Day 8: 5 of 1,000 Lakes

By
Emmanuel Forge
-
4

Minnesota is known as the Land of 1,000 Lakes. Today I crossed 5 of them on my journey down the Mississippi. One of the 5 I actually crossed 3 times because I just couldn’t help myself…

Lakes crossed today:

•Lake Irving

•Lake Bemidji

•Stump Lake

•Wolf Lake

•Lake Andrusia

I haven’t had a chance to use my peddle motor very often because the water has either been too shallow or there has been shallow vegetation floating in the channel that gets wrapped around the propeller.

The peddle motor works like a reclining bicycle. On open water it allows me to drive into and along side waves much more confidently than a traditional paddler in a kayak. I’m able to average ~3 mph paddling and ~3.5-4 mph when peddling. Peddling is a great way to rotate in my arms and legs to keep them fresh. Which makes crossing the 5-15 mile open water crossing ahead much easier to manage.

On the first lake of the day I got so used to peddling that I forgot my paddle was even there. I didn’t realize until the other side of Lake Irving that I had lost my paddle to the waves. Fortunately, after about an hour I was able to find it tangled amongst the lily pads where the current has pushed it to the opposite side of the lake.

The easiest way I can describe the feeling of finding my lost paddle is the relief you get when waking up from a nightmare.

From Lake Bemidji on the water was clear the rest of the day.

Although I experienced probably a half dozen rain showers throughout the day overall I give today’s route two thumbs up. The river changes all the time and today was no different. Looking back it seemed like I experienced about a half dozen different environments.

Somewhere in between I had my first portage around the County Road 12 Dam. The water was so clear on the other side I filtered a water bottle full of it without the need to settle out the sediment like I had a few days earlier.

4 COMMENTS

  1. Great to meet you along the way! Safe travels. I dropped a photo for you on FB Messenger

  2. Hey there! Minnesota is actually the Land of 10K Lakes!

    Source: born & raised MN gal, currently living in St. Paul.

  3. Minnesota is the land of 10,000 lakes. Let me know when you are close to Champlin, I’ll bring the kids down to give you a wave!

Comments are closed.