Paul Bunyan Trail.

By 8:30 a.m. I was on the road to Bemidji to leave my car and take the bus back to Brainerd. I had purchased my ticket online so all I had to do was locate the John Glass Fieldhouse at Bemidji State University for an 11:15 a.m. bus pick-up. The bus ride was straight forward other than a major traffic jam due to road construction.  As I looked out the window, I could see darkening of the western skies. “Hurry up bus---I don’t want to ride in the rain”, I said to myself. 

The bus got into Brainerd forty-five minutes behind schedule. I went straight to the library and asked a likely looking bicycle rider how I could find the Paul Bunyan Trailhead,. It is worthy of note that I purposely avoided asking the grey haired seventy something librarian that question. After stammering around a bit, the guy I thought would know was beginning to worry me. “Another Cush’s Theorem causality in the making “, I thought.  He finally said, “Maybe you ought to ask that lady”.

PBT trailhead that the librarian lady directed me
to find with precisions. It started raining shortly
after departing from Brainerd. Note raingear :-)

Again I thought, Not the seventy something lady surely?”  The seventy something lady overheard us and started drawing me a map. She put an “X” on the map and drew in streets and paths as accurately as a National Geographic cartographer. She was “spot on”. Now I need to retract my bias toward old ladies as a source of directions. Cush’s Theorem run amuck.

I got on the trail about three o’clock and was into the ride about forty-five minutes when the dreariness’ set in.

At Misswa the rain stopped for a few minutes
so I just had to take this picture that reminded
me of Shamus (see previous post)

It was drizzling and getting colder. It was sixty eight degrees at noon but that changed. From my back pack, I dug out my rain suit and wore it the rest of the way to Pine River. I had reserved a motel in Pine River so I had a warm place to unload my soggy clothes. The rain wasn’t as big a deal as it was sweat---non-breathing raingear is not the best option.  GoreTex is the material of choice to keep dry. I turned up the head and laid everything out to dry. By the time I got back from a steak at nearby restaurant, the wet stuff was dry. I love the way bike clothes dry.

I was up with the birds and ready to hit the trail by 7 a.m. It was a bit dark when I took off on the trail and the same drizzle that prevailed the day before was hanging around. So it rained the whole day---seventy miles of Yuk. Thank goodness the wind was out of the southeast and it pushed me northward toward Bemidji. Many areas I passed would have been absolutely stunning with the sun’s help, but I pretty much passed through the surroundings with limited gratification. There were some hilly, walked my bike, terrain around Walker, Minnesota; otherwise it was a flat former railroad right away trail.

The Paul Bunyan Trail region is rich in history, having been inhabited for centuries before French explorers came to the area. The Ojibwe and Dakota were present in the area until explorers entered the region and the logging and railroad industry took over. The Paul Bunyan State Trail follows an abandoned railroad corridor built in 1893 and last owned by Burlington Northern. The corridor passes through Boreal forests, along with more than twenty lakes and ten rivers/streams.

After lunch at the Happy Moose Bar and Grill in Walker, I headed out toward Bemidji. The wind then changed to northwest to test my stamina. Because of the rain, I didn’t bring my Ipod so the last thirty miles were a long thirty miles. The signage in Bemidji could have been better in that I went right through downtown Bemidji and past Bemidji State University without realizing it. To add insult to injury, when the paved trail ended, it joined a primitive trail that did not look bicycle friendly. And it wasn’t, After fighting a rugged soft trail for two or three miles, I decided I must be on the wrong trail and it was time to turn around. Luckily I stopped a car and asked, “which way to Bemidji?”. Although the guy looked like a Harley Biker, obese, long scraggly hair, tons of tattoos and generally curmudgeon like fellow, he did give me the correct directions. The second case of Cush’s Theorem run amuck. I got to the car by six o’clock and headed out of town shortly thereafter. The goal was to complete one more trail, the Gandy Dancer in St. Croix Falls Wisconsin,  I figured I could drive another three hours before  before heading back to Iowa. I gave GPS Trixie full control and followed her savvy directions toward St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin.   One hundred sixty miles later, Trixie had me in Milaca, Minnesota, sixty-five miles from St. Croix Falls.