I've just been thinking about some of the practical issues surrounding the early part of the trip. I'm a bit concerned that the two-day event in Minneapolis is quite early (25th-26th July) and that it *might* be a push for me to get out there ready for paddling at that point. That's not to say you shouldn't do it, although I'd really like to spend some time on that stretch of river, especially around Fort Snelling, so hope you wouldn't be averse to passing along there again?
I was actually wondering what you thought about signing up for a short course on canoeing or kayaking at an outdoor centre in Minnesota - say a couple of days, if we can find one? I notice that the St Cloud State University can organise training:
http://www.stcloudstate.edu/campusrec/outdoorendeavors/canoeshuttle.asp
This might be a good opportunity to pick the brains of the instructors about the river - St Cloud being on the Mississippi they would presumably be able to give us lots of advice - and also about gear we might not have thought of. If we then headed up to Lake Itasca (I'm assuming you'd want to start from source?) we'd have a period of fairly easy paddling to get used to the canoe etc.
There seem to be quite a lot of 'outfitters' in northern Minnesota who will work out what you need for the trip etc. I don't know how much these cost but would it be a good idea to email a few of them, just to see what they say? If there are any near Lake Itasca (which I guess there must be), it might be worth starting with them.
Anyway, just a few thoughts. Very happy to do some emailing - what do you think?
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I'm totally open to deciding about the FMR paddle later: there may be more critical stuff for us to do in that late-July window. regarding training, I'm planning to do a weekend course in VT in early June, and I think if one of us has some knowledge, we can share it effectively enough, especially since the beginning of the river is described as not too demanding.
ReplyDeleteNick Lichter managed to get the LOAN of a 17 foot flatwater marathon canoe from We-No-Nah Conoe in Winona, MN. if you feel comfortable emailing some outfitters with a precis of our undertaking and seeing if we could get a loan, that could be pretty great! I guess it'd be for the roughly four months I expect to be traveling...
but actually, if we want to follow the advice of starting with an even smaller rental canoe in case we have to portage and upgrading in Minneapolis, then I guess you'd want to be emailing some Twin Cities outfitters...