Paddle South
An Adventure on the Cannon River
by Bryan Boyce
Like all good plans, this one started on the back of an unpaid bill.
Southern Minnesota waters have a different flavor from your stereotypical northwoods paddle. Think waterfowl, vegetation, beignets.
The first stretch out of Morristown was utterly lovely. These hypnotic underwater plants create all sorts of cool patterns. Dragonflies and amphibious rodents abound. I'm in no rush.
Felled trees here and there require a little limboing and the same skills used in the final level of Oregon Trail. Northing we didn't pick up in grade school!
I take regular, full-body plunges into the river to beat the 87-degree heat. The water opens into Cannon Lake--less wildlife, but a great place to hang your toes over the edge and paddle leisurely. "It's lovely to live on a raft."
You meet people on a trip like this. River people. Like Andy and Elaine of Nagel's Bait Shop, purveyors of live minnows to the anglers I saw catching catfish at King Mill Dam in Faribault.
Average paddling speed: two miles per hour. Camp for the night (and purchase a blanket!) at Woolen Mill Dam. Arepas, F-Town microbrews, demolition derby and mariachi bands at the Rice County Fair.
The Cannon’s water goes opaque after Faribault, but you trade up for some striking limestone bluffs. A few with enough river depth for jumping? The Loon is lighter and faster, paddles straighter and more maneuverably than any other paddleboard I've used. Appreciated in the minor rapids of this section.
There's an exchange in Desert Solitaire where, after failing to compel his companion to exit the river by logic, Edward Abbey goes for the gut:
"Well," I say, "how long do you think that jar of bacon grease will last?"Substitute chocolate hazelnut spread for bacon grease and I'm there!
That made him think. "Let's go," he says.
Out at Keepsake Cidery in Dundas, where both a cold drink and my bike for the 25-mile ride back to the car await.
Next up: mobile sauna and ice paddling. If Arctic surfers can do it, why can't we?
It took me years of moving between new places to see my home geography with fresh eyes. I never knew Southern Minnesota could feel this wild and unexpected--and suspect that's true of the places most of us grew up. Paddle gravel. Paddle cornfields. Paddle South, and beyond.