Minnesota River

Weekend trip report

We had a great time with a dozen friends from the South Dakota Canoe and Kayak Assoc. We reserved camp sites at Lac Qui Parle State Park in the lower camp ground with the hope of being close to the water. The access near the sites was pretty muddy and had a steep bank, with recent high water levels the park is experiencing mosquito hatches of epic proportions. I think I even saw a small dog carried off into the tall grass.

Note to MN DNR, there were no dragon flies, damsel flies, red wing black birds, purple martins or even bats.... which means you have tried spraying and killed off the predators which makes things worse. Call me, I can help you out.

Some of us went over to the lake to paddle around Friday night, a couple hours of fun playing on the waves. after the obligatory campfire and rounds of kumbya a chili night was spent huddled under the covers (to cold for the mosquitoes). Saturday morning after a big breakfast we loaded up ten kayaks and one canoe and headed for Camp Release for the put in (located on county road 15). We shuttled the truck and trailers down to the take out at Wegdahl County Park.

The river itself was a beautiful ride, bald eagles, waterfowl and fish could all be seen from the water. The flow was perfect as it didn't take a lot of effort to move along. The only hazard was some new downed trees that we had to avoid but nothing that blocked the entire river.

We stopped for snacks and PBJ sandwiches at Priens Landing just down river from Montevideo. Easy in and easy out but it was a little hard to see from the water. There is a canoe in camp site around river mile 261.5 but it was poorly marked, perhaps one sign fell down.

Even after 5 hours the trip seemed to end to soon, mussels were pleasantly sore and we were refreshed from the sun and company. of course the ice cream after helped a lot too..