By Kortnie Hanson
Last summer there were two canoe trips put on by Minnetonka Community Services summer school. Both were a full credit. The first consisted of 13 kids and Doug Berg and Randy Nelson, our teachers and guides. The first day we drove up there with Randy’s van and the Mini-school van. Ramona and Pauline drove with us up there so they could help us unload and bring the vans to Doug’s cabin where the trip would end 6 days later. We started by packing the canoes and heading down the Namekagon river. We would paddle about 20 or more miles that day, before we would start to look for a place to stop for the night. Of course we would stop for lunch and there we would get water and use the bathrooms etc… The first day was fun. Of course no one knew how long 20 miles was in a canoe so we all got nice and sore. We found a campsite to set up for the night and we assigned a kitchen crew. They cook the dinner, then clean the pans and raccoon proof the food.
Before dinner we had a meeting where Doug and Randy let us know what is going on and how we are doing as a group. After our meeting and dinner we usually read our book Night Flying Woman and write in our journals. After that is kind of our time to go explore new places and find interesting things. The one night I remember is when Kyle Brynteson, Geo and Eric Thomas were going to paddle up stream just because they were bored. It was dark out then. Geo was in the canoe. When Kyle was getting in he lost his balance because of Geo. Both Kyle and Geo got so wet! They ended up having half the trip wake back up to see what all the laughing and yelling was about!
We all had fun. There were some rapids we went through. And for our test we had to build a camp fire of our own and do a written one in our journal. The people on the trip were so funny even though half of us got second degree burns from the sun. There was great weather. We had a great time. No one even tipped over their canoe (well not during the day)!
Emily Richards was our weather girl- great weather we had. The only mess I can make out of the trip is that there were NO SHOWERS! It was my first trip and I am so glad I went on it and I learned a lot and got to know Mini-schoolers better. Plus I came back tan and only had one tick the whole 6 days. No one really had any problems, just very burnt and worn out from the sun. It was amazing turning off the Namekagon and on to the St. Croix river. The sights were great beautiful green, perfect water. We saw eagles galore and some deer and tons of turtles. Some of us even found out what a leech looks like! YUCK! Most of us got a chance to go swimming as tired and worn out as all 15 of us were.
Slowly we came upon the site of Doug’s cabin. We all jumped and paddled so fast to jump out and clean up for the ride home! On the way home we stopped at McDonalds for lunch. Next we drove up to Perkins where everyone was being picked up.