Day 35, Jun 24^th, La Crosse, WI to Lake City, MN.  We had an early start today.  Headed north on Route 35 and found the Great River Trail in Onalaska, MN, just north of La Crosse, with not much trouble.  The trail followed the Mississippi and went through several Wildlife Management Areas that are part of the Mississippi Flyway.  We met a father-son duo riding the same route, but they were lightly loaded and moving much faster.  They promised to buy us a beer at the end of the day, but we never saw them again.  The trail ended at a small town called Marshland, WI and we got on Wisconsin Route 35, the Great River Route.  We followed 35 for about 35 miles along the east bank of the Mississippi.  Surprise, surprise; the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad mainline follows the same route!  There were 4-5 trains every hour and I could stop to watch!  We at lunch at Alma near one of the Corps of Engineer Dams.  We watched a tug and barges going through the lock.  At the same time, there was a train waiting on the siding to move north.  At Nelson, WI, we crossed the Mississippi River to Wabasha, MN and then followed U.S. Route 61 north along the west bank of the river.  There was another railroad line but no trains on Sunday afternoon.  From our hotel, I have heard a couple of trains tonight so there is hope for tomorrow.  The afternoon route on the Minnesota side brought us to Lake Pepin, a natural lake that is part of the Mississippi River.  It is a spectacular sight that my picture probably doesn’t capture.  We saw the same tug and barges moving upstream through Lake Pepin.  We pushed hard today to make tomorrow shorter and the mileage was 79.13.  Tomorrow we should reach Minneapolis and a 5-day break.