I was excited for today’s hike to Tioga Beach Park, mainly because it was a short day. But it wasn’t an easy one.
Around 4:30 this morning, it began to rain. Not fun when you’re camping. There was a lull around 5:30, so I jumped out of my tent and went to the campground’s shower house, which had an overhang and bench. I sat there and had breakfast, charged my devices, etc. as the rain poured down.
At 8:30 a.m. I met Larry, my shuttler for the day. He drove me back to the CR 61 Trailhead. It rained the entire way. Larry said he and Rick, yesterday’s shuttler, had mowed about a mile (2 km) of the trail. And then I was off.
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Making My Way to Tioga Beach Park
While I was excited to be on trail again, I have to admit it wasn’t too much fun. Despite my poncho and rain pants, I immediately was soaked from the knees down, thanks to all of the rain. I stayed soaking wet for the next several hours, as 
there are 4-5 miles of trail here (6.4 – 8 km). And the mosquitoes started coming out.
The last portion of trail is on University of Minnesota land. Then you’re spit out at a school soccer field. Ha! From here the path follows a bike trail through Grand Rapids. It’s pretty nice, as it’s a combination of separate bike trail and road walks. There are plenty of benches throughout, garbage cans, etc. So I was able to eat lunch on a bench.
The weather remained cool and cloudy until about 1 p.m., when the sun came out and it got quite hot and steamy. My rain pants really made me sweat! By the time I arrived at my car and Tioga Beach Park, it was starting to sprinkle again. Hmm …
Pivoting Due to Weather
My plan had been to visit the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, then camp a second night at Pokegema Dam. The 
last I checked my weather app, the rain had moved on. Wrong! It rained while I was in the museum (where I got to see the real carriage that carried Dorothy and others into Oz), and the forecast changed to a severe thunderstorm warning from 5 to 10 p.m. I hate wasting money, but I left the campground and booked a night at the Remer Motel, where I already had a reservation for tomorrow. .
I knew if I stayed at the campsite, there would be torrential rains. And if I switched to the motel, it would be dry. I don’t even want to know what happened!
Snowshoe
MN NCT miles today: 14 (22.5 km)
MN NCT miles to date: 593.1 (954.5 km)
Total NCT miles to date: 2,611.6 (4,203 km)
Total NCT miles to go: 1,988.4 (3,200 km)
My most useful gear today: It’s a tie between my Frogg Toggs rain poncho and Baleaf rain pants.
