Close up of the plant life in Mississippi Lake.

Mississippi Lake water doesn't taste too terrible in the early morning when it's still somewhat cool. But as the day heats up, and the water temperature with it, the green-and-muddy taste and smell get amplified and becomes annoying after a while.

I walk back to the campsite to get out of the sun and to prepare coffee and breakfast: two bowls of instant miso soup with seaweed, my last two Zen Bakery cinnamon rolls, a Granny Smith apple, plus a handful each of dried apricots and tamari-roasted almonds.

A nice addition at Mississippi Lake this year is a garbage can. Most of Coe Park has no garbage collection, so you must pack out all your garbage, which isn't much fun to carry around.