A day or so on Lake Pepin

[JeffM]

I know next to nothing about Lake Pepin, but I plan to trailer my boat there as part of a family trip.  My uncle lives in Rochester, MN and used to sail it in his kit-built Sunfish.  I plan to take him sailing while we're there.  My question: if you had just a day or so at the lake, where would you go?  Where area the most interesting or prettiest places, best anchorages, etc?

[Dave R1]

Well, Jeff, the first thing you must absolutely do is stop by and introduce yourself, show off your crew and your boat.

Then, as far as Lake Pepin is concerned, plan to launch at Hok-Si-La, a free boat landing just up the shore from Lake City. I think the things to see are Maiden Rock on the Wisconsin side and a bit upstream from Hok-Si-La and then maybe work your way across to Frontenac on the Minnesota side.

As far as anchoring for the night, most of the shoreline is fairly open but a number of folks anchor off Hok-Si-La park, out from the swimming beach.

Someplace around here I've got a guide to boating on the Mississippi with some decent maps of the lake. There's also the Army Corps of Engineers site with PDF charts along the river. http://www2.mvr.usace.army.mil/NIC2/Documents/MissRiver/Map017-778-785.pdf and http://www2.mvr.usace.army.mil/NIC2/Documents/MissRiver/Map018-770-777.pdf will cover it.

I can get more stuff for you tomorrow.

[barryhill]

Good advice but, don't forget us down the lake!

http://www2.mvr.usace.army.mil/NIC2/Documents/MissRiver/Map019-764-770.pdf

Bob

[Dave R1]

Bob, you're right of course. I was going to suggest getting down in that corner below Pepin. Near where the Chippewa comes in. Below the end of the Lake the channel can be pretty rough, especialy when there are barges and power cruisers going through.

On the Wisconsin side, near the mouth of the Chippewa there is a large sand pile from channel dredging that seems to be a hang out for a lot of the power boating, beer drinking types.

Just a note. If you are looking at boat ramps on the charts, Diggers (on map 18) doesn't exist anymore. The ramp at Roschen Park in Lake city (also Map 18) is a nice enough ramp but is not very nice when the waves get up. The ramp at Lake City Marina is excellent and well sheltered but they charge $10 or so to launch. I don't remember the rate for sure. They do have a brand new facility with nice restrooms and showers if you want that sort of thing.

[Greg Luckett]

My eldest son and his family moved to just south of St. Paul, last year.  I think Lake Pepin is pretty close to "on the way" to his house....heh...heh. ;D  Next visit I will stop by the Lake and check it out for next year's event.

[JeffM]

Thanks, Dave!  Thanks also for the invite.  I don't know if I'll have any time to visit, but I'll sure let you know.  By the way, I can't get your first link to work (comes up as "file damaged").  Bob, thanks for the map.

[Dave R1]

Jeff, I don't know why that link doesn't work for you. I used it yesterday at work and had no trouble. I'll check it out.

When are you coming this way?

Greg, Rochester is practically on the way for you, too. Where just south of St. Paul?

[barryhill]

Man! That was sumpthin, digging through the Corps site for those maps. Had wondered where the rest were when Bill used one for the Pepin Messabout. This conversation provoked me to go digging. Military bureaucracy meets the Internet. Oh Boy! Computer semi-literacy and tenacity prevailed. Here's the link to the index for the upper Mississippi:

http://www2.mvr.usace.army.mil/NIC2/mrcharts.cfm?index=1

Bob

[Dave R1]

Bob, I've been using those charts for several years. I wish they had a bit more detail as far as bottom profile goes but they work well enough. Here's an interesting link that shows data from the gages on the river.

This link is to the gage at Lake City which is located next to the Travelift. http://www2.mvr.usace.army.mil/WaterControl/stationinfo2.cfm?sid=LKCM5&fid=LKCM5&dt=S&pcode=HG

http://www2.mvr.usace.army.mil/WaterControl/shefgraph-historic.cfm?sid=LKCM5

[JeffM]

Thanks for that index link, Bob.  Dave, I plan to be in the neighborhood on or about August 8 and 9.  If you email me your phone #, I'll keep you up to date.  By the way, how are the bugs there this time of year?

[Dave R1]

By the way, how are the bugs there this time of year?

Oh, the bugs are doing quite well, thank you. Actually, it has been so dry lately that the mosquitos haven't been too terrible. Someone tried telling me that I was going to be doing a lot of boat clean up after the mayfly hatch but either it hasn't happened yet or isn't going to due to the weather.

I'll send you an e-mail shortly.

dave