Yesterday after being unable to get out on Fensterman Slough
as planned, Dave Finck and I decided to canoe upstream on the Big Sioux River
from just beyond the bridge over 26th Street to the rapids under the
bike trail bridge, a distance of about 2.5 miles round trip.
Whatever ice had been on the Big Sioux River through Sioux
Falls had melted with the warmer temperatures, the wind, and the river
current. There were only traces
left along some of the shoreline; otherwise, the river was clear of ice. The
water was remarkably clear after some of our cold weather. Sometimes it was possible to look down
into the water a couple of feet and see a thick carpet of leaves suspended over
the bottom for 18 inches or so.
These carpets of leaves reminded me of clouds in the sky.
The current was surprisingly fast as we powered our way
upstream. Depth of the water
within the channel was probably three or four feet, but the river is about 50
feet wide at this point, and there are gravel bars or mud banks along the
way. We touched bottom a couple of
times in Dave’s 17 foot canoe, but did not grind to a halt until we reached the
gravel bars that form just past the rapids under the bike trail bridge.
Taking a trip down the river at this time of the year is
sort of a farewell to the paddling season. The monochromatic brown tones of the vegetation going
dormant is the major feature of the landscape. Passing along the shoreline, the view into the trees is
markedly different than just a few weeks ago when the undergrowth was thick and
the world seemed green.
As we muscled our way upstream against a fairly strong
current, we could look into the deserted YMCA camp along the right bank. I thought of all the years that my own
boys attended Camp Leif Ericson and had such a great time. Along the left side of the river, the
bike trail snakes its way northwest, and we could see riders enjoying the 57
degree sunny day.
There were a few ducks still on the river enjoying their
final days on an ice-free Big Sioux River. I wondered where the ducks go for the winter, and Dave Finck
thought that they headed for the Missouri River where the water is at least
partially open most of the year.
We made it up to the rapids and ground to a halt on a gravel
bar. After turning the canoe
around, we made a very leisurely return trip back to the put-in at 26th
Street. Paddling was hardly
necessary, just an occasional stroke to steer the boat; otherwise, the return
was mostly a float trip down a quiet river with plenty of opportunity to look
at the landscape, the water flow, and the trees that have fallen into the
stream.
The cruise yesterday was really a moment to reflect upon the
now closing paddling season. The
forecast ahead is for colder days, and I expect to see ice on the river
soon. As we found at Fensterman,
the lakes are either closed down or just on the edge of being frozen for the
next few months.
Very soon, I will clean up my kayak, remove the rack from
the roof of my Honda Civic, and unload all my paddling gear from the trunk and
carry it up into the attic above the garage. It will be late March or early April before there is much
chance of getting on the water again here on the Northern Plains.
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| Dave Finck on the Big Sioux Through Sioux Falls |
A full set of the photographs of the BSR cruise yesterday
can be found on my Flickr page at the following URL: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jayheath/sets/72157637678498436/
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