First Two Weeks

As many of you know we have been on the river for the past two weeks. We should have been in Minneapolis by now however the weather has not been in our favor. There have only been three days in which it has not rained in the past two weeks and thunderstorms have frequently prompted us to either start later in the day or finish earlier in the evening than we would have liked cutting down on the amount of miles we have been travelling per day.

We currently stand at an average of 25 miles per day. We have basically scrapped the idea of finishing the trip in 45 days and are now planning the trip in week increments. By our new estimates the trip should take about 60 to 70 days. We are currently in Sauk Centre, MN visiting with Petrie's relatives Pam, Todd, Olivia, and Noah. We hope to be in St. Cloud by Saturday, June 9th and Minneapolis, MN by the following weekend.

The trip thus far has been what others have warned us about. The river starts off very narrow as it leads you into a maze of marshes lined with cattails. We got lost in the river's labyrinth a few times. It is very easy to get lost as what seems to be a shortcut turns out to be a misleading dead end. We caught ourselves frequently standing up in the boat looking for the river as it seemed to dissappear at some points.

Wind is definitely a factor. It seems like the wind has been in our face the entire two weeks except for a few days. Paddling on the leeward bank helps a little as we noticed we gained about 1/2 to 1 m.p.h. on our speed according to our GPS.

Lake Irving (2 miles) and Cass Lake (4miles) were bears to paddle through as we were caught crossing them in storms. We were hit with three to four foot waves, rain, and headwinds up to 20 m.p.h. We were able to get across them though with the help of our outrigger, some good rain gear, and brute strength.

Lake Winnibigoshish, the lake everyone had been warning us about (13 miles across), was all thing considered the easiest part of our trip so far. We lucked out as our weather radio forecasted sunshine and light tail winds. We started off planning to skirt along the banks then decided to take the risk and cut right across the lake. It turned out to be a great decision as if we had skirted the lake we would have added fifteen miles to the distance travelled. If a storm or winds had picked up while we were out in the middle of the lake we might have had a problem as the closest shore was 5 miles away. Luckily the winds did not pick up as even without the winds we ran into 3 foot waves in the middle of the lake. Some may call it luck, we call it proper preparation through the use of our resources and the understanding of our environment.

*** For those who plan to take this trip in the future, do not cross this lake unless you have some sort of stabilizer on your boat and you know the forecast is clear!!!

We are getting much better at canoeing. In the earlier stretch of the trip we struggled to make 20 mile days. We did not have very good chemistry as we both had different ways of steering the canoe; however, we have made up our own system, our canoe muscles have developed and 35 mile days are our norm. In fact we both feel comfortable enough to paddle in the front whole days at a time, switching seats daily giving the other guy a go at beating his last distance record. We are both looking forward to a sunny day that will allow us to shoot for 50 miles in a day.

We have camped out every night of the trip so far. Whether it be in an official campsite or in the woods next to a landing. Ramen noodle, oatmeal and easy cheese have been staples in our diets. This is the life.

The wildlife is abundant. We have run into all sorts of wildlife from white-tail deer to box turtles, herons, bald eagles, and river otters. Check out our pictures for a better view.

All is well. If you are planning on being in the Minneapolis area the weekend of June 16th let us know, email us at paddling4apurpose@gmail.com and we'll meet up in the city.

That's all for now. Make sure to check out our pictures posted in the links on the right hand side of our site. (PHOTOS OF THE TRIP !!!)

Rain Off....

-The Eel & The Platypus