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Almost three years ago I did an overnight kayak/fat-bike trip with Vandy similar to the one just completed with my middle and youngest sons. My oldest son G Man, was out with an elbow injury and my wife was going to Spirit Mtn for DH MTB riding so it's not like they were excluded.

It's common to have full sized trees in the middle of the river

Someone else camping....old skool style

artifact or trash ? 

Just ahead is Carver Rapids. Doesn't look like much  now, but when the water is down is a continuous chunk of rock stretching all the way across the river

Vandy and I had such a good time kayaking ,camping and riding , I've been thinking about making it happen again ever since. In case you didn't go check out out the link first....Our first trip was on the Minnesota River from Belle Plaine to Chaska, this was a little long for my youngsters so we opted for Jordan to Chaska (19mi vs. 8.5mi).

we've arrived

Standard issue Imperial Venture Corps eating utensils 

Dinner

We could not have asked for better weather, it was warm and sunny during the day and cool at night...........great for a camp fire and comfortable sleeping. Our camp location will remain a secret here, but is a well worn site that can be easily located if you pay attention. After paddling for approx. 2.5 hours we arrived at our location about an hour before dark, this gave us lots of time to set the tent, find wood and get our cooking underway.

You can bring a lot of stuff when camping out of a sea kayak

dueling spoons 

 Hidden cache of fat-bikes for our return trip   

  As far as peace and quite goes , this  may have been the noisiest place I have ever camped. None of the noise was man made, instead it was the animals. As the day turned to evening the birds seem to turn up the volume just before the lights go out. About the same time the birds quite down the coyotes begin howling, not just the kind you here in the movies but horrible screams and high pitched bellowing. All the while this is going on large fish, presumably carp , are jumping and splashing in the river just below the bank we are camped on. Along with the fish jumping all night are the numerous beavers that are constantly slapping their tails on the water. Getting to sleep that night was a bit difficult as my mind often wanders from what the noises actually are. My kids on the other hand thought it was completely normal and left me to fend for myself while they quickly nodded off.

24inch  Framed, Mini-Sota

 Fortunately, nothing attacked and killed us while we slept, morning came , we ate breakfast and we were off. We had about an hour of paddling before reaching our bikes to complete the loop and get back to our vehicle. I choose to use the fat-bikes because the trail is often sandy and fat-bikes are awesome. Also I paid a shit ton of money for them and I want the bikes to get ridden before they need the next size. The ride was just as good as the kayaking. Sometimes the trail gets very overgrown to the point that it can't be ridden, apparently people are cycling/hiking/horse back ridding  down there enough that the trail was good to go. By the time we got back the boys were tired out and hungry, we loaded gear and bikes, shuttled boats, and then finally topped off the weekend with large meal at a local Mexican restaurant.

Thanks boys, for hanging out with your old man....G Man....I wish you could have made it...Lady DR....I know you had more fun riding your bike down hill, so I'm glad I didn't keep you from that.

D. Rider ......out