First Kettle and St. Croix River Overnight Canoeing Trip with My New Boat

Dates: May 2-3, 2020
Summary: A short, solo overnight canoe trip on the Kettle River in west central Minnesota.

Background: The Kettle River is a small, beautiful, near wilderness river that flows for about 70 miles from central Minnesota to the border with Wisconsin. I chose a stretch with both flat water and some rapids with outstanding camp sites available along the whole route.

May 2, 2020
I started the trip where the Kettle River crosses the Highway 48 bridge at roughly 2pm. Strong wind from NW at 20 to 25mph, a nice tail wind. Clear sky and 3/4 moon. Sunset was at 8:30pm so lights out by roughly 9pm, so plenty of time to cover the first 18 miles (I hoped). 

I covered the exact trip described in the excellent book “Paddling Minnesota” [Trip 69] except I paddled into the St. Croix River and went all the way to Hwy 70.

The first 7 miles were bottomland forest. Strong NW wind at my back plus the fast current from moderately high water moved me along at 4+ knots. Saw a few other parties camping/fishing on the river, they had arrived via small motorboats the dropped in at a boat landing. No rapids in first 7 miles. 

While paddling, I considered the best spot for the first night’s camp. Since this was the first canoe trip of 2020, my strokes were really rusty and I was sore and tired after only a few hours. I need more conditioning before the season starts. After a short stop to hydrate (and lose my camp chair when I forgot to repack it in the canoe), and another stop at the Big Eddy put in, I was able to get a picture of a map of the rest of trip on the Kettle River. (I’m such a pro I had forgotten my maps at home). 

The time was roughly 6pm. Since I had another three hours of light I decided to go ahead and paddle through the 7 miles of rapids, keeping an eye out for possible campsites. Three were available, the last being Two Rivers, where the Kettle River enters the Kettle River slough, a side branch of the St. Croix River.

To make a long story short, I got through the 7 mile stretch of rapids with no problems, stopping only at Maple River and Big Eddy to scout rapids and check maps. The ledge at Big Eddy required some maneuvering and back ferrying and I was rusty both on boat positioning and ferrying. A couple of near misses were the result. I had done this stretch during the MCA training two years before. 
 
With the wind and higher current through this stretch, I was sometimes going as fast as 7 to 8 knots. My Navionics maps were very helpful in checking position and speed. Saw quite a few people on the St. Croix, river left, the state park side. River right was the Chengwatana State Forest, saw no one on that side. 
 
During 2 hours traveling I missed two campsites on river left; from the Navionics map I knew I should be close to Two Rivers camp, and sure enough, reached it around 8:15pm. 
 
After unpacking gear, stowing the canoe, getting a bite to eat and some wine to relax with, I spent 30 minutes taking golden hour photos. I then got the tent set up and watched the first of the stars come out. Mars and Venus raced across the sky. Turkeys, rails, coyotes, and other animool frens greeted me with their voices. Finally fell asleep. Unlike my previous solo trips, that night I had no worries or fears. My animool frens would look out for me.
Day 2: May 3, 2020Spent the morning in camp taking photographs. The White Pines at river’s edge were stately, desperately resisting the river’s attempts to undercut and destroy them. Lots of signs of high water recently, with grass and branches from waterflow stuck in bottom land and trees. Did not cook dinner the previous night or make breakfast, stuck with cold food. Frankly just wasn’t that hungry, probably from adrenaline and stress. Very sore. No fire on day 1 or 2. Windy and cold, but sunny. This time of year the days are already very long (almost 15 hours) but it’s still chilly most mornings.
 
Finally set out at noon, with another 14 miles to go. Got the GoPro out for pics and filming. After 1st mile encountered the ledge and steep rapids as the Kettle joins the St. Croix. Stayed river right which worked well, but when I followed a channel to the right, I had to stop and scout. Lining upriver was not an option due to a large tree trunk blocking the way, so I found a route through the channel while scouting and was able to easily pass through. The rapids-running rust in my system was getting washed away. 
The rest of the trip was easy paddling with the high current and a North wind that was again right on my back. Saw many fisherman along the way, most said fishing was slow. Sunny skies. Cool, but not cold. Weather was perfect. Most campsites on this stretch were used, but not the one at the confluence of the St. Croix and Kettle. 
 
Stopped at the ssland a couple miles north of Hwy 70 bridge (across from Sandrocks Cliffes) for lunch. A sweet memory as this was the last place I swam together with Duke, my 13-year-old lab who passed away the previous fall. 
 
A plane was flying oddly low over the park on the Wisconsin side. Canoed pass a group of red winged blackbirds who all in unison raged a me for getting too close, apparently. Water too cold for swimming.
 
Made it to Hwy 70 bridge, pulled out the canoe and gear, and the trip home was routine.

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