Split Rock Creek - Garretson City Park - April 2010

Saturday is a day that I usually avoid for kayaking, biking, or hiking. On weekends, people are out in their boats or gathered along beaches, the city bike trail is crowded, and people take their dogs out for a run in the area nature areas. During the week, I am almost always alone or nearly alone in most of my outdoor activities. Today, though, our routine was a bit different for a Saturday, and there was an opportunity to slip away for a cruise. I decided to continue with my early spring review of area paddling opportunities, and today I went to Split Rock Creek, beginning at the Garretson City Park and paddling upstream from the dam to the end of easily navigated waters.

When I take guests or one of my sons out for a paddle, this is the waterway that is always among the first choices. Paddling through the quartzite palisades with their towering height and the interesting range of bushes and trees growing on top or in cracks is just a delightful visual scene.

As nearly always, I was alone on the water as I moved along in about 60 degree temperatures under mostly sunny skies. The grass and some of the bushes are “greening up,” but the trees are still bare. The wind varies as it blows across the impounded waters of Split Rock Creek and through the sheer cliffs of the palisades, creating visual displays of flat calm areas interwoven with areas of ripples from the breeze.

I found myself lingering in the shadow of overhanging cliffs of the palisades, gazing at details of the rock face and looking at the struggling vegetation growing out of cracks and along ledges.

Sounds along this stretch of Split Rock Creek are an interesting blend of modern life and the eternal flow of water. There is a large railroad yard in Garretson, and today a very long fast moving freight train sped along on tracks that parallel the shoreline. Then, a light plane flew alongside the creek for a while. There is a well-used park maintained by the city of Garretson that provides opportunity for nature walks, fishing, picnicking, and camping. So, especially on weekends and in the summer, the sounds of children playing rings out over the water for a few hundred yards along the main part of the park. Also in the summer and fall months, a sightseeing pontoon boat takes passengers for a cruise up the main body of Split Rock Creek, the same route that I use for my kayaking. Mostly, however, after leaving the launch area, there are no people heard or seen, especially after the first hundred yards or so.


Today, there were lots of geese out along the shore. They must be getting ready for nesting. The pattern seemed to be for a pair of geese to hang out together along a spot on the shoreline or hover in the water just offshore. As I cruised by, the geese tended to rush over to the water’s edge and honk loudly at me until it was clear that I was moving on. There were lots of ducks out on the water today as well, including some small ones that swam in groups and did not seem very spooked by me and the kayak.


As usual, I slipped through the arches of the bridge into Devil’s Gulch. This is a very secluded waterway, and it is one of my favorite spots on this part of the creek. The gulch moves along under a railroad bridge and extends deep into the rock formations.

I was on the water for a little over an hour, but this included lingering for photography and looking at the change in seasons. As usual, I picked up a bag full of plastic bottles that I fished out of the water.

Lake Vermillion - Up the West End - April 2010

Continuing to take advantage of this streak of beautiful early spring days here on the northern plains, I decided to go to Lake Vermillion State Park this morning. In the spring, with waters so cold and my isolation as the only boat on the water, I try to stick to area waterways that are easily accessible and have a shoreline that extends deep into shallow parts of the watershed. I don’t have much interest in heading out across the wide parts of isolated lakes when a capsize would present a life-threatening situation.

Lake Vermillion State Park is west of Sioux Falls along Highway 42 (West 12th Street), and then north about four miles. The turn-off from Highway 42 is clearly marked. I arrived at 8:00 a.m. under partly cloudy skies and a temperature of about 42 degrees. As nearly always, the area was completely deserted. The lake surface was mirror smooth; the shoreline was encircled by reflections of the bare trees and bushes. There was some snow still visible under the trees in deep shadow.

I headed out from the launching area and turned right into the southern pass, headed west under the bridge, and entered that portion of the lake seldom visited by power boats. This is the shallow area with fingers extending deep into the watershed.

As I moved into the west end, I came across a big group of pelicans spread across the lake. They moved west as I paddled toward them, but eventually the distance closed until they flew off, circled around as I passed, and then landed again on the surface to continue their activities as before

I continued on into the first of the bays that open to the north of this western arm of the lake. Soon, I spotted the first of several beaver that were crossing from the northern side of the arm. They were too crafty for me to get very close. When they spotted or sensed me, they tended to dive out of sight. Since the morning was so chilly, I was wearing gloves to paddle. By the time I could get the gloves off and my camera out of its case, the beaver would typically be vanishing.

There were a good many geese and ducks about, all seemingly calling to each other. I passed them along the shoreline, and they seldom remained in place long enough for me to get my camera out.

With the abundance of water at this time of the year, this western arm of the lake has many creeks, both permanent and temporary, flowing into the main body. I like to move deep into the watershed to follow these creeks until I can’t navigate any further. This takes me very far from the main body, up gradually narrowing streams, sometimes for half-a-mile or more. This deep into the narrow waterways, large waterfowl disappear, although perching birds remain plentiful.


The waterway tends to get so narrow that it is not possible to turn the kayak around, and it becomes necessary to paddle backwards for a hundred yards or so. There was plenty of depth to the water in these waterways, usually from two to four feet.

After wandering around in the waterways for 45 minutes or so, I headed back to the dock. Altogether, my cruise this morning was nearly two hours.

A few days ago, my wife and I were out hiking in the Perry Nature Center east of Sioux Falls with our dog. We happened across a birdwatcher who had several plastic containers and some rusted out junk in his hands that he had picked up to discard in a trash container or carry home and place in his own garbage. I have often thought that each of us ought to make some minor effort on our hikes or paddles to pick up some trash, to leave the site a little bit better than we found it. So, I have begun carrying a plastic bag in my kayak and have been filling it up on each cruise. Usually, I pick up five or six plastic bottles and a few beer cans. I feel a little righteous about making this even minor contribution to a cleaner outdoors environment.

Lake Lakota - March 2010

For the second day in a row, I decided to head out to an area lake for a spring cruise. The forecast yesterday seemed to indicate two nice days with temperatures up into the 70s and sunshine. Since I had not unloaded my kayak from the cruise yesterday, I was all set to drive off after my morning bagel, coffee, and hour of reading at one of my morning haunts.

Lake Lakota is a part of the Newton Hills State Park, located about 25 miles south of my eastside Sioux Falls home and past Canton. As I arrived, the Department of Game, Fish, and Parks guys were completing installation of the dock. Other than that, though, the lake was deserted. There was no one fishing, no boats on the lake, and nobody around.

The temperature at 8:30 a.m. was about 50 degrees, and there was a stiff wind, like yesterday, coming from the north this time. I set out from the access point and headed over to the eastern side where there are a number of inlets that extend deep into the prairie. Slipping into these inlets that seem to wind into the landscape past trees and bushes is an avenue of exploration for the wetlands adjacent to the main body of the lake. I like this aspect of my tranquil cruises on area lakes. Wetlands is where I frequently spot wildlife and have the chance to be a visitor to an area seldom visited. Life on area lakes is really in the margins, along the shoreline and into the bays and inlets. Usually the only thing to notice when cruising down the center of a lake is the wave action.

After entering all the inlets along the eastern shore, I continued down to the southern end of the lake where the dam and spillway are located. The strong wind out of the north gave me a “following sea” with waves rolling under the kayak. From the south end, I moved over to western side and found significant wave action in crossing from east to west and then a stiff head wind as I made my way back to the northern end of the lake. There is one bay on the western side, an area of public access for fishing, and this is a generally a quiet spot on the cruise.

Continuing down the western side, I entered the arm of the lake that extends west into Pattee Creek. This is one of my favorite parts of the lake. Later in the year, it is covered with giant lily pads and aquatic grasses. It is always accessible, but this early in the year the path through this arm of the lake is clear. Visibility of the bottom today was clear at about 30 inches.

The western arm continues until reaching the culvert from Pattee Creek. This is an area where lots of turtles and frogs live. Ducks and geese also nest in this part of the lake. During most of the year, the vegetation seems too heavy for fishing boat traffic, so kayaks and canoes alone can navigate through the area.

On the cruise today, I spooked a great blue heron, there was a hawk soaring overhead, a beaver slipped into a burrow beneath a cut bank, and I saw my first turtles of the season. Approaching the wily turtles is always a special thrill for me. I try to drift up on the log upon which the turtles are sitting and capture a close-up photograph. Often, of course, the turtles sense me or catch some shadow or disturbance in the water that causes them to disappear beneath the surface. When I get really close to big turtles, I feel almost like a successful hunter. My trophy is the photograph shared with my readers.
The lake offered a range of conditions today. In the main north to south portion of the lake, there was a strong wind with continuous waves that were just short of whitecaps. Then in the inlets and along the western arm of the lake, the surface was often millpond smooth.

Like yesterday, I spent about 90 minutes cruising along this really beautiful park-enclosed lake just half-an-hour from my Sioux Falls home. It was a great way to mark the end of March and anticipate many more cruises as the weather continues to improve here on the northern plains.