Blood, Snow, and Gradient, I love Minnesota!

Winfrey's Whimper on the Split Rock

Minnesota, 

Is not for the faint of heart, the conditions are brutal. Hiking through waist deep snow to put-ins is standard. Frigid water, and air temperatures just above freezing are a guarantee. The other guarantee is that the whitewater is going to be rowdy!

Most of the rivers are relatively steep, dropping from an ambient land mass of 1,600 feet into Lake Superior at 600 feet above sea level. This gives kayakers one thousand feet of gradient to work with that usually falls off in under five miles… Steep!  The other thing that helps Minnesota’s whitewater is bedrock, most of the North Shore is made of basalt and rhyolite. Combining steep gradient and bedrock means one thing: SLIDES! Rip roaring low angle slides. The spring thaw pumps seven months of winter’s precipitation down the steep gradient in just a few weeks.

Back to the frozen North Minnesota from Chris Baer on Vimeo.

The local boating community…

These folks are passionate about their backyard, and understandably so. Most of the boaters have access to class 3 boating for a few months a year and might attend a pool session or two in the depths of the winter, then the spring thaw happens. They come out in droves, fired up to paddle the class 5 run off for one month a year.

Minnesota boaters come out in droves!

Stewart River

Unfortunately this year, the local crowd took more then their fair share of beatings. The classic runs were dolling out shoulder dislocations and gross lacerations (the rhyolite causes intrusions into the basalt creating razor blade sharp up lifts).

Tony Locken after crushing his head on the Split Rocks' Under the Log rapid, rocks hurt!

The Lester river,

Located just on the outskirts of Duluth, is the first class 5 river to start flowing. No warm up for the locals and unfortunately it showed; I personally enjoyed a three boat pile up. One of the classic big rapids, “Naked Man” was augmented by a huge flood late in the summer of 2013 and has become rather retentive. Flying down a low angle slide into a blind horizon line I managed a quick glimpse of another paddler swimming to shore, and another throwing unintended ends in the new massive river wide hydraulic. Moments later, after a violent tag team surf session, getting crushed by each others’ boats, both Ryan Zimney and I pulled the freedom handle and exited our crafts. All three “paddlers” were now standing on the side of the river laughing, cursing, and tracking down equipment. The perk of the trial by fire paddling style of Minnesota is the local paddlers are used to this kind of carnage.

If you enjoy burly class 5 what are you waiting for? Minnesota has arguably the best whitewater in the world, in April, Get there!

another adventure by Chris Baer

A solid finally to an amazing Minnesota spring season

one of the fun off angle boofs

Lower Saint Louis

The Saint Louis River is located just south of Duluth, Minnesota and is the local's playground. There is a large reservoir directly above the good whitewater section and allows almost year round paddling for Duluth kayakers.

The folks in Minnesota have a tendency to use the Louis as a test piece to see if they are ready for some of the steeper runs along the North Shore. Being so, it produces some swims and regular entertainment.

more entertainment on the Lower Saint Louis

All that being said there are a large variety of features from powerful hydraulics, to tight slot moves, with a little exploration this run could be an absolute gem of a training facility.

Lester

The Lester is the first sign of true gradient heading north out of Duluth, this river is in the fringe of the city limits and is the first solid creek to thaw out in the spring.

The Gauge on the Lester has always been a little unpredictable, and after the massive floods during the fall of 2012 the river basin has changed, the original gauge rocks are now totally useless.

The first run of the season we were skeptical that the water might be a little low… WOW we were wrong; It might have been my highest lap to date. Quickly the Lester reminded me why it's a true high-end classic. The rapids come in relatively quick succession with just enough leaky eddies to watch your buddies get trashed in the big hydraulics.

The crux of the run is Almost Always; the original naming was for the fact that it was almost always portaged. As time has past and the boaters have improved it is now referred to as almost always paddled.

On our high water descent Almost Always was looking rather massive, the 20+ foot near vertical drop was starting to fill in, and looked more like a really steep slide converging into an enormous hole. A quick scout, and some safety set, I attempted the direct left line. As I came over the horizon line I was greeted with a couple of mean laterals, an immense impact into the hydraulic at the base all converged into a ferocious fist pump in the eddy at the bottom.

Flow Predictions 

 

Louis river during full spring melt

Predicting the flows in the early days of spring on the North Shore of Superior is rather impossible. A small storm somewhere else could mean an 18 inch dump of snow, or a sunny 70º day. Between huge ranges in actual temperature, there is the anchor ice… The rivers actually freeze solid in the winter, and there can be ice stuck to the rocks under the moving water. Not a big deal as long as it stays there and doesn't become partially lifted during the day causing an impromptu undercut.

home sweet home, dealing with some classic MN spring weather

 

 Race day

The Lester was also the venue for a super fun race this year put on by Ryan Zimney. A cold wet spring meant our race date came almost a month later than originally planned. The morning of the race a strong handful of racers headed up for a practice lap, as they came back down to the pre-race meeting there were strong rumors.

Almost Always was living up to it's old reputation, a relatively low water flow was making the lead in tricky, and the hydraulic at the bottom almost impossible to escape from. Most of the racers shouldered their boats around the drop and the few that tempted the drop had a variety of misfortunes. There were two swims, a broken paddle, and a bloody nose. During the quick pre-race meeting an augmentation to the race course was decided upon. We would finish directly above Almost Always.

A few minutes later the race begun and we were ripping down the creek a minute apart. Two rapids above the finish line I came ripping around the corner trying to straighten out the rapid and crushed into a barely submerged rock and pitoned really hard. The air was knocked out of my lungs and my ankles hurt, I was sitting six inches forward in my boat. I gasped for air pushed on my tender ankles lodging myself back into the seat and took a few more powerful forward strokes to the finish.

about to piton HARD!

The finish line quickly became a party as more and more of the racers came across. Everyone was panting and laughing about botched lines.

As the racers picked up their boats to portage around Almost Always I had the thought that I might be able to blast through the intimidating hydraulic at the base of the falls, or at least put on an epic show. After a quick inspection and some more than adequate safety I hopped back into my boat and gave her a try.

The lead in was rather tricky but felt good, on my way down the drop the boat started to drift towards the left and into the thickest portion of the hydraulic. As I resurfaced the thought of everyone walking the rapid made a little more sense. I was getting surfed hard, and my almost 12 foot long boat had no interest in living the hydraulic. Holding on for a solid beating and long enough to smile at all of the safety and crowd, I finally reached forward for some much deserved hand relief. Ejecting from the kayak a short but powerful blast of water hit me, and a second later I resurfaced again in the back wash of the hole, laughing and smiling. Emptying the water out of my boat I looked over at the feature, and had this odd thought… Can I keep my nose pointed just a little more to the right?

round two, time to clean it up

Putting the boat back onto my shoulder I proceeded back up passing the rest of the portagers to the top of the rapid for a second attempt. This time on the way down I was able to get a powerful stroke and kept the nose angled a little to the right. Upon impact with the backwash I leaned forward for a huge left stoke, pulling through the backwash I felt the grasp of the hydraulic wane, I had just punched through the meat of the rather intimidating Almost Always.

A huge thanks goes out to Ryan Zimney and all the MN paddlers you are tough as nails, and super fun to play with.

Icebergs and mile long slides, Split Rock River, MN at Floodstage!

Ben Kinsella, coming out of the mist of Under the Log

Paddling rivers at flood stage is dangerous! This Spring, John McConville and I tackled the Split Rock River in Northern Minnesota at a terrifying level. Not only was the flow significantly above recommended, but there were trees and giant icebergs moving down stream with us.

Normally, there is a simple spray-painted gauge on the left bridge piling at the take out. There are a few hashes and a couple letters next to them. One of the lower hashes has an S next to it and one of the upper hashes has an M next to it. The locals jokingly refer to these two levels as the Shire and Mordor levels. After completing a descent where the entire gauge was buried under frothing white water, I think a new line and new initial may be necessary.

a fun sequence of Scott White on ski jump

The put in is on private property and has had a few issues over the years. After speaking to a local resident and police officer, we were allowed access to a small tributary upstream. John and I put our kayaks into the normally tiny tributary… but this day the tributary was cranking! I remember getting a good boof over a downed tree only 10 feet into the creek. From there down the water multiplied and multiplied. By the time we reached the confluence, and were actually on the Split Rock, we both looked at each other with wide eyes and gaping jaws!

As we paddled the first mile or two of "flat water" our conversation went as such… THIS IS FREAKING HUGE! We got to be careful! Did you see that HUGE ice burg! Yeah, I think that was the one that sunk the Titanic! Stay close!

Ben Kinsella realigning on Winfrey's Whimper

Arriving at the first major rapid, we had already seen tons of icebergs, lots of anchor ice, and more logs and trees then I could count. We scouted the first mile or so to the next reasonable eddy. The directions went as such, "Flow, Left, Right, Middle, LEFT! Middle, Middle, Middle, try to eddy out". Those were the directions I had in my head for more than a mile of Class 5+.

Completing the first chunk of the rapids, John and I were glowing with excitement and sharing stories of being obliterated by huge rouge waves and running lines we never thought could possibly work.

After another huge scout, we agreed the sun was setting a little faster then we were hoping. We rallied a couple more of the big rapids and kept good downstream progress.

Ben Kinsella on the first major slide

One huge rapid after the next, we were getting picked up and flung 15 feet off line on what normally is a bounce micro-creek.

The crux rapid, "Under The Log", at 3:51 in the video, WOW! Looking back at this I have no idea why I wanted to run it. There was almost no chance of a clean line. The low angel slide plowed into a ferocious 8 foot tall hydraulic. Upon contact with the hydraulic the chaos ensued. For a few seconds my 93 gallon kayak felt as small as a squirt boat. Violently window shading into a sloppy brace, then rotating just in time to get the nose up for the final hydraulic.

Flooded rivers will always be the top end of danger, and the top end of excitement. The following morning I spoke with John, neither of us had slept well, I had found myself tossing and turning reliving the days chaos.

another adventure brought to you by Chris Baer

The Forbidden Fruit

Once upon a time in Minnesota, there was rumor of a creek that precariously meandered through the most arduous private property along Lake Superior's North Shore. That river is the Forbidden Fruit.

John McConville on the big one

The put-in for this creek is located on a small dirt road with friendly and humble residents. This year we were lucky enough to chat with some of the locals. The folks we spoke with granted us access to the creek. They also warned us about the asininely private residence down stream.

yes it's cold!

The paddle into the gorge is infested with wood. Blind corners held logs and ice damns during our early spring assaults. Upon sight of the first major gradient loss, we exited river right. An amazing series of slides that directly flow into a 25-foot waterfall is the first major attraction.

The rapids following the waterfall are rather continuous, and offer a wild variety of very constricted boulder gardens with the occasional off-angle boof.

Moving down stream we quickly enter into the delicate private property situation. Stealth is your friend, moving quietly is key. To limit our local contact, we made a point of only paddling this section during the week and during the "mud season."

The rapid Cabin Fever is directly in sight of most of private property, and hadn't been completed until this year. John McConville probed the once log-infested landing zone and negotiated the very tricky lead-in firing up a rather smooth first descent.

John McConville, dialing in the first descent of Cabin Fever

From Cabin Fever down you are in the backyards of most of the "cabins" along the river. There are two more slides on the run that ought to be run blind, as to not interact with the local inhabitants. Charge in and start smiling. The water pushes you in a positive direction while sliding the last 300 feet to the delta entering into Lake Superior.

To finish the run paddle into Lake Superior (if the waves aren't too big), and paddle North or South to your desired less-illegal exit location.

Please do not attempt this adventure if you are not confident in your ability to run the slides blind, and/or to complete the entire run in your boat. Hiking out of this river and through the private property could be catastrophic to the next team of paddlers.

another adventure brought to you be Chris Baer

Minnesota is COLD! But the rivers are RAGING!

another cold spring day on the North Shore

Early season paddling in Minnesota started off with some flooding creeks. Temperatures in the Twin Cities jumped in early April, and the surrounding rivers flashed all at once. Mobilizing was unique, there are only a few kayakers based in the Twin Cities that really fall into the class V-caliber. Nonetheless, I was introduced to a hand full of dedicated paddlers, and early season kayaking commenced.

A cold and snowy beginning to the Minnesota season from Chris Baer on Vimeo.

May snow storms bring June flowers?

The first snow to melt was in the vast farm fields to the southwest of the Twin Cities. A few of us felt the early season itch and made our way to a small drainage: Sand Creek. The river was packed full of debris; logs and ice were abundant, the class 2 creek was feeling a little intense. Luckily the river had a redeeming feature; an unmaintained Dam that was creating a fun eight foot pourover. It allowed the local paddlers to practice their delayed boof stroke and even let one of them get in a little swim practice.

Todd Dammitt trying to dial in his boof on the dam

Originally, when I packed for Minnesota I stumbled upon my self-support equipment. Being the tallest peak in Minnesota is Eagle Mountain at 2301' and Lake Superior is at an average of 591', I knew that the sustained vertical needed for a typical multi-day trip was lacking. Funny enough, on Easter Sunday, my second day of paddling in Minnesota this year, we put on the Minnesota River for an overnight self-support adventure. Thankfully, the weather stayed relatively nice as we paddled through the beaver and eagle infested flat water.

not that skittish

Bald Eagle lurking in his perch

proper packing for a flat water overnight

Next up was the mighty Vermillion, a stock low-volume (200cfs) training ground for the city boaters. Lucky for me, the sun was shining and upon arrival I was greeted with approximately 2000cfs. A quick inspection led to the fact that the run still worked at huge flow. There was a couple of monster hydraulics that needed to be avoided. The 2000cfs four minute espresso tour went exceedingly well.

making my way down the Vermillion river at 2000cfs, water is way up in the trees

charging past one of the big holes on the Vermillion River

Upon wrapping up the Twin Cities metropolitan whitewater tour, it was time to head North to Duluth. If you have never been there, Duluth is classic Minnesota. The accents are more prominent and wearing a fur hat is not just a trend. Upon arrival to Duluth, the snow started; It would accumulate another two and a half feet during my stay. As the snow continued, the Duluth crowd showed off one of their very odd, but rather respectable surf spots, Stoney Point on Lake Superior. The water is COLD! but the waves were fun. The fact that there were a dozen people on the break during a snowstorm attests to the core nature of Minnesotans.

Scott Ewen showing off the North Shore break

adventure brought to you by Chris Baer