THIS MORNING
The LovedOne: I want to see flowing water.
Me: Doesn’t the Spring rain (mixed with snow) that’s coursing down our windows constitute flowing water? {such an obviously rhetorical question}
The LovedOne: No. We need to go see REAL flowing water.
Me: Where?
The LovedOne: At Upper St. Anthony Falls on the Mississippi River between Minneapolis and St. Paul. We can see lots of REAL flowing water from the Stone Arch Bridge.
Me: You mean stand out under the overcast in rain and snow and a mist-filled breeze being whipped-up and blown all over us by the roaring waters below?
The LovedOne: Of course, silly. that’s what makes Spring in Minnesota so extra special. 😊
And thus we came to find ourselves on the Stone Arch Bridge – along with a surprising number of other Minnesotans – enjoying 🤨 a view of the raging waters upstream, downstream, and below. And, by almost any definition, they were certainly raging. They had almost reached major flood stage and were forecast to well exceed that during the week ahead.
Today’s flow over the Falls was 91,500 cfs (2,590 m3/s), on its way to 106,000 cfs (3,000 m3/s) by next week. In terms of weight, approximately 10 million tons of water are flowing over the Falls every hour. Visualizing these numbers as 10 medium-sized oil tankers going over the Falls hourly helped me grasp the immense power this river is currently exerting.
After standing out on the bridge for a good while – building character as they say – and then going back out to get yet more photos – we (or at least I) felt we (or at least I) deserved a hot lunch.
And thus we found ourselves snug and warm and enjoying an Argentinian-style pizza at Boludo’s downtown Minneapolis location. And it was extra good! 🍕😋 I was considering calculating how many pizza equivalents go over the Falls every hour – but decided to just eat another slice instead. 😁
BACK TO BLOG POSTS
BOOTS on the TRAIL 
Thanks! You should go see the Stone Arch Bridge. It’s an important piece of Minnesota’s railroad history. I’d wait until the visitor center opens (May – Sept) as that would fill-out a visit to the bridge.
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The power of that water is amazing, wonderfully documented in your images. You may not believe this, but I’ve never been to the Stone Arch Bridge.
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Yes, the Stone Arch Bridge is possibly the best view of what was the only natural major waterfall on the Mississippi River. In 1880, the central section of the falls was reinforced with wood (later, in the1950s, with concrete) to keep the falls from eroding upstream. The river roaring over this concrete apron is what we saw today. Let’s just say that my enthusiasm for standing out in the cold to watch this falling water was considerably enhanced by the promise of hot pizza afterward. 😁😋🍕
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Looks like the Stone Arch Bridge delivered on seeing flowing water! Going for a hot lunch afterwards sounds like a nice treat after spending time outdoors.
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We just had our summer – all 4 days of it. 40F is but a memory. But we forgive you. 😉
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We just got our first blast of summer today. It was 86 today and over 70 yesterday, after weeks of highs in the 60’s. It is still in the lower 40’s in the morning though.
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