Canoeing

September 6th, 2025

I stored my trailer in Leadville, Colorado for a week and a half on August 19th, and started the long drive to Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. There I met with friends for a 5 day canoe trip down the Namakagan and St. Croix Rivers in Wisconsin. We paddled the week before Labor day in order to avoid the holiday crowd and traffic driving to and from the river. Once on the water near Trego, we saw very few others. We camped for 4 quiet nights along the forested shoreline. Normally the last day of the trip, you can expect strong headwinds on the southwestward flowing St. Croix, but this year we were treated to a light tailwind. This made the final day a little less grueling.

Following the canoe trip, we spent a few nights at my friend’s cabin in northern Wisconsin. Mostly we relaxed, but did spend an afternoon hiking the trails at Copper Falls State Park.

Lastly, I spent a couple of days visiting with my mother and sister back in Brooklyn Park before starting the drive back to Leadville.

I made the decision before starting this trip, that I will probably over-winter this year in Minnesota. Hopefully they will have more snow than they did two years ago and I will be able to get in some Cross Country Skiing this winter. I will probably winterize and store my trailer somewhere around Boulder, Colorado so that I don’t have to pull it across the plains twice. I will just drive the truck back and forth. I will most likely be in Minnesota from November through mid-April after first visiting my older son back in southeast Michigan for a few days. It will be nice to spend the holidays this year with family, as opposed to camping alone in the Arizona desert. When you reach my age, you start thinking about average lifespan and how that could translate to only a handful of Christmas holidays left with the people you love and those who care about you.

For the time being, I will be here near Leadville, at least until freezing temperatures arrive at this high elevation. Then I will move to the lower elevations of the Front Range where I will winterize the trailer and store it.