Winter is about over, such as it was this year, so I’ll probably switch away from the snow and ice pictures–after just one more. Lake Pepin is a natural lake in the main channel of the Mississippi River that extends about 22 miles from Red Wing, Minnesota to Wabasha, Minnesota. It’s one of the spots along the upper river where the ice lingers the longest. The lake typically opens up enough by early April for navigation to begin again, but this year it is likely to be much earlier. The photo below was taken in January 2011 , during a much harsher winter than what we’ve endured this year and on one of those cold, oppressively gray days.

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Lake Pepin; January 2011