I am sitting in the Sinclair Lewis campground next to Sauk Lake in Sauk Centre. We'll be camped here for each of the next three nights as we make our way through the uppermost part of the Sauk River. Today we had a fairly modest goal: paddle four miles. But we know it might not be easy, as the upper Sauk is narrow and fraught with obstacles: fences and downed trees.
The Sauk River starts at Lake Osakis. Some people were hunting carp with pitchforks and bows and arrows as we pulled up to unload. A guy named Daniel introduced himself and said he catches big carp here. He is Mexican and says his sister knows how to spice and cook them up really well and they eat the fish with tortillas and rice. We put into the small stream and paddled for just a few minutes before encountering our first fence, which was made with a stiff wire and completely blocked the channel. But we had thought ahead and brought a Little Giant ladder with us, so we unloaded everything and clambered over. I did a water quality sample and the water had better clarity than our device could measure; clarity greater than one meter. The total dissolved solids reading was at 189ppm.
We paddled through fields and forest and had to get past three fences total. Some geese with their goslings swam in front of our canoe making quite a racket. As we passed a family camping along the river their dog decided it really wanted to catch a goose and jumped in the river. The dog's owner called after it, but it was intent on catching a goose. Of course it didn't really stand a chance, but it swam downstream a long ways, far out of reach from the calls of the owner. When the dog got tired it tried to climb into our canoe so we helped it to shore.
In a willow forest we came across some deadfalls that blocked the channel and spent some time pushing and pulling the canoe over some large downed trees. By then the sun had come out and it was really nice out. When we reached our destination we took my bike out of the canoe and I peddled a few miles to retrieve the van. It was a great first day on the river. Tomorrow we will try to go at least twice as far as we did today.
Click here to see our photos!
The Sauk River starts at Lake Osakis. Some people were hunting carp with pitchforks and bows and arrows as we pulled up to unload. A guy named Daniel introduced himself and said he catches big carp here. He is Mexican and says his sister knows how to spice and cook them up really well and they eat the fish with tortillas and rice. We put into the small stream and paddled for just a few minutes before encountering our first fence, which was made with a stiff wire and completely blocked the channel. But we had thought ahead and brought a Little Giant ladder with us, so we unloaded everything and clambered over. I did a water quality sample and the water had better clarity than our device could measure; clarity greater than one meter. The total dissolved solids reading was at 189ppm.
We paddled through fields and forest and had to get past three fences total. Some geese with their goslings swam in front of our canoe making quite a racket. As we passed a family camping along the river their dog decided it really wanted to catch a goose and jumped in the river. The dog's owner called after it, but it was intent on catching a goose. Of course it didn't really stand a chance, but it swam downstream a long ways, far out of reach from the calls of the owner. When the dog got tired it tried to climb into our canoe so we helped it to shore.
In a willow forest we came across some deadfalls that blocked the channel and spent some time pushing and pulling the canoe over some large downed trees. By then the sun had come out and it was really nice out. When we reached our destination we took my bike out of the canoe and I peddled a few miles to retrieve the van. It was a great first day on the river. Tomorrow we will try to go at least twice as far as we did today.
Click here to see our photos!