decisiveness and determination pay off on Necktie cruise

Two days earlier, Hart Lake was mostly iced over, but Jack (the cruise host) was confident that it would be open in time for our canoe season opener. He decided we would go for it. As the time approached for the cruise, blustery rain squalls dominated the weather. Jack had a contingency plan: we’d paddle the Mississippi from Cass Lake to Winnie if the wind was too rough on the lake.

Miraculously, the weather turned perfect as soon as we launched our canoes - kind of like a divine reward for having done the right thing. From the landing on the Necktie River, we headed south toward Hart Lake amid ducks (mostly mallards and goldeneyes) and Canada geese. As we approached the lake, we saw ten pelicans clustered near the inlet.

A mild tail wind pushed us gently across the lake. Two trumpeter swans graced the scene near the outlet. As we approached, they took flight, running on the water and beating their wings until they reached air speed. Four more flew over us a little farther downstream. They seem to have the perfect design for efficient long distance flight.

The water level was perfect, allowing us to float over the rocky patches that often require watchful maneuvering. The high water mark established during the recent spring runoff was at eye level as I sat in my canoe. An adult bald eagle spotted us from a distance and took a perch near the river where it could observe our progress at close range. It seemed more curious than fearful as we passed under its gaze.

Kingfishers swooped about with their lilting flight habit from one perch to another. We heard ruffed grouse drumming, chorus and wood frogs singing, and the junglecock calling of pileated woodpeckers. Fish were thrashing about in the shallows; we imagined them to be suckers. Trying to get close enough for a look caused them to 'disappear'.

As we paddled, I imagined the changes that are imminent on this landscape. The forests along the river are dominated by tamarack and black ash. The tamarack is in visible decline, showing ample signs of woodpecker activity, evidence of the insect problems that have been plaguing tamarack in recent years. The ashes look good, now, but the emerald ash borer is almost certain to kill them all. Tamarack will probably come back. It gets wiped out once in each generation and somehow manages to rebound. But the ashes seem doomed, maybe forever. Should foresters seek other species that will fill their niches? Will any other species work in that wet environment? I intend to look into it.

We made a casual survey of cattail species as we passed by, searching for our native Typha latifolia (common cattail). Sightings were few and far between. Far more common is Typha angustifolia (narrow-leaved cattail), which is a much more agressive and invasive species, or a hybrid of the two which is more aggressive, yet. These newcomers choke out most other vegetation, establishing monocultures that are less valuable for wildlife habitat than our native mixed vegetation.

We finished our 7.5 mile cruise in two hours, just as the sun was setting. We topped off the evening relaxing in Jack's barn around the wood stove, enjoying homemade wine, venison snacks and conversation.

TRIP REPORT

Little Mississippi from Co. Rd. 5 to Rice Lake, Mississippi River and Iron Bridge at Co. Rd. 7

Jim Haskell

On June 15, 2008, I started out from County Road 5 to head down the Little Mississippi River. There is no official access there but adequate room on the shoulder of the road to park. The put-in spot is on Beltrami County Road 5 about 4 miles south of Solway, south of Trengove Road (County Road 16) and north of the Mississippi River bridge, which is approximately 1 mile further south. There is no road sign for the Little Mississippi but there is for the Mississippi. On some maps the Little Mississippi is called the Pidiwin River. This is in the Headwaters State Forest. The water level was high after some substantial early June rainfalls and there was help by a northwesterly breeze of 10-15 mph.

The first section down to Rice Lake is fairly pretty with mixed forest fairly close to the river. There are no rapids or problems following the route down to Rice Lake. I was able to skirt the few windfalls or go over them without ever having to get out of the canoe.

I utilized Minnesota DNR aerial photo bbc-36-060* taken 9/27/01. The aerial photos are particularly helpful in the meandering marsh river areas as you can get your bearings to some extent from seeing where the forests and lowlands are located. I also used the DNR Mississippi River canoe route map.

The first stretch of the trip heads southeasterly. At about the time it starts to head northeasterly you enter an area with a much wider area of marsh between the river and forests on each side. As you look east you only see high ground forest in all directions. As you proceed on it becomes apparent that there is a cut between the forested areas on the left. Before you get to the Rice Lake basin you basically follow around a peninsula of high ground keeping to the right. There are several places where one can get out onto high ground for a break before entering the Rice Lake basin. As you go around the north end of that peninsula there is an island and the channel passes to the left of it. After that you are in the Rice Lake basin you can follow the channel quite easily until it reaches the north end of Rice Lake proper. The aerial photo shows an island at the north end of Rice Lake but it hardly appears that way when you get there with only some small brush being visible.

As you head south across Rice Lake you see a large bay to the southwest corner which you should avoid and, instead, head directly to the peninsula of land on the easterly side of that bay. To get to the outlet of the lake you go around the left side of the peninsula, keeping that peninsula close on your right to the far right end of the lake where you come to a narrow channel which soon veers left around the point on the westerly side of the end of the lake to enter another area of open water which is sometimes called Little Rice Lake where the Mississippi River enters into from the southwest. The area between the two bodies of water is very difficult to visualize from maps or aerial photograph. It is fairly easy to get through with the preceding directions. The points on both east and west sides at the south end of Rice Lake are in private ownership. There is a dock on the east side.

From the south end of Rice Lake DNR photo bbc-37-061 is helpful through the giant marshland the Mississippi flows through as it heads easterly from that Little Rice Lake. As you go easterly photo ID hub-06-001 of 09-23-97 can be used followed by hub-07-0001 which covers the area to and beyond the iron bridge. After entering Little Rice Lake, the exit for both the Mississippi River and the Little Mississippi is roughly halfway down the east side on the left.

The next stretch of the trip is the most confusing of the entire Mississippi headwaters. The best time to go through this area is normally late May or June. Earlier risks the possibility of hypothermia in cold water. Since there is no high ground to get to, a capsizing (though unlikely) could be deadly. Also, by July the vegetation gets so thick as to hamper navigation. In the late May/early June time period you can follow the leaning of the grass on the bottom to help determine the direction of current. That grass is the beginning of wild rice which is truly a type of grass, rather than rice. As the summer progresses it goes through a “flop over” stage where it is tall enough to extend out of the water but lacks the strength and then later stiffens up to stand upright out of the water for the duration of the summer through a September harvesting period. (License for harvesting required.) This area is a very large marsh land with very little current to direct you and sometimes alternate possible routes. There is no way to explain what to do through that area except to try to follow the current and use maps and aerial photos to help you get an approximate idea of where you are. You will probably end up squeezing through some rushes to find open water in places. There have been times when floating bog blocks the channel but it is normally passable. The most confusing area is down to about river mile 1303. In low water the current is virtually nonexistent in that area. Even with fairly high water, the current can disappear in the broad expanse of the marsh.

From where the Little Mississippi enters the Rice Lake Basin until the iron bridge there is no public land on which to get out of your canoe or kayak. Over the entire route you see no homes or cabins except two on the east side of Rice Lake until you near the area of the Iron Bridge Campsite. That campsite has a shelter and an outhouse but no other facilities. After the campsite you see homes on each side, go past the location of the barricades where the old Iron Bridge used to be and then several hundred yards later reach the present so-called iron bridge (concrete) at Beltrami County Road 7 where there is an official canoe access and small parking area on the southwest side. The access is rather muddy and not feasibly a boat trailer access.

It took me five hours of mostly easily paddling to complete this approximately 17-mile stretch of river and lake with the help of reasonable current and significant breeze behind.

It is interesting to note that the Rice Lake area can be entered from four different starting points: up from the Iron Bridge or downriver from Pine Point on the Mississippi River, down the Little Mississippi River and down Grant Creek which enters from the northeast. Some maps show the Little Mississippi and Grant Creek meeting a short distance north of Rice Lake and others show them independently entering Rice Lake. There is no place where you distinctly see one channel meeting the other as they come together in what I have referred to here as the Rice Lake basin, a large marshy area.

All in all, this makes for an interesting day trip with the combination of forest-lined river, lake paddling and finding ones way through the big swamp. The only real problem on this trip is the last segment. People have sometimes gotten lost and had to call for help. There is the possibility of a floating bog-blocked channel, though there would normally be alternate ways through given time. It is recommended to start early in the day in case of problems. A night in a canoe would not be fun! You would not want to make this trip in low water or later summer conditions. For a full-day trip you can start upriver at Moose Lake for a very pretty stretch down to County Road 5, though it is also important to avoid low water conditions in that stretch.

*Although they may be different from the photos Jim used, aerial photos can be found at: http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/maps/forestview/view.html?app=inventory

The river map can be found at: http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/watertrails/az.html

Little Mississippi

"What a long, strange trip it's been!" ~ Grateful Dead

On Sunday, May 5, five canoes embarked from the public access at the west end of Moose Lake at noon. This particular Moose Lake is near the line between Beltrami and Clearwater Counties. The lake is about a mile long and was ice-free, which was a great relief for the paddlers because that can't be said of many lakes in the region right now. Our plan was to paddle nearly the full length of the Little Mississippi River and then paddle up Grant Creek.

The cruise started out very pleasantly. The sun was shining. The temperature was comfortable - probably above 50, moving toward 60. The wind was at our backs. I did have a premonition, though. We seemed to be moving rather slowly. We had a 13-mile trip ahead of us, which is not a leisure cruise if you plan to finish before dark. I gently reminded people that we needed to be a bit diligent.

We saw a couple of white creatures far away at the eastern end of the lake - pelicans or swans? They were trumpeter swans. They took off and flew over us, then came back over us again, trumpeting. They really do sound like trumpets. We saw them again, four times - or we saw four pairs - it's hard to say. We saw a lot of waterfowl throughout the trip, including many Canada geese, common mergansers, wood ducks and mallards. Muskrats and porcupines were among the mammals we saw. Interesting vegetation included skunk cabbage, Symplocarpus foetidus. According to a Forest Service website, "It is the first native wildflower to bloom and generally does so starting in February (somewhere!). The first part of this unique wildflower to emerge from the below-surface rhizome is the spathe (hood) that is color combination of browns, greens, and purples. The ability of the spathe to quickly emerge in late winter is because the respiration of the plant produces heat which protects the developing flowers from freezing and dying. The spathe houses the developing spadix which is covered with numerous, small, tightly-packed yellow flowers that are hermaphroditic, thus not relying on nearby plants for cross pollination. The spathe also assists in holding in the flower’s heat so as to vaporize the scent that then attracts pollinating insects especially flies. Additionally, the scent deters potential predators. The seeds develop within the spadix and when ripe fall into the mucky substrate. The seeds are then dispersed by birds and small mammals or by floods. The leaves emerge after flowering. Leaves are large, 1 – 2 feet long, broad at the base and being ovate to cordate and heavily ribbed." A very interesting plant!

The first segment of the trip took us from the Moose Lake landing to Beltrami County Road 5. The Headwaters Canoe Club has traveled this route twice before. It wanders through a narrow valley that is lined with pine forests: jack pine, red pine and white pine, plus white spruce and a few associated hardwood tree species. The cured grasses that line the river provide a nice color contrast with the pines. There is one spot in this segment where we have had to portage on past trips, but due to the high water, some of us were able to scoot over the fallen trees. We were also able to scoot over the few beaver dams we encountered through the afternoon.

I hadn't paddled downstream from County Road 5, before. I had assumed that it was swampy. I was wrong. It was maybe a bit more swampy than the upper stretches, but there were frequent patches of pines and high banks. It was nearly as scenic as the first segment.

Some of our troop started to tire as we got into this second segment. Thirteen miles is a long paddle. Think about a 13-mile walk or a 13-mile run. It can be hard. We came to another tree that had fallen across the river. One paddler started cutting the limbs off of it with a pruning saw to allow passage. Several paddlers decided to portage around the obstacle. One paddler capsized while getting out of the canoe. Others offered clothing from their dry-bags. The sawyer got cut on the hand. Was this becoming a comedy of errors or a tragedy?

As we neared Rice (Mahnomen) Lake, we started watching for the confluence of Grant Creek. We expected Grant to be about the same size as the Little Mississippi, but we also expected that it could be disguised by marsh. One of us would paddle into any nook that looked like it could be a creek. Sometimes, we had to go quite a distance before we satisfied ourselves that we were in an oxbow of the Little Mississippi or anything other than Grant Creek.

The weather was changing, and not for the better. Clouds had moved in. The wind was picking up and it had changed to an unfavorable direction. The temperature was dropping. The emotions within the group ran the gamut of worry, disappointment, doubt, apprehension, fatigue, maybe even fear. We started forming contingency plans. Should we cross Rice Lake and paddle down the Mississippi to Iron Bridge Landing through the labyrinth where canoeists routinely get lost? Should we cross Rice Lake and paddle up the Mississippi to Pine Point Landing and walk two miles to the highway to hitchhike back to the vehicles?

We felt quite sure we had entered Rice Lake, but it was marshy and we couldn't be absolutely certain. We should have reached the confluence before we reached the lake, according to the map, but rivers change all the time, especially in marshes. We saw a couple of log houses in the pines on the east shore. Some paddlers wanted to go to them to seek help. I tried one more suspicious nook. As I got near to what-had-looked-to-be the end of it, the open water turned and kept going. This happened several times. For a moment, I'd be sure I had found Grant Creek, then I'd be unsure. I vowed that after I passed the next tall patch of Phragmites grass, if I still felt like I was on a creek, I'd call out for the others to follow. I passed that point. It definitely looked like a creek.

I hooted. I hooted some more. I did my very best owl hoot. Nobody returned my calls. I indulged in an act of desperation. I called one of the other paddlers on my cell phone. I learned that two paddlers were taking a canoe to the log houses. The others would follow me up the creek.

Now we were in a real marsh. It was flat and open. Beyond the marsh grass, we could see alders and tamaracks, far off from the creek. The chill wind blew in our faces. The current wasn't very strong, but the water was so shallow, we often could not dip a full paddle to get a good purchase. Sometimes the route was hard to find. We investigated dead ends. We went through tight spots where you just throw the paddle down in the bottom of the canoe and grab cattails to pull yourself through.

Gradually, we made progress toward the aspens and balsam fir that indicated the end of the marsh and our destination. The paddler in the first canoe announced that he saw a power line! Now came the toughest pull of the day. The current was getting stronger and so was the wind. We could see the cars at the take-out, but our progress was so slow! Of course, we made it and just about had canoes loaded when the paddlers that had bailed out drove up. They had been rescued by a family member. They reported having been treated very hospitably by the residents that they found in the log house. They were written down in the log book as the earliest spring rescue that had been recorded. Their hosts were a bit surprised that they had come down the Little Mississippi instead of the (other) Mississippi River. They predicted that it would be very late before the rest of us would finish our trip up Grant Creek. Well, it was after 6 o'clock! I think everyone had to agree that we had had a great adventure!

I saw a magpie on the drive home!

On Tuesday, April 29, five canoes floated down the Necktie River from County Road 16 to 315th Avenue: two tandems and three solos. We had gotten about 15" of snow on the previous Saturday, the third blizzard in as many weeks. April snows have reflected heat from the lake ice, slowing its melting. We weren't sure whether we'd be able to cross Hart Lake. Our host checked the lake several times prior to the cruise and was prepared to adjust the cruise if the lake was not navigable. Luckily, the ice was greatly diminished by the time we got out on the lake and we were able to paddle straight across to the outlet.

As we paddled, we watched eight eagles on the south shore, probably having venison for dinner. Five of them moved to roost trees to the southwest of the lake. Three flew north. Some had adult plumage; others were immature. I tried to photograph one that was sitting in a tree, but the batteries were dead in my camera. I put different ones in, but the eagle didn't wait for me to finish.

We saw a lot of waterfowl, including one trumpeter swan, many geese and ducks. Some geese appeared to be sitting on nests. We looked for one nest and found two eggs in it. We saw at least one great blue heron. We saw muskrats, beavers, northerns and suckers swimming in the river. A porcupine was spotted in a tree.

Hart Lake has a couple buildings on it, but it's a quiet little lake with a lot of natural shoreline. The Necktie River is slow moving with a mucky bottom. Large rocks can be found in several areas, either by sight or (if you fail to see them) by sound (when your canoe hits them). It seems like the tops of most of them lie just under the water surface. The river banks are lined with tag alders, tamaracks, black ash, and cedars. The only development you see along the river is at the road crossings. At the first crossing is a beautiful log house with log outbuildings, but the scene is spoiled by a cow pasture that runs right up into the river. Talk about a stench! There was another pasture farther downstream and on the other side of the river that was equally appalling, years ago. Below that point, one noticed a dramatic increase in aquatic vegetation and algae. That pasture has been abandoned, now, and the river bank is grassed over. It's nice to see some environmental conditions improving.

The 7.5 mile cruise took two hours.

Little Mississippi River - May 3

As part of the Headwaters Canoe Club cruise schedule, I'm leading a cruise down the Little Mississippi River and up Grant Creek next Saturday, May 3. The plan is to start at Moose Lake at noon. Access to Moose Lake is from Clearwater County Road 2. I'll check out the lake before Saturday. If it's still iced in, we'll start on Beltrami County Road 5. Moose Lake to the take out (the first road upstream on Grant Creek from Rice Lake) is 13 miles.

The Little Mississippi is one of the most beautiful little streams in the area. From Moose Lake to County Road 5, it flows through pine forest, all public land, so it is undeveloped. It has one or two obstacles - beaver dams or windthrows - that involve lifting over or drag the boat around. The bottom is sandy and it should have some flow to it after all this snow. You can't do this river very well in midsummer (due to water levels), so get it while the getting's good.

From County Road 5 to Rice Lake is swampy. This time of the year, when the lakes are still frozen over, should be prime waterfowl watching. We expect to see all species of ducks, plus geese, swans, great blue herons, eagles, maybe egrets and other things. Going from Rice Lake, up Grant Creek to the take out should be more of the same. Going against the current should not be a problem through that swamp.

This trip will reveal the most remote and unvisited area of the Mississippi Headwaters State Forest. If you want to go, let me know at Headwaterscanoeclub@yahoo.com

Harvey

Iron Bridge to Fern Lake Road

The Headwaters Canoe Club 2008 paddling season got off to a good start on Sunday, April 20, 2008 with 6 canoes heading down the Mississippi from the Iron Bridge canoe landing starting at 1 pm for Fern Lake Rd SW. The weather was 50 ish, overcast and breezy against us some of the way. The ice just went out on this stretch about a week before.

The first mile or so winds through a marshy area and then through a mixture of high ground pine and birch land with limited residential development, marshes and some farm land.

This is a fairly easy route, reasonably safe for a cold water Spring trip. There is modestly moving current but very few windfalls, no rapids or bottom dragging. There are a few places where one could (and we did) go into a dead end or two. One of those is early on where a switchback to the left takes you back to almost where you were but it looks promising to stay to the right on the way back instead of following the correct channel which goes left. There is one later on where you can circle around to the left close to land and end at the same spot (maybe the circle river of the Paul Bunyan tale!). But one cannot go far off the route unless you head off to the right into a big slough about a mile into the trip instead of veering left where the river heads to the northeast after the generally southerly start. There are some sharp turns where the current wants to push you to the shore, but with few deadfall trees, there is little danger. The trip takes about 2 hours for the approximately 6 mile paddle .

Everyone enjoyed this nice season starter trip.

2008 Cruise Schedule – Headwaters Canoe Club*
Please contact the host if you plan to participate.

1pm, Sun, April 20 - Miss. River, Iron Bridge to Fern Lake Rd. - Jim Haskell (444-7777)
6pm, Tues, April 22 - Miss. River - Knudson Dam to Smilin’ Joes - Jack Gustafson (335-2689)
6pm, Tues, April 29 - Necktie River - Jack Gustafson (335-2689)
Noon – Sat, May 3 - Little Mississippi and Grant Creek - Tjader &/or Krysel
(444-5477 or 333-3970)
6pm, Tues, May 13 - Turtle River, from Three Island to Golf Course - Leon Johnson (243-2962)
6pm, Tues, May 20 - Anaway Lake, Shingobee - Jack Gustafson (335-2689)
6pm, Tues. May 27 - Turtle River, Co Rd 22 to Co Rd 22 and Gull Lake - Pete Moberg (444-7532) and Harvey Tjader (444-5477)
6pm, Tues, June 3 - Unnamed Chain of Lakes - Harvey Tjader (444-5477) and Jack Gustafson (335-2689)
6pm, Tues, June 10 - Pike Bay Connection - Jack Gustafson (335-2689)
7am, Sat, June 14 - Chippewa Triathlon - Jack Gustafson (335-2689)
Noon – Sun. June 15 - Red Bridge Run Canoe Race, Park Rapids, MN http://www.redbridgeinn.com/rdbrdgrun.html
6pm, Tues, June 17 - Schoolcraft River-Quill Road to Co. Rd 9 - Charles Krysel (333-3970)
6pm, Tues, June 24 - Crow Wing River – Co Rd 13 to Co Rd 13 Pat & Theresa McBrady (218-732-8004)
6pm, Tues. July 1 - Lake Plantagenet to Lake Bemidji Pete and Janice Moberg (444-7532)
Tues, July 4 - HOLIDAY
6pm, Tues, July 8 - Kabekona Lake to Benedict Lake - NEED HOST
6pm, Tues, July 15 - Power Dam to County Road 25 - NEED HOST
6pm, Tues, July 22 - 11th Crow Wing to 8th Crow Wing - Tony McKeown (218-732-3198)
6pm, Tues, July 29 - North Twin to Bass – out and back - Pete and Janice Moberg (444-7532)
10:30am, Sat, Aug 2 - KAYAK CRUISE – Leech Lake – Bear Island - Tony Walzer (586-2541)
6pm, Tues, Aug 5 - Miss. River -Fern Lake Rd to Lake Bemidji - Mark & Brandy Larson (218-308-1334)
6pm, Tues, Aug 12 - Little Sand to Shallow Lake - Tony McKeown (218-732-3198)
6pm, Tues, Aug 19 - Star Island - Jack Gustafson (335-2689)
6pm, Tues, August 26 - Skunk Lake - Carter and Florence Hedeen (218-732-9226)

*and other silent sports!