Paddlesports

The hottest day of the year (so far) may not be the best time to paddle down a small, sheltered stream, but there I was. Apple Creek is a small, muddy tributary to the Missouri River. It winds through most of Burleigh County, but the section I paddled started at Swenson Park, on Highway 1804 just south of Bismarck. There is a low-flow dam just upstream from the park (you can see it on the other side of the highway when you put in). If you put in further upstream you’ll want to be aware of this obstacle.

Woke up with the sun. This is getting to be a habit. I actually slept really well, must be getting used to this pad. To bad I’m not staying another day or two. Right as I was about to break camp, it rained. Fortunately, it only lasted a couple minutes, but the tent and ground tarp had to be packed out wet. Paddled back to the portage. The lake was quite a site. A rock just outside of the bay had a vaguely bird like top. The top of the rock stood up, pooped, and waddled to the water. The “rock” turned out to be a grebe, sitting on a rock.

The aches and pains set in this morning, it took a little while to get going. Fortunately, I had some ibuprofen along, which helped me function enough to start moving. The portage to Hassel wasn’t too bad, but a bit long. Shoes were the footwear of the day, I think my landings and launches were cleaner because of my new footwear. I lost my sandals when I took the canoe, fortunately they were easy to find. A valuable lesson learned: if it isn’t strapped down don’t expect it to be there the next time you look.

The goal today was Battle Lake, and it was a battle to get there. The sleepless nights had caught up, and so I started out later than I wanted. Breakfast today was reconstituted hash browns and a western omelet (powdered eggs). The cooking process was a little more involved than I would have liked, especially for a day when I was going to break camp. It wasn’t until almost 9am that everything was loaded up and I got underway.

Not long after I had fallen asleep, I awoke to the sound of rain pattering on the tent. Normally, the rainfly would handle it, but there’s more stuff involved this time around and not everything fits into the tent. A quick inventory from memory didn’t turn up anything that would get too damaged from the rain. “The food bag!” flashed in my mind, as I leapt up and ran outside. Wait, should I bring it in? Wasn’t there a lot of advice indicating its a really bad idea to bring your food inside your tent? I came to a quick compromise and set the bag next to the tent, then gathered up the remaining external gear, like the fishing pole and life jacket, and piled them next to the tent. There was a “Now what?” moment, until I remembered the tarp. With it being pitch black and raining, there wasn’t much time to plan out a proper strategy to hang the thing, so it was just draped over the tent and miscellaneous gear. After staking and tying down the tarp, I called it good and crawled back inside to the still dry tent.

Sleep is hard to come by when you’re already keyed up, and you have to get up by a certain time that’s way earlier than the usual wakeup time. Carousing boy scouts don’t help the situation any. Five AM finally arrived. Time to get dressed, pick up the gear, and head out. I dropped the gear off in the outfitter’s van, and wandered over to the gas station for breakfast. A peanut butter crispy bar and coffee, breakfast of champions! I was alert enough to notice that we were about to take off without some necessary gear, like a paddle and life jacket. Apparently my driver was less awake than I was. After that was straightened out, we headed out right about 6 AM.

Saturday morning, I said goodbye to the folks and Anna, and hit the road. The drive from the cabin to Ely was long and mostly uneventful. As I drove north and east, corn and wheat fields gave way to pine forests. The thick trees caused the satellite radio to cut out annoyingly frequently. One bridge went across a small stream, the sign said “Mississippi River”. Ely is a tourist town. It seems like every other building on the main drag (Sheridan Avenue) is a canoe outfitter. I found Voyageur North <http://www.vnorth.com/>__ on the east side of town, and checked in. John, one of the owners, welcomed me, and walked me through the area I’d be in. The wild blueberries are in season, and it doesn’t sound like bears are an issue in the area around Crab Lake. John also showed me the food bag, and walked me through all the gear they provided. It was a lot to absorb, fortunately printed notes were included.