Blue Earth River

The canoe is getting a bit crowded.

 The inspiration for a family trip down the Blue Earth River came from the cover photo of a free publication touting adventure in southeast Minnesota. In the photo, a group of life-jacket clad individuals were standing in a deep green, moss and fern covered slot canyon. I little digging revealed the name Devils Gulch or Devils Den,  a little bit of planning gave way to a van loaded with gear and a boat, pointed south.

Fancy

rain forest ?

Dry falls at the end of the Devil's Gulch

  My wife and kids were in on this one as well as long time friend Fancy Ray. My wife and two kids rode in the canoe while the boys alternated turns flying solo in the pack-raft. Fancy was going solo in his own kayak as well. Since it's a river trip, the standard shuttle requirements were in effect...leaving one vehicle in Mankato and then driving to the put-in at Rapidan Park. The river started out fun and pretty much stayed that way the whole time, with lots of class 1 rapids spaced out enough that no one got bored in the flat water between.

We had to kick one of them out to make space...lucky for them I brought the  Alpacka, Scout

 The "gem", and inspiration of the trip came quickly after setting off and if not for a several kayaks beached in the sand we may have missed it altogether. The grainy photo I had originally seen didn't do the gulch justice, first hand, it looked like something straight out of the rain forest. We spent about a half hour in the short slot before moving on. Upon pushing off we met a father/son duo that informed us of another interesting must-see, not much further down steam named Triple Falls. They paddled with us, acting as tour guides, explaining other features as well as the whereabouts of the falls.

Triple Falls 

From the top of the bottom tier 

Big D gives perspective to how big the dry falls are 

summer time....the livin's easy

Super Y

  After another short hike to visit the falls we were back in the boat looking for a picnic spot. We chose a nice sand bar and busted out the grill, snacks, and drinks. Once back in the boats we were a little pressed for time and had to resist the urge to check out any of the dozens of sand spits marking other possible vertical features carved into the steep bluffs on either side of the river. Return trips will definitely be in order for further exploration of this beautiful river and valley.

Near the put-in at Rapidan Dam

   

Straight River

 Spring is a great time for canoeing on Minnesota rivers...the water is usually up and the horse and deer flies have not yet hatched. I received a call from my brother about a day trip he was hoping to do on the Straight River near Faribault. Since my whole family could join in I immediately agreed and the date was set.

To balance things out, Super Y rode with my bro and JB

stop to look at fossils

jack-pot

 Our short 10+ mile jaunt happened on a nice warm sunny day and included my family of five and my brother and his friend. The river was a bit low but made no difference in the amount of fun we had. The Straight is not a very wide river and has lots of turns, small rapids and scenic cliff faces along it's banks.

Lunch time

another fossil ...different location

 With lots of time allowed for the trip, we brought along a grill,  food and snacks, and took a nice long break on a sandbar. Along the way stopped a couple times to check out some fossil beds and interesting cliff faces. Due to proximity and the scenic terrain we'll definitely be back on this river again.

After trolling for most of the day G Man catches a bass...on the season opener no less

   

Minnehaha Creek Canoe Ride

boat launch or swimming dock ?

 A couple weeks ago when the creek was really high the family and I went out for our, once every three years, canoe ride. We chose to paddle the last 6 or so miles of the creek due to close proximity to home on a week night, and the wild ride we were sure to have. We paddled the same section in a canoe when they were much younger and we all had a good time.

Getting underway

The good stuff (rapids) is about to begin

  Unannounced to me was a warning not to paddle the creek at this time, which was a story on the nightly news the previous evening.  A guy at work told me about the story, but the die had been cast. Everything was loaded in the van and the boys and Lynn would be meeting me later that afternoon to set up the shuttle. I've paddled the creek at much higher levels and it was fine, I accredited this bit of information as the further pussification of America and I would not be frightened off by some pansy on the news.

We couldn't help but stop and  jump off the bridge about ten times each

 It's true the current was fast, but it made it much more fun than scraping along the bottom at a snails pace which would be considered safe. The many twists and turns had Lynn and I on our toes. There was very little time for relaxing, our skills were tested and proved rusty and insufficient a few times. About mid-way through things started to click and navigation was done with much less panicked shouting.

Mom was nervous, this due was not !

Dinner time picnic , about 1.5-2 miles from the take out, also realized I forgot the keys

 The only snaufu of the night was me forgetting to bring the keys along so we could drive the shuttle vehicle back to the start point. Never fear, my BFF Vandy, saved the night by grabbing a set of keys at my house and delivering them to me at the falls. On the plus side we all got to see the falls that night ! Thanks Bro.

family portrait 

Let's take the canoe down that