canoeing...bad idea.

Today Dad and I tried to canoe down the Minnehaha Creek. Put it this way, it was a bad idea.

Good conditons for braving the creek usually range from 75--150 cubic feet per second. Anything 150+ is deemed "very dangerous."

After the battle we found out that the creek's discharge ws 250 cfs. As you can imagine, this presented some problems for us.

Not two minutes into the three hour trip we capsized, drenching ourselves and learning for the first time how to get all the water out of the canoe...and get back into it without tipping over again. That was interesting. The first two tips were definately my fault--I guess you're not supposed to lean in the direction that you want to go...you're just supposed to keep paddling (live and learn)?

We went under a bunch of interesting bridges, saw a man who lived under a bridge, and one bridge almost claimed our life. Bridges...tell you what, passing under them is a lot more thrilling than crossing them.

We stopped at a portage right before we reached that dam. Which was a good idea, considering if we had kept going we probably would have died (maps are helpful). After lunch...the adventure only became more life threatening. We had to put in right by that dam, so the water was going real fast (prob a lot more than 250 cfs). And a few minutes later I guess we passes a sign that said "Portage Required." I guess dad mentioned it to me, and I guess I didn't hear him.

So we were heading for this bridge... this low, arched stone bridge. We were going to clear it easily. Until I noticed that it had this thing (I don't know what else to call it, if I were to call it something else it would probably be "death" or "hate for canoers"). This thing was under the arch of the bridge, spanning from wall to wall. It cut the clearance into basically nothing. We were heading to our decapitation. The current was incredibly fast on the other side of the dam. We tried to paddle to the left side of the creek to grab a tree, or rock, or something! I steered directly into the side of the bridge, hitting some other rocks, and my dad and I both tipped out of the canoe--crashing our knees on the stones and turning the canoe upside down--which was ready to keep heading down the stream with or without us. My dad yelled something like, "oh no! my ring! Chris' ring!" And when I looked back his wedding ring had fallen off...and we were being swept into the bridge that still looked like it really wanted to clothesline us. We grabbed the canoe and ducked under the metal thing in the bridge and got to the other side.

At that point, dad was bleeding from the knees, had lost his wedding ring, and definately seemed eager to take my cell phone, call mom, and say "come pick us up!" But we got back in the canoe and kept going. For a while we rode smoothly, through old Edina...very beautiful expensive homes and gardens... pretty much the only scenic part of the trip lasted about 15 minutes of the 3 hours.

We encountered some more rocks. Head on. Tipped in deep waters, with no place really to get back in. We drifted a bit with everything and found some footing on some rocks. After we got back in we were by this point, quite determined to go home. Finally we were in Minneapolis, ready to head for Lake Nokomis...but were headed towards a large tree branch that covered the whole width of the creek. Dang. We had to turn around and paddle up stream...to somewhere and pull out. We found out that were we at W Minnehaha and Harriet on the north side... we dug out my cell phone and called mom to come pick us up.

Overall it was a really frustrating, freaky day. But I enjoyed it so much because I got to sit in, or swim next to, or fall out of the conoe with my dad. He lost his wedding ring, and in all honesty we were foolish enough to be on the creek after Gray's Dam opened earlier this week, we could have been seriously injured. But I guess the risk made it all the more exciting.

I'd do it again, but...probably not tomorrow. I have a feeling my arms won't be working...

That being said, I am thankful for a dad who not only enjoys and desires and pursues to spend time with me, but he also encourages me to know God, to seek truth, to do hard things, and to have a passion for God's glory. He has a willingness to walk through difficult times with me, whether in a creek with a discharge of 250cfs, or in the pursuit of Truth "so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the Truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love" (Ephesians 4:14-16).

Grace Abounds,
Sara