Day 17

Day 17

Another beautiful day as we paddled down the river towards Brainard and the Potlatch Dam. We each had a list of things to purchase in town after the portage around the dam. The water level and current continued to increase as each creek and river meeting the river as running at flood stage. Before noon we arrived at the dam and completed the short portage around. We had some difficulty finding a place to hide the boats as the water level was up to or above the trees lining the banks. We finally found a city fishing pier and secured the boats and gear with a steel cable I carry for just such times. Our first stop was the local post office to pick up a shot Shawn needed to take. I could tell Shawn was hurting on the short walk to the Post Office and was happy to see the relief on his face as he took his shot. We found a Mexican restaurant only a few blocks away for lunch. Over lunch we talked about the uneasy feeling we were getting from the locals, as we walked down the street no one would look us in the eye or speak when we greeted them. After lunch we decided to we both felt that getting back on the water was better than another moment in this town.

Back on the water we alternated between drifting, paddling and trying to decide where to camp for the night. The map showed Crow Wing State Park about 12 miles down stream. As we approached the state park we discovered that again the map was not correct and no camping was available on the water. We stopped at the boat ramp and talked to a couple from the area. They told us that down stream we could find camping and water. Back in the boats we went for another mile before finding another landing. Her we found water, a group meeting building with power to recharge phones and a picnic area (no camping). We decided we would swim and hang out till near dark, then we would set up tents and be gone first thing in the morning. While making dinner a gentleman named Ken stopped to talk. He asked all about our trip and He and Shawn discovered they had both triple bi pass with the last 6 months. Ken lives downstream in Sartell above St Cloud and offered to portage us around the 2 dams there when we made it. We gladly exchanged numbers and Ken set off towards his camper. Shawn and I were talking about what an awesome piece of river magic this was when Ken returned with fried chicken and beer for us. After Ken left the second time we were super excited to discover we were only 135 miles from the Twin Cities. We had only been taking things day to day and saving our first night in a real bed till we reached the Twin Cities. I went to bed with visions of a hotel bed and aTwins game in my head.