Heck, I've lived here in MN, Crow Wing headwater country for 13 years now.  Have yet to paddle the headwater lakes.  In my eagerness to get one last fall trip in....I rushed into a percieved 4-5 hr paddle and then got 'educated".

Had the wife take me to Akeley, MN...Headwaters of the Crow Wing on 11th CW lake.  Plan was to paddle to my place on 6th CW lake by sunfall.  Gotta late start to boot.

The long and short of it.....the upper CW is not navigable in the fall!  Now why wouldn't I have thought of that before she drove away in the truck?  I was expecting sun and lazy, easy paddlin' and drifting.  I was armed with:
...my camera, to document a glorious float in the autumn colors
...my GPS
...enthusiasm
...a pair of sandals
...cell phone in my shorts pocket
...3 sodas
...a literal boat-load of candy I planned to feast on as I drifted lazily
...my Prism, sans any portage yoke (why would I possibly need that)

The afternoon sun on 11th CW lake was an encouraging start...as I hit the outlet, I had to portage across a iron-gate and road.  Humm, the river sure is shallow here....floated through the culvert under HWY #34 (the last I was in the canoe)....and out into a never-ending cat-tail swamp!  Someone had laid a floating metal bridge across one of the deeper sections and I had to jump into waist deep water to drag over the contraption....only to find 2 inch deep water and thick, 8 ft tall cat-tails.

I gotta get out of this mess before dark!  There was no way on God's green earth that I was pulling back upstream through that cat-tail mess.  The GPS could guide me cross-woods to the highway.  That's it!  I'll just carry out of here!  After 100 yds with the tractor seat riding on my noggin' (no yoke remember)....I had to dump the craft again.  That bugger would split my skull open if I let it.  This time I marked the craft's position on the GPS.  I continued on barefoot through the poison ivy, cutup and bleeding, feet raw....my only remaining sandel with torn straps from pulling foot out of muck.  I'd bushwack (sans boat) to make sure I could get out of here....if looked good, I'd come back for the craft....if looked bad....I was giving strong consideration to contributing the Prism to the local flora and fauna!  10 minutes later brought me to the highway and also left me a "track" on my machine to follow back to the boat.  Looked doable.

Back at the craft I again tried to ride the Prisim on my headbone....just no way that was gonna work....so I drug the kevlar beast on it's belly....over rocks, logs, thickets, more poison ivy...finally to the roadside.  I looked a real mess...covered in blood, sweat, and mud from head to toe....sans any shoe gear.  Well, now to just call the wife for a rescue.  Reached in my pocket for the cell...oh yeah, electronic phones don't take well to being submerged in mud and muck.  Shoot....now I was really getting PO'd!  Was about a mile walk back to Akeley quickstop (barefoot) to use the phone....decided to abandon the craft along #34, maybe someone would steal it and relieve me of my burdon?

Phone home....kids answer...."mom's not home, she'll be back in a hour" they said.  Gave them instructions to tell mom to immediately come back to Akeley and rescue me.  I'd be waiting at the Paul Bunyan statue.  Brought some pizza and cokes back with me, and ended up sitting alone at the Paul statue for 1 1/2 hours....looking homeless.  Mom finally arrives and laughing her head off....wonders how I actually ended up "backwards" from where she dropped me off!  After a good laugh...we go and find the boat....still resting along the shoulder of #34.  Guess I'll have to take her home and clean her up a bit!

Thanks Wally
Best trip report I have read for a while.
Magicpaddler

Wally,

IF you could somehow intertwine THIS trip report with pictures of your busted up Fenwick rod and attempts to fix and e-mail it them, I bet you would get a new rod for sure

 Just go's to show, you can never be TOO prepared for an adventure.
I took sandals ONE time on a river trip, ended up doing as much wading/portaging as floating.  That's the last time I ever wore sandals other than for camp use.

It's funny because you came out of it relatively unscathed, but it could of been much worse if the weather would of changed or you wound up lame from your bushwack adventure.  I bet the better half is going to never let you forget this adventure

Thanks all

Loved the story and pics Akula....I can easily understand the concept of "dragging" the boat now.  It just plain and simply works.  Thanks for sharing that!  Your site looks great!

Nothing like a dose of reality, to bring humility, to those in need of it.

Solo, I gotta get up the nerve to beg Fenwick for a new one.....I'm still kicking myself over OS comments, of using tent pegs for splints.  There I am....using twigs, while aluminum tent pegs lay in my pack.  Just like dad often said...."kid, you got S-F-B"!

Johnny...we gotta try this trip again in the spring, 'eh?

Thanks for reading....

 Akula

 I enjoyed the pics and accompanying story.
I believe I've found some solution's too your problems if you EVER tackle this stretch of water again?
#1,  You need to mount your canoe trailer UNDER the hull and then you can just ROLL down the river instead of dragging down it
#2,  Your makeshift campsite is WHY they invented tarps and Hammocks!
 Seriously, like Wally your sense of humor went along way toward making it a fun adventure, something you'll long remember and laugh about when your an old and seasoned paddler.
 

solotripper wrote on Oct 28^th, 2008 at 10:49pm:


Thanks!

We should have scouted all of the accessible bridges along the route... that would have shown us the "hell on earth" rock section and we would have altered plans accordingly. Nothing like an avoidable surprise to brighten up the day...


Quote:


It was right about then that I first started thinking about those hammocks with any level of seriousness. But you know what they say, back injuries build character.


  Quote:


Sometimes I think a sense of humor is the only thing that *really* gets anybody through anything. The guy I was with on that trip and myself have been on some really miserable outings, and I can't help but wonder how my other friends would have handled the same situations. Probably by completely losing their minds (which I hate to admit, would be pretty funny in itself).

If the humor fails though, which it does sometimes (but only briefly), then there are the four golden rules:

1. Stay calm
2. Watch your step
3. Swear a lot
4. Keep moving forward

Works for me anyways. I don't know how Wally does it, but he's more of a seasoned veteran than myself.

Thanks Jim....Nimrod...quite a place.  Headweaters are about 20 road miles N.  Some of my co-workers "float the Crow WIng" during summer....based out of Nimrod.  Ihear it's a blast.  I'll take a look at the seasonal flow there.


Akula..."seasoned tripper"....too funny .  I'm the antithesis of "seasoned".  Jst ask monjon.  Lazy, loud, opinionated, slack when I can...(thats why monjon paddles bow seat...he can't watch me....come to think of it....maybe that's why he quit going with me), forgetful....often leave gear back at the truck.  Chores...I like to wash the dishes...avoid gathering wood...avoid cooking....avoid carrying anything heavy.  I like to sleep, give orders and read the map.

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Let's face it Wally, the truth is we both like to paddle in the stern.  I like to cook.  AND remember you ARE the better navigator.

8-10 years ago my son-in-law and I paddled the Crow Wing from Nimrod to Motley (43 miles). We camped at Old Wadena Campground and hit Motley about 1PM the next day.  Generally the water was 2-3 feet deep, little current, clear.  There are several county campgrounds along the way.  Need to check as to which have potable water tho if you don't bring along the filter.

  THAT brings back bad memories for me
My stern paddler actually fell off one trip he was sleeping so sound!
Funny at the time, not so funny after a few days

Actually I had a bow paddler that would constantly stop paddling to get into his dry bag, camera, gorp, clothing, etc.. expected me to keep us moving while he fiddled around. So you can guess by the picture what my response was. I guess he took the picture to document the fact I wasn't paddling. He was too busy taking pictures though to be paddling too.
Kind of a high maintance guy. Constant need for attention. 1st one up but always the last one ready to go each day. Didn't care much that I choose to ignore his antics.
Same group of guys with drinking problems. Different ideas about open container laws. Don't trip with them any more. I'm having more fun and never looked back.