I tried moving from island to island but crossing the main river was impossible,

The swells hitting the side of the boat just made it worse. Just made the beating more intense and the task miserable.

I passed a super friendly mom & daughter enjoying lunch on the river.  The 5 minute chat improved my attitude and let my arms recover just long enough to keep grinding. 

20 miles down river I found a camp site at a state park with a working bathroom.  It’s a simple site that apparently has cottonwood trees….  They are making it snow.  The cottonwood is everywhere!

Everyone else in the campsite has a motorhome except for me.  The weekenders walk past my hammock and snap photos of my boat.  The weekenders with dogs are always the first to stop and talk.  Then the ask questions, take photos etc.  As dinner came, the first sign of generosity came in the form of snacks, then the burger, the vanilla shake, the drinks etc.

It was all appreciated and delicious! Note to self, don’t eat your dehydrated food at 4:45pm…. Just be patient, it will happen!  As I ate everything offered, I might need to go paddle tonight just to burn some calories!

I’ll be back on the water tomorrow, hoping for a lot less

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The river is clearly the lifeblood of the towns bringing tourism, goods and fishing daily.  The river keeps these sleepy little towns alive. 

The people are what the USA is all about. They are welcoming, hard working and rooted in these towns for life.  I stopped in Bellevue just below lock 12 for the evening finding a quiet spot to camp for the night. I grabbed my flip flops and off I went to the local restaurant for a quick dinner.  Should I cook the food in my boat?  YES, but it was a 60 mile day and I wasn’t feeling it.

The guy sitting a few seats down at the diner was a clean cut guy with a farmers look.  He was tall, thin and had the cleaned up for a trip to the city look with hands that screamed hard working guy who was more comfortable in his farm clothes.  

I on the other hand, flip flops, shorts, a kayaking Texas sun shirt now permanently stained a light brown from the elbows down from being in the 700 miles of river water, a hat with a American flag on it and I’m sure smelling “river ripe” after a long day. 

We struck up conversation ranging from kids & farming to politics and life in general and an hour later he was kind enough to buy my meal, wish me well and send me on my way.  

Something tells me this is part of the Iowa way along the river. 

Today the paddling was uneventful with a handful of barges, a couple trains and a wave or two from random fisherman along the way.  

The next several days will have headwinds and weather changes but today….. was a great day to be on the mighty Mississippi paddling in Iowa.

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I didn’t stop for lunch, as I was stocked with peanut butter and bananas on the deck of my boat and the floating tanker was easy to keep moving so I figured I would take advantage of the calm water and no breeze.

This section of the river must be pretty remote. I didn’t see a single boater, train, house, person or barge all day.

When I hit the first lock of the day, the lock operator was great. He or she saw me and already started filling the lock so as soon as I pulled the cord he/ she was already opening the gates. I appreciated the efficiency for sure! The operator didn’t even walk outside, all I saw was an arm covered in safety yellow waving from a tinted window as I waved back.

30 miles into the day I found out that tomorrows wind will be a headwind 18mph steady with 40 mph gust and 40% chance of rain, so logistics mode kicked in. There was a 2nd lock 20 miles down river and virtually nothing in between so it was hammer time to make that lock before darkness set in. I didn’t really want to set up a campsite in the rain and sit in the woods waiting 24 hours for the wind to stop, pack up wet camping gear and continue to head south.

I was talking to a project manager/ friend from Washington state on the phone about a work project and she went it to PM mode explaining that there was a really small hotel below the lock in a postage stamp of a town that would work to ride out the winds. She called and spoke with Tammy the inn keeper explaining the situation…

As I got to the 2nd lock at mile 48.9, the winds had already gone from calm to a headwind making the last few miles a challenge and the sun had already set for the day. The lock was fairly quick, and I was very lucky as there was a large barge headed up river that I beat to the lock by about 10 minutes. This was the 2nd lock of the day… I didn’t even see a waving arm as I passed. Commercial traffic has right of way and the large barges have a 2.5 hour lock time. I would have been transferred in complete darkness with a headlamp which would have sucked.

Person #1 of the day
Tammy the inn keeper met me at the waters edge, handed me a key card and said goodnight. She was the 75 year old, long grey haired inn keeper you would expect who usually went home at 7pm on the dot. I was thankful she stayed until I got there to make sure I received a key. I asked if there was any food close, and she replied “nope…. Especially on a Monday” she then turned around and headed home for the evening.

The hotel was a really old building that had been remodeled at some point. It was originally built in 1858 as a hardware warehouse, the building later operated as the Empire Button Works, stamping mother-of-pearl buttons from Mississippi River mussel shells.

I quickly secured my boat for high winds on the side of the river, unloaded my gear in my room and headed out into the town for the one restaurant that Google Maps said was actually open on to find after my 10 minute walk it was actually closed. I quickly search on Google showed that the grocery store was open for 10 more minutes so I went a new direction.

As I walked down main street, every store was closed, I never saw a car, heard a dog bark etc. It was eerily quiet…. Dead calm. The town was super clean, well laid out and clearly designed for winter weather with double front doors and garages in the back or side of the building and homes but no sign of life.

Person #2 of the day
The grocery store parking lot was empty and I figured that it would be closed as well. The store was easily a 1980’s built store with old school front doors, low ceilings and 3 registers and 1 employee cleaning the register area just to kill time until I was done. 1/3rd of the interior lights had already been turned off. The others, a cool white yellowing glow over the shelves, not a LED bulb or sign of modern lighting in site. As I walked in the cashier didn’t even look up to see who I was, she didn’t care as I was either a tourist or a local who was out of ice cream at this time of night. This type of town has no crime, everyone knows everyone. I had burned 5600 calories today so it was a quick junk food dash to get out prior to the ugly looks happening as she looked at the clock on the wall glancing up at me as I walked the isles.

Off I went with a couple bags of calories which would make a health coach roll over and stroke out walking towards the button factory I went, walking down the middle of Main Street, without a soul looking out a window, walking a dog or driving past. This was so creepy, so odd, yet so amazing!!!! As I passed the small businesses, store fronts all with hand made signs with random hours I realized this is the part of America that people truly enjoy, not a corporate franchise in the entire city. If “Fred” isn’t open, you call his cell phone and he will open up. I kinda like it.

Back at the Button factory, I didn’t see a guest, and no cars in the parking lot , not a sound. Not a peep…. Just Steve in room #1

Had the rapture happened? Was it me and 2 older women who didn’t make the cut? I wonder which part of town they will claim and when will the zombies hit? Should I set a booby trap at the end of the hallway before my junk food coma hits?

643am…. I awoke, not realizing I had even fell asleep.

The zombies are here.

The thud of them stomping down the hallway was obvious. I jumped out of bed to check the door. I was confused about the sounds the zombies make. In the movies the noises are deep guttural sounds, these noises are high pitched squeals like children playing……

As the zombie children ran up and down the hallway, once, twice, 42 times I attempted to ignore them for a few more minutes of blissful sleep…. Not an option, I needed coffee. As I opened the door the 3 little screaming zombies all dressed exactly the same in Amish dresses instantly froze mode stride, and looked at me terrified as I said hello. The 3 women in the hallway dressed in the same style all looked like duplicates. It was clear the family tree was a telephone pole. Someone in the community must not have explained hotel ethics like they did furniture construction. This family of zombies had turned the hotel hallway into a personal play area/ daycare.

As I walked past, I said good morning to the 3 ladies as they sat motionless, they refused to make eye contact or reply. I am not sure if it was me or the 3 smaller zombie duplicates that had them so terrified. I instinctively looked for the subtle hint of the help me hand sign for human trafficking.

I walked outside into the wind and rain to get coffee, hoping that Google Maps could read the hours on the hand written signs… I was pleased seeing 2 cars drive past me, and a person walking a dog down the sidewalk.

Maybe the rapture didn’t happen, I dodged a bullet!

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Sam picked up “Uncle Doug” and the waved as I approached the lock above his town and then I paddled the 3-4 miles down to the spot Sam found as an easy takeout.  The takeout was fairly flat, but had a black muddy drop off just under the water so I was cautious not to take a swim, but Sam wasn’t as lucky and ended up with a nice muddy pair of pants and boots. 

We got my boat out of the water and made the short trip to the hotel and the gameplan was to lock my boat up behind a trailer for the night.  Sam casually brought up the fact the town was ok but the panhandlers and homeless had moved in recently and had become an issue. As we got to the back of the trailer Sam said “look at that, people like that are the problem”. I looked to my right and there was a panhandler passed out behind the trailer covered by a cardboard sign, beer bottles on the ground and his belongings stacked behind him.  He was a middle aged man who was down on his luck. I looked at his sign “Baja or Bust” and thought wow… that dude knows a great spot to go and had great taste. Clear intoxicated, and passed out cold…. I decided I needed to sit down next to him for a photo opportunity like a creepy stalker so cautiously walked up and sat down next to him for photo.  Once I sat down, I happened to look at the side of his beard thinking wow…. That looks like my good friend from Washington states beard.  

It was at that point I had flashbacks of 3 years ago when I surprised him showing up at his house disguised as a “State  Inspector” in the middle of his home renovation and super stressful month in his life lol

At that point, I knew I had been had, appreciated the NORRA race book and props he had placed on the ground as last week was when we normally have a trip to Baja, MX planned together. 

I truly have amazing friends.  Thank you all for showing up to give support! 

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Lake Pepin was absolutely calm this morning, a completely different look than the wind swell racing across it last night.  As I hit the water, I didn’t really look at the map, I just knew down river would lead to another lock and eventually more river flow.  10 miles of flat water to start the morning was a slow slog, but I did get a chance to put on some random music and get in the groove.  

As the lake narrows, large canyon walls start to form leading towards the lock.  As I got closer to the lock, I began to see the tree covered canyon walls and am sure the colors looked amazing. As a colorblind person, normally it isn’t very impressive, but I’m sure it was fabulous!

The first lock of the day was super easy, and I soon found myself at the 25 mile mark, the current was an easy pace, consistent and organized.  The temperature was getting warmer so I decided to shed some clothes over a quick lunch.  I usually throw the fishing pole a few times at lunch just to make sure I take a good 20 minutes to lest my shoulders rest a bit. I caught a nice bass, grabbed a quick photo for my buddy Juan and let him go to get bigger. 

40 miles came and I decided I would stop for a quite bite at a restaurant in a small little river town.   The bartender had a shirt on from Port Aransas, Tx and was a snow bird so we talked Texas for a bit and then back on the water.

I started looking for a camp spot for the night, but every sweet spot had a sign that said restricted area for wildlife so I just decided to hit the next lock and as I waited I looked at the Map I noticed a campsite from a river angel who reached out.  After the lock opens, take an immediate right turn, and cut into the swamps winding your way around to the other side of the river.   After that interesting paddle I found a great campsite with hammock posts already in the ground right next to the river.  

Next to my campsite I met a great guy who rode his motorcycle with a sidecar to the river to sit on the bench and have a beer.  He was remembering old times and telling stories so I sat, and enjoyed the moment with him.  He was a Navy Vet who had been riding motorcycles for 60 years.  He was a great guy! 

Another good day on the water!

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I’m sure this spot has been used for 100’s of years by some really cool explorers.  I looked for a guess book, but it must have been misplaced lol.

My day started earlier than usual with warmer weather and a nest of eagles screaming for food as soon as the sun came up. 

I was packed up and on the water by 8am and headed towards the city of Minneapolis.  The notes I had was there would be a long portage and to exit at the flag poles.  As the skyline came into view and the large barge moorings started to pop up I realized again that the peaceful water of the north are long gone and that the hustle bustle of the river has started. 

I saw the flags waving, and found the stairs to get out.  Another set of wooden stairs and a pile of rocks in the water to work around, but the weather was nice so I would just take my time and get the work done.  

Once my boat was on the walking path,  everything loaded and walking shoes on I checked Google Maps realizing I got out 3/4 of a mile upriver of the actual take out and flags I was supposed to see.

Oh well, let’s get walking!

The park trail was great the entire way, but the people… not so much.  One guy with a dog warned me if my car was on the street that every car had been broken into.  Other than that, people with ear buds in, no eye contact, but oblivious robots of every kind.  As most of you know, I go out of my way to make eye contact and say hello…..  not a soul would even attempt it. 

I found the correct flags, took a quick photo and got back on the trail to leave the city of warmth and friendliness! 

I hit the put in, headed down river and headed for my first LOCK transfer! I approached the lock on the river right, and from my online understanding there is a rope that alerts the lock operator that you would like to pass the lock.  The current was strong so I approached close to the shore, close to the 20 foot tall lock wall to the first set of metal ladders that had been embedded into the concrete walls.  I saw the sign that said the lock operated until 5:30 pm on weekends but missed seeing the rope and the huge sign that said pull rope here.  If I would have been a power boat 30 feet from the wall it would have been clear as day.  

I kept paddling closer to the lock doors cautiously until a voice over the speaker said paddle back upstream to the rope and helped me out.  The lock would take 10-15 minutes to fill and then he would let me in.  As I paddled in, he said stay in the center and enjoy the ride.  The lock was 30’ wide and 300’ long, with massive metal doors and hydraulics controlling the flow of water. (approximately 1,009,870 US Gallons of water flushed down river for a kayak) Once I was in, the water started falling at an incredible pace, but there was zero current.  It must dump from the very bottom some how, but in 4 minutes I dropped 15 feet and the doors open and I was free to paddle down river. 

My take out for the day was St. Paul about 15 miles down river.  The flow was good and that 15 miles was adventure free paddling in a sunny 55 degree Mn. spring day. 

As I got to my portage, I looked up and saw a stranger in a Subaru  assault vest ( a vest of neutral color, slightly puffy worn by a person in a Subaru) waving franticly at me.  As I got closer, I realized it was Sam. 

He gave me directions to a better take out and will help with a quick resupply and gear check. 

Tomorrow is a day off… I need it to let my hands and shoulders recover, clean my gear and enjoy the sites and sounds of humanity.

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Once I warmed up and got on the water I met my first group of kayakers on the water. Paddlebridge.com was out on the water doing an island hopping trip. Great group of guides and super friendly.

A river angel showed up in his mini jet boat Shannon Tatro to check on me as I paddled down river. As a racer, I was totally checking out his boat at the dock 20 minutes earlier. He was great!

River Angel Katie Voss who I saw in a restaurant last week showed up to help me with the portage and gave me some great snacks for the river tomorrow.

The ice cream stand owner was a super funny guy. He said it was ok to take the slide down to the water when I was done with my ice cream.

Easy day of paddling ending on an island with a great view of the water. I feel like Tom Sawyer for the night!

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I like to warm up in the morning with the first 2 miles just dropping the paddle in the water with zero pull or effort just to get everything warmed up, blood flowing and get my mental attitude ready for another long day of challenges.

About the 1 mile mark, I noticed the “large rapids ahead” sign at the last minute as it was camouflaged nicely by the trees.  My brain raced quickly, did I miss this on the map? Am I on the right river? Is everything on the deck of my boat lashed down? 

I have paddled class 5 rapids many times, on many rivers and love the challenge in the short boat with the right gear and proper scouting…..

My 18’ carbon fiber sea kayak loaded to 325lbs of the max 330lbs volume with gear on the deck and no knowledge of the rapids was not how I wanted to start my day.  

Speed is maneuverability on the water, so start digging hard, read the rapids you can see and keep moving forward.  You the current to stay in the deep water, the eddies from boulders to slow you down and move from 1 problem to the next until you have navigated the entire rapid as a whole.  

I was very happy to see that the rapids are a long section of steps dropping from one river level to the next under a large bridge making it easier to navigate and also easier to find all of my gear floating down river if it went bad. 

As I cleared the last section I was stoked to know I could handle that volume of water in a boat designed more like a tanker, less like the speed boat usually needed and also that I wasn’t making the 5pm local news as my bright yellow boat was dashed to pieces on the rocks lol

The next several miles of River had smooth currents great paddle speeds and became very enjoyable allowing me time to reflect on what could’ve happened and what did happen upriver. As the water slowed down I knew I was getting closer to the next dam and portage. The water backs up more like a lake and the river flow goes to virtually zero mph requiring a little more paddle work but still enjoyable. There is a portage at every dam and of course, like most of the others so they’re very poorly marked and require paddling almost up to the dam to the big sign tha says “danger you’re gonna die”and then off to the left or right you’ll find a small little pathway, allowing you to get out of the water and start your portage. As I pulled up to the stairs at this portage I thought wow I’ve gotta take everything out of my boat and climb up the stairs and then put everything back in my boat to start the portage, which is never fun, but I noticed a small duck sitting right next to the stairs and she was guarding her three or four little baby ducklings that could’ve only been a day or two old so I decided I would paddle back up river a couple hundred yards to find another spot to get my boat out as the last thing she needed to do is have more effort or problems than she already had in life.  As I took my boat out of the water and got everything situated for my hike there was a lovely path along the water that was well taken care of by either the Homeowners or the city park workers who did an amazing job of maintaining the grass, the flowers and the overall atmosphere of the walk.  The sign at the portage said that it was about a 600 to 700 yard walk so I decided to hustle to get below the dam, get back in the water. As I approached where the put in was supposed to be I noticed it was about 30 Rickty stairs and steps down a cliff to the water below. Just as I unloaded all my gear again, a nice guy named Mike the arborist who had just moved to the area, happened to walk by and said he had carried his canoe down the cliff many times and he would gladly help me so he grabbed the front of my boat and down the stairs we went.  After multiple trips up and down the stairs to get all the equipment I checked leg day off my workout list and got back on the water!  

The water below this dam was wider than the ones above it and as I scanned for possible issues  I noticed across the river that there happened to be three canoes and a bunch of guys getting ready to get on the water so I decided to ferry across the 200 yard wide river with a little extra effort to go say hi as these are literally the first three boaters I’ve seen on the water since lake Itasca. As I pulled up, I noticed they had all three canoes lashed together with lumber. They had chairs built for comfort, not performance and gear stacked everywhere and they were very welcoming and accommodating as I pulled up. This group of guys have been paddling this river on this weekend for the last 48 years and had absolutely wonderful attitude & great personalities. They weren’t trying to get anywhere in a hurry. They were just trying to do what they did when they were kids.  As most of you know I’m typically not a big drinker but I did celebrate their 48 years of success by drinking a hams beer or as the local call it, Minnesota piss beer. I bid them farewell and kept going down river as I wanted to hit a campsite just above the town of Monticello,MN. My campsite on the side of the river today didn’t have any trees, but there was a large section of grass which made it nice right next to the water to enjoy the end of the day.  

Tomorrow will be a Saturday on the river, which I would assume will be more people and more interesting things to see as I continue south towards Minneapolis.

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I woke up about 7:30am everything had a slight frost on it so I went down to the small dock, with two chairs already warmed by the morning sun and a fishing pole ready to go.  Scott and his family clearly have a slice of heaven in the backyard.

Scott walked out to the dock with a plate of eggs, sausages and a perfectly made bagel & coffee.  We sat and talked paddling, life, family etc instantly clicking and had a great conversation. As I packed my gear we talked about his adventures, going to Alaska and his canoe trip down river a day or two behind me. 

I suggested he watch the movie Dust 2 Glory (2005 racing movie) to give him an idea of my other activities.

Maybe I’ll get lucky and find him adventuring in Baja with us feeding him tacos and goat cheese!

paddling to the first dam of the day was fast and smooth. The current was perfect for fun paddling and the wind was almost perfectly calm. There was a portage a few miles down river that required hiking shoes, had stairs, a small creek to cross and was clearly designed by someone without boats.  That guy needs a job at parks and recreation, not canoeing and kayaking… maybe he owned a “learing center”

The river below the dam was quick again and I made good time towards the Sartell dam at 32 miles for the day. Sam checked in and was in St Cloud at the skate park which is apparently amazing.

I have been following all the beavers along the way looking for the craziest tree.  I found it!  I kind of look at them like myself on the river. One bite at a time and the entire thing will be conquered!

He showed up at the portage and fed me dinner.  I think he likes these MN beer joints and is afraid to let his little soldier go solo lol

Overall, great day on the water!

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It’s interesting to see the change of birds and change of greenery as I continue to head south in Minnesota. I was followed by 100 small birds, all eating the insects flying just above the water. They were incredibly nimble and didn’t worry about me at all and often times with flew within 5 to 10 feet batting back and forth.

The river started to get much wider, but in many parts, still incredibly shallow sometimes only 10 to 20 inch’s deep in the really fast rapids and then other times I’m sure incredibly deep as the current continued to boil as the top of the water danced and often looking like giant mushrooms.

As it got closer to Little Falls, I started looking for places to camp for the night, scouting the shore for an easy spot to secure my boat, that didn’t have too much walking, but I didn’t really have much luck above the dam. The sun was dropping quickly and I needed to make the decision to portage tonight or in the morning. I stopped to talk to a gentleman on the side of the river who had a great yard and thought maybe he would offer but he didn’t and told me the public campground was about 10 miles further down river, but that I needed to portage the little Falls dam first.

My cell phone was on about 4% battery life so I dug in deep picking up my paddling pace  and got to the little Falls Dam as quickly as I could to avoid the quickly approaching darkness. The signs for the portage were not very well displayed, and it took me a minute to figure out the portage was after the small bridge with the signs “DANGER DO NOT ENTER”.  Once I found the portage, I realized that it was three or four large concrete steps, which meant I needed to completely unload my boat and carry it up to the highest level, but needed to wait until a young man finished taking his semi sunset photos of his electric scooter bike for his Instagram page. I’m assuming.

Once I got everything out of my boat and carried everything up the steps, boat loaded on my two wheel dolly and everything placed back in my boat I then walked down the sidewalk for the hundred yard walk to the lower portage area only to discover it had more stairs incredibly fast current and a gigantic dead Canadian goose floating circles in the current, making it a less than an ideal attempt to get back in the water. I walked by a few homeless people as I continued down the riverbank another couple hundred yards only to find that the majority of the bank was river rock, and incredibly hard to work with. I got lucky and found one spot that I could get my boat down and all my gear down and get back into my boat and headed down River. The only downfall was this spot was in a whirlpool of foaming slurry.  All of the gross things the bottom of the river pulls up.   Just as the sun was setting I paddled into the current expected to have another several mile long hunt for a campsite in the dark.  A short distance down river on my river right I found a house with a hammock and a small boat dock  but more importantly it had a spot where I could get out of the water safely so I decided I would knock on the front door and ask if I could camp on the river bank out of pure necessity. It was quickly getting really dark and I was definitely cold. Just as I walked up the river bank a gentleman “Scott S” walked out of his back door and in 10 seconds or less said that he was a paddler and that I was more than welcome to use his riverbank and his picnic table for the evening. As I unloaded my boat, he went inside and came back out with a cinnamon roll some cookies a banana and an orange. I was very grateful and thankful and I look forward to talking with him more in the morning as they are planning a two day trip down River later on this week.

There is a full moon tonight, I can hear the train in the distance and know the river is flowing south towards the sea.  I will continue to follow the same path tomorrow!

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