(Foot)Notes on Iowa - Day 21 - Final Day - Estherville to Mini-Wakan, Big Spirit Lake
19 miles. One final day to finish the journey across Iowa I embarked on over a month before at Montrose on the banks for the Mississippi....
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Across Iowa in Words and Photos
Kevin Mason
Jul 26, 20213 min read
(Foot)Notes on Iowa - Day 20 - Osgood to Estherville
With an early morning fog blanketing the Des Moines River Valley, I returned to 320th Street just south of the Osgood Elevator and headed...
Kevin Mason
Jul 24, 20213 min read
(Foot)Notes on Iowa - Day 19 - Robert Mulroney Recreation Area to Osgood
After the rains on Part 3, Day 1, a cool morning and clear skies greeted me on Day 2. I spent the early morning blow drying my shoes in...
Kevin Mason
Jul 22, 20213 min read
(Foot)Notes on Iowa - Day 18 - McKnight's Point to Robert Mulroney Recreation Area
Back on the road to finish the walk across Iowa, I picked up at McKnight's Point where weather forced my pervious travels to an early...
Kevin Mason
Jul 20, 20215 min read
(Foot)Notes on Iowa - Day 17 - Rutland to McKnight's Point
The final day of Part 2 started off well enough. With the blistering heat of the previous week still hovering over the upper Midwest...
Kevin Mason
Jul 16, 20213 min read
(Foot)Notes on Iowa - Day 16 - Fort Dodge to Rose Mill
In an early morning haze I set off across the golf course at Kennedy Park Campground, angling for a north-south gravel road along the Des...
Kevin Mason
Jul 14, 20215 min read
(Foot)Notes on Iowa - Day 15 - Fort Dodge (Fort Museum) to Fort Dodge (Kennedy Park)
Part 2, Day 7, started and ended at the Fort Dodge Fort Museum and Frontier Village. I headed north from the museum along the river and...
Kevin Mason
Jul 12, 20214 min read
(Foot)Notes on Iowa - Day 14 - Don Williams Recreation Area to Fort Dodge
Starting the day at Don Williams Recreation Area, I headed west to catch a gravel road northward toward the small town of Dayton. The...
Kevin Mason
Jun 24, 20215 min read
(Foot)Notes on Iowa - Day 13 - Ledges to Don Williams Recreations Area + Beyond to Boone
After a meandering Part 2, Day 4, took me across to the west bank of Des Moines River and Camp Mitigwa, I decided I would stick to the...
Kevin Mason
Jun 22, 20214 min read
(Foot)Notes on Iowa - Day 12 - Big Creek State Park to Ledges State Park
Picking up the walk across Iowa to follow the 1835 Dragoons at Big Creek State Park, I headed north in the early morning toward Boone...
Kevin Mason
Jun 20, 20215 min read
(Foot)Notes on Iowa - Day 11 - Downtown Des Moines to Big Creek State Park
Embarking from the site of Second Fort Des Moines, I crossed over the river to the (north) east bank and made my way toward the Greater...
Kevin Mason
Jun 16, 20216 min read
(Foot)Notes on Iowa - Day 10 - Pleasant Hill to Downtown Des Moines
Continuing the walk across Iowa from the previous day's stopping point at Yellow Banks Park (for more on Yellow Banks Park, see Part 2,...
Kevin Mason
Jun 14, 20214 min read
(Foot)Notes on Iowa - Day 9 - Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge to Yellow Banks Park
After a brief respite, the journey to follow the 1835 Iowa Dragoons Expedition got back underway on June 3, 2021, at Neal Smith National...
Kevin Mason
May 31, 20216 min read
(Foot)Notes on Iowa - Day 8 - Reaching Horn's Ferry & the Red Rock Dam
Day 8 of Part 1 brought me to the Horn's Ferry Half-Bridge below the Red Rock Dam, the intended end point of the first part of my attempt...
Kevin Mason
May 30, 20213 min read
(Foot)Notes on Iowa - Day 7: Eddyville to Beyond Eveland Access
Day 7 of my 2021 attempt to walk across Iowa in the footsteps of the Iowa Dragoons of 1835 proved a relatively uneventful day. During the...
Kevin Mason
May 29, 20214 min read
(Foot)Notes on Iowa - Day 6: Ottumwa to Eddyville
Starting from the Hotel Ottumwa just north of the Des Moines River on Part 1, Day 6, I crossed over one of the many bridges connecting...
Kevin Mason
May 28, 20215 min read
(Foot)Notes on Iowa - Words & Photos - Day 5: Eldon to Ottumwa
Following the Des Moines River from Eldon to Ottumwa might have limited mileage on Part 1, Day 5, however, I decided early in the...
Kevin Mason
May 27, 20216 min read
(Foot)Notes on Iowa - Words & Photos - Day 4: Douds to Eldon
During the planning stages of my walk across Iowa, I thought the house from Grant Wood's famous painting American Gothic would dominate...
Kevin Mason
May 26, 20214 min read
(Foot)Notes on Iowa - Words & Photos - Day 3: Bentonsport to Douds
Day 3 started early and relatively uneventfully at Bentonsport (for more on Bentonsport, please visit the Day 2 post:...
Kevin Mason
May 25, 20215 min read
(Foot)Notes on Iowa - Words & Photos- Day 2: Farmington to Bentonsport
To start the second day of my journey, I disembarked from Farmington across the bridge to Eagle Avenue. Looking ahead at routes for the...
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