Minnesota's nickname is no joke. We have been going through plenty of long and challenging lakes the past several days!
On Day 7 (June 6) we made great progress. We paddled 31 miles from Island Point to the start of Lake Winnibigoshish (Lake Winnie). We stopped for a short lunch break at Star Island on Cass Lake and then continued our trek. There were plenty of basic rapids that we went through, but didn't have too much difficulty. However, I know what these waters are capable of doing to my kayak. I witnessed a shipwrecked canoe that was twisted, mangled and lodged between some large rocks. Next to it was a life preserver with no person to be seen. Hopefully they made it out okay, but it just goes to show you the power of the current. I will never underestimate it's strength. We got lost for about 45 minutes due to the excessive flooding of the river, but our GPS helped us get back on track. We went through Wolf Lake, Andrusia Lake (which had very big, dangerous waves) and Cass Lake. Once we made it to the other side of Cass Lake, we had to portage around Knutson Dam. From there we made it to Winnie Campground and stayed there for the night. The highlight of the day was seeing 10 bald eagles! I was lucky enough to even see one catch a fish not too far away from me. That was something I never thought I'd get to witness. Awesome!
We crossed the great Lake Winnie on Day 8 (June 7). I thought this day would never end! It took an entire 8 hours just to make it to the other side. The downside of paddling across lakes is that you don't have the current to steer you in the right direction like on the river. If we stopped paddling for even a minute the headwind would take us in the wrong direction, so we were constantly working and paddling our asses off. We played it safe by riding the shoreline up the north end of the lake to avoid large waves. Gabe had to stop several times to use his bilge pump to empty water from his kayak. His back end was almost under water, which slowed us down a lot too. We emptied it when we reached the north end. We spotted this bridge in the distance that we had to keep paddling toward, and for about 2-3 hours I swear it never looked like we were getting any closer to it. It literally felt like we were getting nowhere, but then very slowly we started to creep up to it. Once we made it there, we had to portage up and over a dam. On the other side was Winnie Dam Recreation Area, where lots of people were fishing. We ended up camping there for the night after a very long day.
We took it easy on Day 9 (June 8) and only paddled 18 miles to Gambler's Point. Both of us were extremely exhausted from the previous day and needed some time to recuperate. Getting back on the river was a very nice change of pace from yesterday. I definitely enjoyed the scenic views. It was a very beautiful, but very hot, day. I noticed that I'm developing some pretty crazy tan lines. I removed my fingerless paddling gloves only to reveal that the tips of my fingers were tanned. They were also pretty swollen so it's difficult to even clench my fists. We made it to Gambler's Point with no problems. For dinner we tried something a little different. After getting sick of living off of cold MRE's, we decided to throw several of them inside a pot, mix them together and heat it up. The concoction consisted of two Chili with Beans MRE's, a Chili Mac MRE, a packet of jalapeno cheese spread and a packet of bacon cheese spread. Although it looked gross, it was actually incredible. I think any hot meal would taste incredible right now though. I really miss pizza...
Today (Day 10) we plan on making it to Grand Rapids, where we will meet our first contact on the river, Jim Lewis. We'll be spending the night at his house and re-supplying with anything we need. I'm really excited to talk with him because he has also taken this exact same trip and even wrote a book about it, which you can find here.
On Day 7 (June 6) we made great progress. We paddled 31 miles from Island Point to the start of Lake Winnibigoshish (Lake Winnie). We stopped for a short lunch break at Star Island on Cass Lake and then continued our trek. There were plenty of basic rapids that we went through, but didn't have too much difficulty. However, I know what these waters are capable of doing to my kayak. I witnessed a shipwrecked canoe that was twisted, mangled and lodged between some large rocks. Next to it was a life preserver with no person to be seen. Hopefully they made it out okay, but it just goes to show you the power of the current. I will never underestimate it's strength. We got lost for about 45 minutes due to the excessive flooding of the river, but our GPS helped us get back on track. We went through Wolf Lake, Andrusia Lake (which had very big, dangerous waves) and Cass Lake. Once we made it to the other side of Cass Lake, we had to portage around Knutson Dam. From there we made it to Winnie Campground and stayed there for the night. The highlight of the day was seeing 10 bald eagles! I was lucky enough to even see one catch a fish not too far away from me. That was something I never thought I'd get to witness. Awesome!
We crossed the great Lake Winnie on Day 8 (June 7). I thought this day would never end! It took an entire 8 hours just to make it to the other side. The downside of paddling across lakes is that you don't have the current to steer you in the right direction like on the river. If we stopped paddling for even a minute the headwind would take us in the wrong direction, so we were constantly working and paddling our asses off. We played it safe by riding the shoreline up the north end of the lake to avoid large waves. Gabe had to stop several times to use his bilge pump to empty water from his kayak. His back end was almost under water, which slowed us down a lot too. We emptied it when we reached the north end. We spotted this bridge in the distance that we had to keep paddling toward, and for about 2-3 hours I swear it never looked like we were getting any closer to it. It literally felt like we were getting nowhere, but then very slowly we started to creep up to it. Once we made it there, we had to portage up and over a dam. On the other side was Winnie Dam Recreation Area, where lots of people were fishing. We ended up camping there for the night after a very long day.
We took it easy on Day 9 (June 8) and only paddled 18 miles to Gambler's Point. Both of us were extremely exhausted from the previous day and needed some time to recuperate. Getting back on the river was a very nice change of pace from yesterday. I definitely enjoyed the scenic views. It was a very beautiful, but very hot, day. I noticed that I'm developing some pretty crazy tan lines. I removed my fingerless paddling gloves only to reveal that the tips of my fingers were tanned. They were also pretty swollen so it's difficult to even clench my fists. We made it to Gambler's Point with no problems. For dinner we tried something a little different. After getting sick of living off of cold MRE's, we decided to throw several of them inside a pot, mix them together and heat it up. The concoction consisted of two Chili with Beans MRE's, a Chili Mac MRE, a packet of jalapeno cheese spread and a packet of bacon cheese spread. Although it looked gross, it was actually incredible. I think any hot meal would taste incredible right now though. I really miss pizza...
Today (Day 10) we plan on making it to Grand Rapids, where we will meet our first contact on the river, Jim Lewis. We'll be spending the night at his house and re-supplying with anything we need. I'm really excited to talk with him because he has also taken this exact same trip and even wrote a book about it, which you can find here.