Foiled by Weather Again

If not for the flooding, we would have been standing in acampsite for this picture. As it was, the water had nearlyovertaken the entire site and was still rising at a rate ofnearly 43,000 cubic feet per second. Despite being forcedout a day early, we still had fun
Foiled by Weather Again
By Allan Olson
It appears that this is not the year for camping for this family as once again Mother Nature had a way of interfering with our camping plans once again.
This trip was planned for the middle of the week, we left home Tuesday morning by 8 a.m. and we hit the road pulling three canoes, the back of the vehicle packed to the top with food and clothing for seven people, along with paddles and tents.
This was the first time in several years that we had pulled a trailer of any sort behind us, as I much prefer that we cram and stuff rather than hauling something behind us. However, this trip was supposed to be about water recreation and the rental fees were a little spendy for our budget so we borrowed some canoes from family instead.  We set our course for Interstate State Park along the St. Croix River in the little town of Taylor Falls, Mn about 35 miles from North Branch. After several stops to secure our load, including one stop to fix a broken ratchet strap and one stop for last minute provisions we finally hit the campsite around 3:30 p.m.
The first order of business was to get the tents set-up and the vehicle unloaded. Once those task were accomplished we visited the canoe rental place in the park where they strongly advised us against any canoeing that day due to the high winds that had just resulted in a rescue of another canoer. They informed us that our chances for the rest of the week were also bleak, depending on the wind and water.
My wife rested, the kids played in the “clubhouse” for campers and I ventured off in search of the state park multi-cache. I completed a couple of the stages, headed back to camp and sat down for a few minutes before my wondering feet got the itch to get moving again and I decided to finish the rest of the stages to find the cache.
My brother and family arrived to their campsite adjacent to ours about 5:30 p.m. and the two camps became one and the level of fun and crazy both increased. Thankfully, our two families have camped enough together that we are able to have a lot of fun and bounce off each other and mooch off each other. Usually if one of us has forgotten something, the other has it and the kids when they are hungry just jump from cooler to cooler and tote to tote looking for food.  That evening, some of the crew wanted to take a walk down the trail, I’m not sure that they read the sign at the beginning, noting that the entire length of it was 1.5 miles one way. However, we set course, my brother and I waited for Abigail who was playing in the clubhouse and then had to go back to get something from camp before we ventured on the trail. This trail was a windy dirt trail of rock, roots and the occasional stairs and proved to be a workout. Some of the party only went about half way before turning back to camp, while my brother and I along with a couple of kids made the full trek, one way.  The return trip was far easier as we asked my wife to come and pick us up at the end.
Wednesday morning, the wind was still pushing its strength and we knew there was no way we would be going anywhere near the river with the canoes especially with the kids, so we hitched up and headed to Interstate State Park in Wisconsin. Normally this trip is only about 10 minutes, however due to the detour because of road construction it took us about 30 minutes. We inquired at the entrance about canoeing in the lake in the park and we were informed that it too has risen dramatically due to the river and would be really difficult for those inexperienced to paddle. We were directed to another lake further inland that we were informed should be better for what we were looking to do. We unloaded our canoes there, Nikolai and my niece took off in one, while Susan and a nephew took off in another, after struggling for some time, Nikolai and his canoe partner made it back, but Susan and my nephew did not. They were forced to beach the canoe and drag it up a hill through a yard and my brother and I headed to pick them up. The rest of the time spent there was just swimming and having some lunch prior to heading back to camp.
Back at camp, we noticed the canoe rental was closed and blocked and some of the campsites were also closed off, we figured that ours would be safe as we were a little higher than those. That evening, we headed back on the road just a few miles to Franconia Sculpture Gardens, a fantastic place to visit with some very amazing pieces of art, best of all it was free and provided a place to get some exercise while viewing the pieces of art.
We finished off the evening with S’mores for the second night before retiring for the evening. We hadn’t decided on any plans for Thursday but we were sure we would find something to do. We packed up for the day, made sure the tents were closed and we headed out, but we didn’t get far. A park ranger was near some blockades and he first talked with my brother and then came to our vehicle and delivered the news. We had to be out by 4 p.m. the campground was being closed to all campers. We turned around headed back to camp and started tearing down. We had contemplated staying a night or two somewhere else, but by the time we had everything packed up, we didn’t want to unpack it for a day and reload it up again. So after some touring around the country and a visit to another park downriver we headed home arriving about 9 p.m.
Friday, I spent the day working, which included the Leech Lake Tribal College 25th anniversary celebration, Saturday we headed to my cousins for a birthday party for his son, we spent the night enjoyed some laughs and games and headed home early the next morning. This weekend, will probably be not quite as busy and perhaps we might find some time for the lake.
Enjoy your summer, and be sure to snap a photo or two to preserve a lifetime of memories. Thanks for reading, and have a great week! Feel free to drop me a line at cltimes1@arvig.net or stop by the office for a visit. To our Law Enforcement officers and other emergency personnel, be safe and thank you for what you do!


                                      

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