Grand Rapids, MN to Nashwauk, MN 28.3 miles

I ended not getting out of Grand Rapids till the afternoon. The post office didn’t open till 8:00 and then it took me a while to decide what I should send home and pack it up. By then it was close enough to lunch I decided to pick some up in town before I left and to stop by the grocery store.

Then I only made it out of town a few miles on the Messabi rail trail when a thunderstorm hit. I sat out the worst of it in a fortuitously placed log shelter along the trail.

The Mesabi trail is named for the 110 mile long Mesabi mountain range. It is the largest of three mountain ranges in Northern Minnesota known as the iron ranges. The puddles along the trail were the most rust red I had ever seen.

I was reconciled to the fact that it was going to be a short day and decided to set up camp in the town campground in Nashwauk, MN. The mosquitos were insane! I doused myself in deet and it seemed to deter them for about 5 minutes. I was able to set up the tent and quickly eat a cold dinner before fleeing to my tent. Somehow even though I was being careful getting in the tent, at least 30 mosquitos had made it in with me. I had to hunt them down before going to sleep.