About seven miles or so north of Prairie du Chien is Lock and Dam Number 9.  The Army Corps of Engineers facility has a good picnic area, viewing platform overlooking the lock, and good pier fishing access.  There is even a long ramp for handicap accessibility.  Along with the river traffic, there is a dual railroad track running along side of the picnic area, and offers a great place to watch the rail traffic that moves up and down the eastern shore of the Mississippi.

This was our third trip back to this lock and dam, and we got the treat of watching a tow boat lock through.  It was interesting to watch them enter the lock, then break the barges apart, since the whole assembly was too large to fit all at one time.  Although it looked to be a time consuming process, the separating and reconnecting process did not really take too long.  The longest part of the whole process was the lowering, raising, and then lowering the water level.  I would recommend that if you get a chance to watch this, that you take the time.  Just a little warning, the whole process took about two hours, but it was well worth it.

Tow boats are not the only water craft that are aloud to use the locks.  Any thing that floats can lock through for free, as indicated in the pictures above.  There was a small fishing boat, a sailboat that looked to be in transit, and a large pleasure boat.  Of course if you are behind one of the river tow boats, you may have to wait a bit.

We stayed at Wyalusing State Park again this year.  I was hoping to have a few more trips to this park under our belt by this time, but unfortunately it did not work out this year.  The first picture shows where the campground is along the bluff.  We were standing in a parking lot about a mile or so beneath the campground.  The second is of a night shot of Prairie du Chien from the ridge.  The last is of the campfires along the ridge.  I was hoping the picture would turn out a bit better, because it was really interesting to see the different levels of campsites illuminated by the fire light.