Reno Dike Trail
Sunday, August 6, 2023
The Pickwick Mill in Pickwick, MN is an old grist mill built from 1854-1858. It is open to the public for tours on select days from May to October. The town of Pickwick was reportedly named by Mary Davis in 1857 after she read the Charles Dickens novel, Pickwick Papers. The mill is located on Big Trout Creek, which provided the power for the grist mill.
The dam at Pickwick Mill with chain operated gates for regulation of the water flow.
The chain operated gate mechanism for the dam at Pickwick Mill.
Equipment used in the milling process.
The main part of today’s adventure was a walk on the Reno Dike Trail. This is a 6.8 mile out-and-back trail along the Mississippi starting in Reno, MN and ending here at the Minnesota side of Lock & Dam #8, known as the Genoa Lock & Dam.
The Minnesota end of Lock & Dam #8.
There was a great deal of nature to enjoy along the walk. These lilli pads were huge and some had beautiful flowers.
All along the walk, there were MANY of these small skeletons of sun bleached bones. Our best guess is these are likely small rodents, such as the abundant rabbits which end up as dinner for the eagles and other birds of prey that are so common along the Mississippi. Here is a rather intact spinal column.
This appears to be a pelvis, and seems most consistent with a rabbit by our best guess.
More sun bleached vertebral bones. These little skeletons were everywhere along the trail. The eagles are well fed.
Some thistle blossoms getting visited by a honeybee.
Although it isn’t a Macro lens, the Fujifilm 33mm f/1.4 renders the small detail rather nicely.
This piece of driftwood has clearly spent a good amount of time in the waters of the Mississippi. All the bark has been removed and the pale wood is very smooth to the touch.
The spring floods likely uproot these large trees, which then float down the river until they encounter something to temporarily halt their progress. Many have “beached” along the manmade dike. The water has washed away the dirt from their root balls, making the intricate branching of the roots visible.
This old tree would almost appear to have been “twisted” in some way. This doesn’t appear to be a natural way for the trunk of a tree to grow; in a spiral fashion like this.
Escargot
Northbound freight in the main channel just above Genoa Lock & Dam #8.
This rock on the bank of the Mississippi was very porous and inside there were crystalline structures suggestive of a geode of some sort.
