Paul Bunyan State Trail-Minnesota-Day 4-Walker to Bemidji

We woke up to very cool temperatures (54 degrees), but bright blue sunny skies, which was a welcome sight after 2 days of showers and clouds. We bundled up and headed out. Today’s route would take us back to Bemidji where we’d left our car parked at the hotel. Walker was very quiet this morning as we made our way through the downtown area on the way out of town.

I took many photos today, it was just so beautiful!

There are many family resorts, campgrounds, cabins, etc around the lakes in Minnesota. Each one tidy and well cared for. I had to stop and take a picture of this mailbox at one of the cabins.

It was an easy ride and we made good time. We only made one trail side stop in La Porte for a cup of coffee in a little hometown market, then back on the trail. We arrived back in Bemidji much earlier than we anticipated having ridden about 32 miles at that point. We decided we’d eat lunch in Bemidji, at a place Rhonda, our shuttle driver had recommended. We were able to take the trail all the way to downtown Bemidji, a super cute little downtown area with lots of shops and places to eat. As we crossed the bridge into the downtown area, we had to stop and take some photos of the Mississippi river. It is very small in this part of the country, not at all the mighty river we are accustomed to seeing in the south. Bemidji proudly claims to be the first city on the Mississippi River, and it is. But the interesting part of that claim is that Bemidji is actually north of the headwaters of the river. When the Mississippi leaves its headwaters at Itasca Statte Park, it first flows north before flowing through Lake Bemidji and out through the southern shore of the lake. That is the part of the river you see here as it flows from Lake Bemidji.

We enjoyed the ride through downtown Bemidji and were able to take a dedicated bike trail almost to the restaurant. We had to share the last little bit of the ride with cars through the downtown area, but it wasn’t heavy traffic, the streets are wide, and people were courteous toward bikers.

We easily found the restaurant Rhonda had told us about, parked the bikes on the sidewalk and grabbed a table by the window. Imagine how surprised we were to grab a menu and find Rhonda already there, enjoying her lunch! She’d just shuttled our luggage from Walker to the hotel in Bemidji, and decided to grab lunch at Table for 7 while in town. What are the odds of eating lunch at the same restaurant with the only person we know in the whole state of Minnesota? She had some great menu recommendations for us and we had a delicious lunch! Table for 7 (so named because the owner has a family of 7 and they are her biggest supporters) is a farm to table restaurant using ingredients sourced locally. I had the Green Goddess salad, which contained a white bean puree on the bottom mixed greens, garlic scapes, snow peas, pickled onions, etc. Jimmy tried the bison burger with blueberry compote. We shared the Margarita balsamic flatbread. It was all so good!

We said our goodbyes to Rhonda and planned a time for her to pick us up tomorrow and shuttle us to Itasca State Park where we will get to see the headwaters of the mighty Mississippi River. As it was too early to check in and we felt rested and re-energized after that delicious lunch, we decided to ride the bikes up to Lake Bemidji State Park. The trail to the park goes right in front of our hotel and follows the eastern shore of Lake Bemidji. It was a beautiful ride. Lake Bemidji is 6,600 acre lake with 15 miles of shoreline and a depth of 76 feet. The water is crystal clear and the ride was beautiful! We quickly covered the 8 mile trip, taking lots of photos along the way.

Once in the park, we took a peak at the little visitor center, bought Lake Bemidji t-shirts and asked for directions to the bog walk. I had heard that Lady Slipper orchids can be seen along the bog walk during certain times of the year. I’d tried to spot one last year when we were on our bike trip in Canada, but was never able to see one. I asked the lady working behind the desk if Lady Slippers were in season at the moment. She said as of Tuesday, there were still a few, but she didn’t know if they’d still be there, as they were fading fast and this was the very tail end of their season. She said she doubted any would be left. I was very hopeful that at least one would hang on! This was just 2 days after the last spotting, so we jumped on the bikes and rode the mile and a half up the hill on a gravel path to where she told us we’d find the bog walk.

The bog walk is a beautiful walk on a wooden board walk. Bikes were not permitted on the boards, so Jimmy stayed behind with the bikes and allowed me to continue on my 2 year search for the Lady Slipper orchid, lol! Many of the bog plants and wildflowers are labelled. I was interested to learn about the bog, which was a low spot near Lake Bemidji left as a glacier retreated. A bog is characterized by acidic waters, poor drainage and sphagnum moss. It’s a soft spongy water-logged surface and would be impossible to walk on without the boardwalk (that’s where the term bogged down came from). The air temperature was much cooler once you entered the bog and the water temperature stays about 10 degrees cooler than the air temperature.

I read all the signs and looked at all the plant labels. I saw pitcher plants in the wild for the first time! They are carnivores, luring insects into their little pitchers to drown and be digested.

The bog was thick with vegetation, several species of ferns, wildflowers, wild blueberries, a tuberous grass-pink orchid I’d never heard of,

and at the very end of the boardwalk, near the lake, right before the boardwalk ended and I’d have to turn around, 3 Lady Slipper orchids still hanging on! My two year search was over! I was so excited to see these beautiful plants in the wild and consider it a special blessing from God that these little blooms held on at the very end of the season so I could see them!