A Fuego Lento: Life on the Mississippi: FIG Expedition 2007

In honor of the Lewis and Clark expedition that explored the western portion of America, the Fernandez Iglesias and Greene (FIG) team have embarked on their 2007 expedition to explore the Eastern US and Canada. Setting out from their base fort in Winona, MN in the early afternoon of Sunday, the 3rd of June, the first leg of our journey would entail establishing contacts with the neighboring Doval tribe on the outskirts of the Twin Cities encampment.

Our team was welcomed with succulent vitals and bountiful beverages and given a cot that doubled as a sitting device during the day and upon which we passed the night in slumbering comfort.

The following morning, after another delicious meal prepared by the tribe’s matriarch, we proceeded north to another large Minnesota encampment, Duluth, that shared the mighty Mississippi shores with the Wisconsin settlement of Superior.

Taking in the scenery, we unpacked the wagon to partake in a picnic lunch. Afterwards, the welcome party at the Duluth Welcome Center directed us to a well-used trail in the hills called Skyline Drive. Bumping along cracked pavement and weaving in and out of patches of trees, our team was treated to sweeping vistas of the river and town below.

Our faithful travel companion, Mobi Ramekins, particularly enjoyed this leg of the trip as the slow going allowed for lowered windows and therefore lots of wind in the face. Near the trail’s end, in a portion called Seven Bridges Road, we passed over EIGHT such structures before coming face-to-face with an animal that appears to be quite plentiful in these parts- the white-tailed deer.

Pushing further north, we encountered downpours that attempted to deter us from our next plan of action: finding the landmark known as Big Rock Lighthouse. We had been told that this region was welcoming to visitors and provided ample locations for making camp and exploring the area. Luckily, we found this to be so, and the weather seemed to want to cooperate. We set up camp in an isolated clearing quite close to the shore of the lake and within view of the sought marker that did indeed live up to its name in splendor and beauty.

There were carts available when we arrived to bring our supplies more easily into the camp. Although we were tired from our journey, we mustered the quickly dwindling energy to put everything in order for the evening.