Last night got a bit interesting. I was dozing off in my tent when an animal started making some scratching sounds nearby which woke me up. I looked outside my tent and saw a largish raccoon on top of the pannier I keep my food in. I yelled at him as I got out of my tent and looked for something I could throw at him. I keep my sneakers right outside the tent door, but under the fly, so they are accessible, yet don’t get soaked with rain or dew. I grabbed those sneakers and threw one at the raccoon. It missed him and ended up in the woods. The coon retreated about 15 feet into the woods and then turned and looked at me. It seemed to me he was sizing me up, basically determining whether I was a real threat or not. At that point I slapped a tree with the other sneaker and yelled “GIT.” He retreated till he was out of sight.

I figured this coon or one of his cousins would be back. I decided to hang the pannier from a tree limb, like you would in bear territory. The only other good option would be to store it in the bathhouse until morning. I wasn’t about to put it in my tent in case a bear came around.

I got out my line and found a likely branch. I then thought about what I would use to get the line over the branch and realized a half full water bottle would be perfect for the job. I secured a water bottle to the line. My first throw was short and I yanked on the line to retrieve it. The bottle promptly came back and smacked my left shin, leaving a welt. The second throw was good. Knowing raccoons are good climbers, I secured the pannier about halfway between the branch and the ground, hoping raccoons would not or could not climb the line down to the pannier.

I went back to my tent and sleeping bag. Sure enough, late at night I hear another round of scratching. By this time it was dark so I yelled “GIT” and shined my flashlight at the coon, who was looking for the pannier with the food. This was enough for the coon and he vanished into the woods. In the morning, I found my food pannier hanging, undisturbed..

During the morning ride, I was pursued by another Minnesota dog. This time, I didn’t yell at the dog, but tried the water battle experiment which was enough to stop him. I’m not sure if the water hit him or just the sight of the water coming in his direction was enough to do the job.

I also crossed over to Wisconsin, and split from the ABA route and map. I’ll pick up another ABA segment when I get to Michigan.

The part of the ABA route from Osceola to Hudson is through a network of rural roads. I had to stop and check the route at practically every intersection. By lunch time, much to my surprise, I had covered 60 miles. I found a Five Guys restaurant and ordered a burger and shake and tried to figure out how I was going to finish the day.

I figured I had another 20 miles in me, which would put me near Prescott, WI. However, I couldn’t find either a campground or an ecomically priced motel nearby. I ended up compromising, and booking a room back across the river in Hastings, Minnesota.

This motel is 23 miles from the Five Guys, making 83 miles for the day. The total is up to 2109.