There was a dollar general right at the bottom of the portage to start the day so I grabbed a few snacks and hit the water with almost no wind, sunny conditions and fast waters just below the dam. The river volume is now 200 yardswide, fast flowing and high volume but the underwater boulders are bigger, the log jams much larger etc.
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.
