Lake Minnetonka

He strode through the town of Wayzata on the shores of Lake Minnetonka. The morning haze had not disappeared this morning and it was apparent the humidity would be higher than normal. Maybe like St Louis or Washington DC. But much easier to tolerate when beneath great trees on a huge lake. Looking over the largest lake within easy reach from the Twin Cities, he still wondered at the blue waters. The lake was a treasure to have so close to the western suburbs and the lake was used extensively for recreation. It was not just big boats that made it so popular. There are also good restaurants... and fishing and water sports of every description.

In the early days when the lake was gaining its reputation as a resort, the lake was surrounded by large dense hardwood forests. Wild plums, crab apples, grapes, blackberries, and cranberries grew in abundance. Wild rice and water lilies ringed the shoreline. The lake is really two bodies of water separated by an area known as the "narrows". When steamboats became too large to navigate the channel it was dredged deeper. Islands were formed with the dredged material and areas around docks, bays and shoreline were also deepened and enhanced. Some islands like Spirit Knob just disappeared.

It is now a town for strolling on a sunlit afternoon. Ducks swim without a care. Boats from the smallest to the huge behemoth cruisers find common environment and utility. Day cruisers and cuddy cabins support the utopian style of the elite of the Twin Cities metropolitan area.

Wayzata was a tourist town at heart. In 1850 it became a superb tourist destination that was to last for over 35 years. It was an outpost for weekenders and at the end of the railroad line for many years. Now the tracks run with long freight trains heading to the distant west. Their noise contrasting with the serenity of the now abandoned railroad station and docks for the boatless fisherman.

The docks delighted the young angler and the old timers. Peering into the waters you could see hundreds of small sunfish waiting expectantly in the weeds. Periodically a great dark shadow would glide from beneath the docks and the boys would gasp at the size of the carp, ever present and waiting for the handout.

Wayzata was a tourist town and a railroad town. Part of the railroad baron James J Hill empire. Trees were harvested and the railroad was the carrier.  James was a colorful character and much has been written about him. In 1867 his red and yellow locomotive, with much hoopla and blasts of its whistle, started providing service for the tourists, picnickers, dignitaries, campers, and seekers of fun. It was on its way to becoming a premier resort area. Southerners flocked to the northern destination to escape summer's heat.

Now the ear splitting air horn of the GE diesel locomotives rock the quiet of the sleepy little village. The rumble of the freight cars shakes the earth and the tremors can be felt on the docks.  The fish seem to care little of the disturbance but search for morsels of bait offered for an eternal price.

Edited  Sunday, 22 August 2010