Old Man River EarthCache
maryufaust: This one has had it's run, time to put it to bed.
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We know about this Big River, the Old Man River, the river brought to life by Mark Twain and others who have sung its praises and praised its songs.
But at Lake Itasca State Park, in northern Minnesota, the Mississippi is a different river altogether. Here, it begins. Here it is only a stream, one you can walk across on a log. On a warm, summer day you could even splash and wade across it without getting your knees wet.
The baby river begins its journey to the gulf by crossing a low man-made dam of stones on the northwest end of the upside-down-Y-shaped Lake Itasca. Almost immediately it picks up momentum. The first tributary, Sucker Brook, comes in about five miles later. Then comes Bear Creek and a bit further on LaSalle and Hennepin creeks.
The river makes a lazy question mark as it travels its first 560 miles — from Lake Itasca to Minneapolis/St. Paul. By the time it reaches the Twin Cities, it has achieved its Big River look. But for the first 50 miles or so, especially, the Mississippi winds through ancient lake beds and occasional valleys populated with spruce and pine. These are mostly wetlands, with little development along the shoreline, and are popular with kayakers and canoers
In these upper regions, the river flows through several lakes — part of the 10,000 lakes that make this part of Minnesota famous. The first of these lakes is Bemidji, and here the river reaches civilization.
Henry Rowe Schoolcraft gets credit for discovering the headwaters of the Mississippi in 1832
At the visitors center, you can learn more about the geology, geography, natural and human history of the area. You might learn, for example, that the area was carved out by glaciers 10,000 years ago. It is described as "knobs of land with kettle lakes dotted throughout."
You will learn the history of the Mississippi and the fact that it takes a raindrop 90 days to travel the length of the river. (Since I was there on a rainy spring day, I found that especially interesting.)
You might discover that the habitat here supports life for 242 species of birds, 23 kinds of reptiles and amphibians and 57 species of mammals. More than 30 different dragonfly species, some quite rare, have been found in the old-growth forest (compared to 13 or 14 dragonfly species found in the clear-cut timber areas outside the park).
Plan your vacation to Itasca State Park. Request a free copy of Itasca newspaper by e-mailing your postal address to Itasca State Park at: itasca.park@dnr.state.mn.us.
Jacob V. Brower Visitor Center and Gift Shop are open year-round. Spring hours are: May 8-22 open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily; Beginning May 23 open Sunday thru Thursday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Friday and Saturday open 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.
To get credit for this Earthcache you must send the following information to me via E-mail. Please do not post this information in your log.
1)Estimate the width of the river at this location.
2) Where does the Mississippi rank in the longest rivers of the world? (Will take basic research)
3) Optional: Take a picture of yourself near the water's edge. Please do not include the nearby sign in your picture as its information may be used to find GCB286 "Even The Mighty Start Small".
by Isaac Angert
The Mississippi drains 1,245,000 square miles (41% of America). Its watershed ranks third among the world's rivers; after that of the Amazon and the Congo. Its discharge into the gulf is again third after the same two rivers, with a volume of 651,000 cubic feet per second at its mouth.
It meanders through pine forests and marsh in northern Minnesota forming the shape of a question mark. The river spills over St. Anthony falls and heads south to flow between towering bluffs in Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois. When it drops into Missouri it is met by the Illinois, the Ohio and the Missouri rivers. The Missouri doubles the Mississippi and the Ohio doubles it again. With its flow quadrupled the Mighty Mississippi moves out into the delta. Here the Mississippi finally has the room to meander through cotton fields. There are no hills on the delta until the river changes course and runs up against the bluffs at Vicksburg. At the town of St.Francisville it leaves the bluffs again, this time for good, as it goes off through swamps and bayous to unload its silt at the end.
The source of the Mississippi River is Lake Itasca, in Itasca State Park located in Clearwater County, Minnesota. The name "Itasca" is a combination of the last four letters of the Latin word for truth (veritas) and the the first two letters of the Latin word for head (caput).
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