The Klondike Dam has now been fully transformed into the
Klondike Rapids. After kayaking on
Lake Lakota yesterday morning, Dave Finck and I stopped by the Klondike Mill
area to see the degree of change since our last visit earlier this spring.
There is nothing of the dam still visible at the site, and
the water is flowing in great volume over the rapids formed by the rocks and
the sculpting of the passage.
People who love riding through turbulent water, laughing as
they find their boat tossed about it the rapids, would probably like running
the Klondike Rapids. I sincerely
doubt that I will ever attempt such a passage!
There is now a rough portage on the South Dakota side of the
Big Sioux that begins just above the rapids and passes about 300 yards up to
the road and then down the trail to a put-in downstream from the bridge.
Such a portage reminds me of traveling in the Boundary
Waters Canoe Area of northern Minnesota.
It would be a long carry for a kayaker traveling solo, but not too tough
if there are two people available.
As I looked at the stream moving through the rapids, it
seemed easier to consider “lining” a boat downstream from the Iowa side.
At any rate, the old Klondike Dam has now become the
Klondike Rapids.
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