The sunrise over Little Elbow Lake was gorgeous.
I rode past a bird on the road and it did not fly away. I circled back to try to help him. Pretty sure he had a run in with a car. When I picked him up he chirped, I set him by the edge of the road, gave him some water and built a little shade out of the cut grass on the side of the road. After a minute he flew away. Hope he made it.
Itaska State Park was a joy to ride through, there was a separated bike path through the woods that eventually led to the outlet of Lake Itaska which is the headquarters of the Mississippi River.
Riding into Bemidji, MI, there was a lot of storm damage. They had a storm back in June that had strait line winds over 100 miles an hour and was estimated to be as powerful as a category 3 Hurricane. Now I understood why the three Warmshowers hosts in Bemidji were not hosting. I went to the Sheriff’s office to ask what my options might be for camping in town. At first they wanted me to fill out an intake form for a shelter. When I said that wasn’t what I was looking for, they had a deputy come out to talk with me. She seemed to understand what I was looking for. She said I couldn’t just camp in town. I asked if I could camp on some State Forest land nearby and she said she thought that could work. So that’s where I pitched my tent.
Slow and Steady 
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