Rolling on the River

Thanks to the Google backup on my phone, the few photos I did take during my trip down the St. Louis River were saved. Here is Nikolai and me on shore getting ready to launch for our geocaching trip on the river.

By Allan Olson

Since I am able to put together this weekly jumble about my crazy life, it means I survived yet another crazy idea of mine – this time spending about 10 hours in a canoe.

A few weeks ago a geocaching friend informed me that she was going to remove her St. Louis River caches, and anyone who went with to help her could log them all. The problem was finding a date that worked. Luckily for me, since I inquired about doing them earlier in the summer, she consulted me on what was a good date to make the journey. I knew I had one of two weekends open for it in the next month, and this past Saturday was the date that was chosen.

Our meeting place was two hours and 20 minutes (one way) from my home, and we were scheduled to meet at 8 a.m. sharp on Saturday. I set a goal to be there plenty early, so on Friday night I made sure everything I could possibly think of was loaded in the Yukon and that the canoe was strapped on tight. Another goal was to get to sleep before 10 p.m. because I had a date with the alarm clock at 4:45 a.m. Well, it was after 11 p.m. before I was able to get to bed, and my internal alarm went off at about 4:30 a.m., so I decided to get up.

My partner for this adventure was the only one I knew I could count on – Nikolai. The others are too young, and frankly the weight difference in the canoe would have been even more lopsided. The two of us were in the vehicle and on the road by 5 a.m., and we hit one of the fast food joints in Grand Rapids for breakfast right as they opened the doors an hour later. We arrived at the designated meeting place at 7:40 a.m. and were greeted by another brave soul who was venturing out on this river journey with us.

Nikolai and I set about removing our canoe and supplies for a day on the river, and at 8:30 a.m. everyone was present and accounted for, ready to embark on the adventure. We came to discover that neither the put-in or get-out locations were very user friendly – both had a steep bank, and river travelers launch however they like. Nikolai put the back of the canoe in the water and held the front on the bank, assuring me he was going to be able to hold it against the current. I was sure this was not the best method, but trusted his call. My mistake. I got in and quickly found out he couldn’t hold it. Into the river I went for the first of three dumps. He apologized, and this time we turned the craft around and did it my way – the correct way.

Things were going pretty smoothly after that until we hit the first set of rapids. Yikes! My only thought was that we were going to hit a rock in those rapids and the canoe was going to tip over and we would lose everything, and one or both of us would get hurt. We eventually got to a spot where I could get out, and I decided I was going to walk alongside and lead him through the rapids and he could stay in the canoe. That was fine until about halfway, when he was getting a little nervous and said, “I’m getting out, too.” To be honest, between the rushing water and his extra weight it was getting hard for me to hang on to the canoe. We both carefully guided the canoe and ourselves through the rapids until we came to a calm spot beyond the rapids where we could get back in the canoe. The rest of the crew that was floating down the river with us was there waiting, as they were in kayaks and so didn’t have any problems going through the rapids. We repeated this process two more times during the trip; at other “interesting” locations we found enough room on one side of the channel or the other to avoid any trouble.

As for getting dumped out of the canoe, neither of us remembers how the second occurrence happened, but the third one was quite memorable. We were a little ahead of the crew and I told Nikolai to head for that overhanging tree branch, where we could hang out until the rest caught up. According to Nikolai, we came into the branches too hard and so he couldn’t hang on, and that’s why we flipped. My theory was that he wasn’t paying close enough attention, and that’s why he got caught in limbo with the tree branches and tipped us both overboard. 

Unfortunately, that was the wipeout that also took out my phone – it was shot. Even after 12-plus hours in rice, it’s dead. Honestly, he felt bad, and I was pretty calm about it – a little annoyed perhaps, but in reality it was just as much my fault as his. But it’s more fun to blame him, so I will.

Despite a few close calls, we didn’t tip again for the rest of the trip. I’m not sure if we got our balance figured out or if we were just lucky, because on more than one occasion he was standing up in the canoe hanging on to a branch trying to remove a geocache with a pliers, while I’m in the back trying to keep the tipsy craft balanced.

That 16.6 mile trip on the St. Louis River lasted about 9.5 hours before we once again carefully scrambled out of the canoe and onto a steep bank to remove our canoes from the water. We got ours up the bank, and my intent was to help the rest of the crew get up the bank, but I was having a difficulty finding my land legs again, so I left it up to my young son to help in that effort.

By the time we went to recover our vehicles (a 30-minute round trip) and got all our gear and canoe loaded and helped the others, it was close to 7:30 p.m. before we all said our typical lengthy Minnesota goodbye for at least the third time and headed off in our separate directions.

It was a great trip and I don’t regret a single minute of it, not even the three spills or the destroyed phone. I spent all those hours with my son, making memories that we can both laugh about for years to come. For me, that’s what’s important.

I got a new phone on Sunday, and hopefully my insurance will take care of most of that bill. I also spend time helping with the girl’s room. While Nikolai and I were out playing on Saturday, my wife and the other kids got the room painted. I shampooed the carpet twice, and hopefully by Tuesday they will be all moved in again. Next up, the boys’ room.

I got my boat motor back from the repair shop, so with nothing else on the docket for the coming weekend, it’s time for us to find some fish – hopefully.  I will make an effort to remember to take along a waterproof box on any future boating adventures!

Rest assured, no matter what activities we partake in this summer, we will be taking photos to document our busy lives. I encourage you to do the same! 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.