(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....
Across Iowa in Words and Photos
Kevin Mason
- Jul 26, 2021
- 3 min
(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...
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Kevin Mason
- Jul 24, 2021
- 3 min
(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...
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Kevin Mason
- Jul 22, 2021
- 3 min
(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...
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Kevin Mason
- Jul 20, 2021
- 5 min
(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...
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Kevin Mason
- Jul 16, 2021
- 3 min
(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...
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Kevin Mason
- Jul 14, 2021
- 5 min
(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...
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Kevin Mason
- Jul 12, 2021
- 4 min
(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...
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Kevin Mason
- Jun 24, 2021
- 5 min
(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...
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Kevin Mason
- Jun 22, 2021
- 4 min
(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...
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Kevin Mason
- Jun 20, 2021
- 5 min
(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...
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Kevin Mason
- Jun 16, 2021
- 6 min
(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,...
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Kevin Mason
- Jun 14, 2021
- 4 min
(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...
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Kevin Mason
- May 31, 2021
- 6 min
(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...
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Kevin Mason
- May 30, 2021
- 3 min
(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...
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Kevin Mason
- May 29, 2021
- 4 min
(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...
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Kevin Mason
- May 28, 2021
- 5 min
(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...
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Kevin Mason
- May 27, 2021
- 6 min
(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...
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Kevin Mason
- May 26, 2021
- 4 min
(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:...
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Kevin Mason
- May 25, 2021
- 5 min
(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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