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On my way home from work here a bit ago.

As I was approaching the Jordan Bridge,out of nowhere these too young guys pop out from under the bridge waving their arms.

Knowing the river as I do, I immediately think the worst.

I stop on the shoulder, roll down my window, and these guys can barely talk, soaking wet, and shivering uncontrollably.

They ask for a ride to town and I say sure, but is everyone OK.

They said yep, just can't go any further with the canoe.

The weather got the best of them.

On our little ride I learned that they had put in, in Chaska, and have been paddling upstream for 4-5 hours.

They were training for a trip in a couple of weeks in which they are going to canoe upstream from Chaska to Big Stone, and then downstream all the way to Hudson Bay.

I dropped them off, shook my head, and wished them luck grin.gif

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4 to 5 hours??? Man, why do they think that even sounds fun? I have to think they could have used thier heads and noticed the forcast for the last week or so predicting this. Nice for them to have run into a fine citizen like you. Were they able to save the canoe or did they just bail out?

You get a good egg award today!

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Well.............

I bet anything after that little work out. The next run will be a piece of cake.

Brrrrrrr.

Glad all was well though.

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Sounded like they were able to drag it up under the bridge or up the landing or something.

Not sure if they swamped it or what, but this is the kind of weather where hypothermia could really sneak in.

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Sounds like you did your good deed for the day!

I have been in their shoes, just not paddling up stream, but broke down in my boat on the river in a down pour. But I was miles away from a road so I just took cover under a tree all night long in the rain, and 50 degrees!

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Good job dtro,

hypothermia is a bad thing.

I spent an hour in 39 degree water as deep as up to my chin at one point. The majority of the time it was waste deep. The wife wasn't happy that day. I think it was more of an issue that she didn't cash in on my life insurance. For a while, it might have been the better option.

Lesson learned: NEVER TRUST THE GAS GAUGE IN YOUR BOAT!!

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Haha these kids go to my school! At the rate were going they could be battling these weather conditions when they are set to leave at the end of April.

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Inspired no doubt by Canoing with the Cree by Eric Sevareid; him along with a fellow classmate made the run back when birchbark canoes were state-of-the-art. If you have ever tried to canoe against a mild current with a fully loaded canoe it makes you appreciate the acheivement accomplished. These fellows by the end of this trip had muscles in their turds when they made it to Hudson Bay Trading Post. \:\)

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 Originally Posted By: bassboy6109
Haha these kids go to my school! At the rate were going they could be battling these weather conditions when they are set to leave at the end of April.

Since when is school done at the end of April? They skippin the last month ??

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dtro 2 yrs ago?? by GraniteFalls while fishin the bank two guys came by in a Canoe stopped had coffee,stated they were followin Kurwalts & severads route.Then after I read of it somewhere.

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One day they will look back and think, seemed like a good idea at the time. Glad everyone's ok. We've all done stupid stunts.

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There seniors and they graduated early at the end of third quarter. I know these kids and there pretty serious about this whole deal.

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...if they can muster it, my hats off to them. A young buck full of vinegar is what it'll take. Its notsomuch the physical strain from all assortment of flies,mosquitoes/beating harsh sun/portages, but also the mental strain. I am imagining setting camp after a full days travel whilst giving a quart of blood to the native bird; but hey, maybe by the time they reach the Canadian border their skin will be such leather they wont feel the bites :).

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I can say this. It's something that would be fun to try.

BTW, welcome to FM Slowhand!

Looks like you've got yourself an ex-wife there grin.gif

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[quote=SlowhandThese fellows by the end of this trip had muscles in their turds when they made it to Hudson Bay Trading Post. \:\)

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Thank Sir; but like any good line I cannot take credit for it. Thanks for the welcome. \:\)

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 Originally Posted By: Slowhand
Thank Sir; but like any good line I cannot take credit for it. Thanks for the welcome. \:\)

I understand about the credit bit.

Still pretty darned funny.

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Somewhere just after entering Canada one of the young fellows could'nt take it and droped out,but they in advance had extras in line just for that reason,a new guy took his place and they completed their trip,Somewhere there is a complete story of their trip.I was following at the time,they would at each food pickup point leave updates,They had hard times and fun also.

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  • 3 weeks later...

From today's Star Tribune:

*******************************************************

I wrote about "Canoeing With the Cree" last week when its author, the late newsman Eric Sevareid, was honored with a postage stamp. And I told you his great book about his canoe trip to Hudson Bay inspired generations of Minnesota outdoors lovers.

The newest generation set out on chilly waters Monday morning.

Sean Bloomfield and Colton Witte are best bud 18-year-olds who accelerated their studies so they could graduate from Chaska High School six weeks early and embark upon a summer adventure to remember all their lives.

Over the next 10 or 11 weeks, they plan to follow in the wake of Sevareid and Walter Port, who canoed from Fort Snelling to Hudson Bay as teens in 1930. The boys, who grew up near each other on Chaska's Lake Grace, have dreamed of Canoeing with Eric Sevareid ever since they read his book in seventh grade.

They talked about it for five years. And for five years, their parents half-hoped they'd set the dream aside, like you're supposed to do when you grow up.

"I kept thinking they'd change their mind," said Sean's mom, Pat, as the boys and their friends gathered on the banks of the Minnesota River in Chaska's Winkel Park Monday morning. "But they never did."

"We questioned them pretty heavy," said Sean's dad, who is also named Pat. "We resisted their plans pretty hard, until we realized that the more we resisted, the more they were resolved to do this thing. So then we backed off, but that didn't work, either. "

In the end, the two families put their hopes in Nature.

Not the Nature of the rivers and the woods, but the nature of things between boys and girls. Girlfriends, the families hoped, might keep the boys from embarking on months of hardships and hazards.

"We came close," Colton's dad, Dan Witte, said with a laugh, Monday, while Colton's mom, Kathy, took pictures of the preparations. "There have been some tears the last few days."

Sean's girlfriend, Erin Sattervall, and Colton's girlfriend, Courtney Leinen, were on hand to wish the guys bon voyage, looking scared and sad.

The last to show up was Colton, who was in charge of bringing the 18-and-a-half-foot canoe, "The Bloomitte" ( a contraction of Bloomfield and Witte) in the Beast, his 1986 pickup. The Beast had begun the day with a flat tire, so The Bloomitte got to the river just a few minutes before the trip was supposed to start.

"We just always have wanted to get away from the world -- the civilized world, at least," Sean said while Colton loaded the canoe. "Everyone was skeptical that we really were going to do this. But we really were."

"Living day to day outdoors," Colton added. "Being out in nature -- that's the lifestyle we always wanted."

The boys took their first canoe trip with their dads when they were in fourth grade, a weeklong trip to the Boundary Waters. Over the past couple of years, as they prepared for the Sevareid trek, they started pushing themselves, taking long trips through the Boundary Waters and on the St. Croix, and along the Minnesota River bottoms, in heat and cold and wind and rain.

At the river, Paul Holmes, a counselor at Chaska High, offered tobacco to the four directions so the boys would have good spirits on the journey through the homelands of the Dakota and the Cree.

"I'm not worried about them," Holmes said. "They've got the youthful exuberance, and they've got the skills."

The boys also have the advantage of maps far better than the ones Sevareid had. But they are traveling without most modern conveniences, except for a satellite messenger -- a device that can send a signal telling friends their map coordinates. It also has an emergency signal to call for help in case of illness or mishap.

The time had come: 7:30 on the last Monday morning in April, 30 degrees and snowflakes falling as Sean and Colton kissed their girlfriends goodbye. It was a long farewell. The Chaska High prom had been Saturday night, and the boys and their dates had been among a group of friends who went to the dance in a cozy limo.

Prom was officially over. Now, it was just two teens and a canoe, like it seems it always has been. Sean and Colton played the little hand game they always do before getting into a canoe, an impromptu contest like rock-paper-scissors, to see who got the stern seat, the captain's position. Colton won, Sean grimaced in jest.

They got in, took up their paddles, and pushed off, heading against the flow, up the Minnesota 300 miles to Ortonville and Big Stone Lake. That should take two weeks, they figure. After that, it's down the north-flowing Red River, across Lake Winnipeg the long way, and then to the Hayes River and 16 sets of rapids down to Hudson Bay, carrying bear spray against the chance of polar bears.

Just a jaunt of 2,250 miles or so. Then back to Chaska in time for the State Fair and a chance to rekindle a high school romance or two. Sean will attend Minnesota State, Mankato, in the fall. Colton hasn't picked a college yet.

They pushed out into the swollen, brown river.

"Take a right!," yelled Colton's dad, Dan.

Right was the right way -- up stream, up the continent, up to Hudson Bay.

Right she went. A sign on the port side of the canoe said: "Go Big or Go Home."

Colton's dad walked over to The Beast to drive the old pickup truck home.

Colton had taken the keys with him.

Kids.

*************************************************************

I know you can't read this, but Good Luck guys, you'll be in my thoughts

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He took the keys with him!!!!!! grin.gif

Takes me back to my younger days wanting to be part of the same type of adventures. Good luck, Godspeed, and fairwinds and following seas to the young lads. \:\)

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Keep us informed on the adventure. Is there any site's to go to see there progress? I would like to see a before and after pic of the to guy's.

Sounds like fun a group of guys and i went on a trip for a week in the boundry waters the week after graduation. lived off of fish and potatoes best week of my life.

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you really have to pick you lines. Pick a bad one and your not going anywhere.

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Ya, I think I would be waiting until later when the river is down a bit.

Good luck to them! I wish I had the free time, and the will to do something like this.

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Sparce - Are you referring to the original trip by Eric Sevareid? You would have thought that would have been in the book?

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Actually I believe the original trip was Charles Kuralt (sp?) then Sevarad followed his tracks then bout two years ago two other young guys (of whom i wrote here)did the trip and now these guys of which I just heard of in the last week.I think both Kuralt & severad wrote of their trips.May be Charles Kuralt Cronicals rings a bell but he was the original.

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I was going to see if you saw the story about the two clowns you picked up on the side of the road grin.gif! I know these two kids and alot of there friends so if there isnt a website or anything i should be able to keep everybody posted on there positions and status.

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