The Motor Vessel Miss Doris pushes 12 barges up the Upper Mississippi River in Wabasha, Minnesota, March 18. The tow is the first vessel of the 2020 navigation season to reach Lake Pepin. Located between the Minnesota cities of Red Wing and Wabasha, Lake Pepin is the last major barrier for vessels reaching the head of the navigation channel in St. Paul, Minnesota. The lake is the last part of the river to break up, because the river is wider and subsequently the current is slower there than it is at other reaches of the river. If a tow can make it through Lake Pepin, it can make it all the way to St. Paul. The M/V originated from the Quad Cities in Iowa and Illinois.