Jay Heath (1941 - 2014)

Sioux Falls - Jay Albion Heath, age 72, died peacefully at home on Monday, July 28, 2014, four and a half months after receiving a diagnosis of esophageal cancer.

Memorial Mass of Christian Burial will begin at 2:00 PM on Friday, August 1, 2014 at St. Lambert Catholic Church in Sioux Falls. Family present visitation will begin at 5:00 PM on Thursday at George Boom Funeral Home with a liturgical wake service beginning at 7:00 PM. Memorials will be forwarded toward a donation to Perry Nature Area, a beloved and favored recreational spot for Jay and his family.

Jay was born on November 30, 1941 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire to Betty Eastman and George Willis Heath, Jr. He grew up in New England and the South until moving to Anchorage, Alaska to begin 7th grade. After attending Anchorage High School, Jay left school at the age of 17 to join the U.S. Navy in 1959, where he obtained his G.E.D., and began his lifetime love of maritime travel.

After completing his enlistment, Jay moved to Los Angeles, where he attended community college while working in the defense industry. He then moved to Aberdeen, South Dakota, where he pursued his college education while working as a television cameraman. It was in Aberdeen that he met his beloved future wife Marcella. The couple was united in marriage on November 28, 1969 in Grenville, SD. Following graduation, Jay entered the U.S. Peace Corps, where he spent two years as a teacher trainer, traveling extensively across South and Central America. The couple made their home in Sioux Falls, SD in 1979.

Following the Peace Corps, Jay served as a teacher, principal, and superintendent in South Dakota and Minnesota. After completing his Doctoral Degree in Education from the University of South Dakota, Jay served as a Professor of Educational Administration in Nebraska and South Dakota. As an educational leader, he led over 20 accreditation teams for school evaluations across Europe, Asia, North Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and the Pacific. Jay retired in 2006.

Jay and Marcella were especially proud of their sons Jason and Derek. These fine young men were the central focus of their lives. Jay was a member of St. Lambert Catholic Church. He was a past officer in the South Dakota Canoe/Kayak Organization. He was an Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) Board Member. He was a volunteer at the Sertoma Park Outdoor Campus. He was active on the Minnehaha County Museum Board and Historical Association and the South Dakota State Archeological Association.

Grateful for having shared his life are his wife, Marcella of Sioux Falls; two sons, Jason (Courtney) Heath of Chicago, IL, and Derek (Molly Brown) Heath, Sioux Falls; and one sister, Patricia (Johnny) McCaskill, Jackson, TN. Preceding him in death were his parents Betty Eastman Baiocco, George Willis Heath, and a sister, Nancy.

A Special Message for My Readers

A Special Message to my Friends and to the Readers of this Blog:

A few weeks ago I received the diagnosis of esophageal cancer, an aggressive form of cancer that has effectively ended my participation in kayaking/canoeing for the 2014 season.  I am taking a “sabbatical” this season and may not add much fresh material, but the blog will remain active as a resource of paddling opportunities for those searching out locations and descriptions of the lakes, creeks, and rivers of South Dakota.  I am hoping to visit some of my familiar paddling spots or to observe some events this season, probably in the company of my pal Dave Finck. In that event, I will try to write about these experiences.  

In the meantime, my very best regards to all who have followed this blog over the past eight years, and I so regret that I should have contracted this disease. I’d much rather be paddling this season than tending to my treatment program.  I hope to recover from the disease and be back on the waters of South Dakota later this year.

Checking Out the Waters: March 2014

Dave Finck on Lake Alvin

March is a time of great restlessness for those of us living on the northern plains.  This has been a very long and cold winter and the arrival of a day with some sun and a temperature in the high 50s is enough to become our obsession.

Lake Alvin

Dave Finck and I decided to take a “road trip” this morning and visit several of the area waterways south and west of Sioux Falls.  I can’t help but look back two years ago and enjoy photos and narratives of a couple of cruises that I took on Lake Alvin and Lake Lakota in mid-March.  There won’t be any such early cruises this year.  Instead, I would guess that we are at least three weeks away from being able to get out on area lakes.

Lake Alvin

Our first stop this morning was Lake Alvin, then we drove across the Big Sioux River at the Grandview Bridge crossing, south of Sioux Falls near Lake Alvin.  From there, we drove to the Klondike Rapids and walked across the bridge from the Iowa side to South Dakota.  We then continued south to Lake Lakota, just on the southeastern edge of Newton Hills State Park.

Big Sioux River looking upstream from Grandview Bridge

Big Sioux River looking downstream from Grandview Bridge

Big Sioux River at Klondike Rapids

Lake Lakota

Lake Lakota

New Service: Kayak Rentals at Lake Lakota

From Lake Lakota, we drove west to check out Swan Lake, located between Viborg and Hurley.

Swan Lake

Geese on Swan Lake

All of these areas are in transition now.  The ice is becoming splintered and porous with pools of recently melted surface water scattered about.  I would not want to walk out on any of those surfaces, although we did see a guy ice fishing on Lake Alvin with a vehicle parked on the ice.

Guy out on the ice at Lake Alvin

Geese were headed north overhead, and we could hear their loud calls to each other.  On Swan Lake, we came across a large flock of geese standing around on the ice.

Geese on Swan Lake

The lakes are about to experience a great change as the warmer surface water shifts with the deep cold water and the annual breakup takes place.  Kayaking and canoeing might resume within just a few short weeks.

Swan Lake

All the photographs from today can be accessed on my Flickr page at the following URL:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/jayheath/sets/72157642172200184/

SDCKA Annual Conference: 2014

The Annual South Dakota Canoe/Kayak Conference was held yesterday at the Outdoor Campus in Sioux Falls.  This event is always held at mid-winter and sets the stage for the approach of the paddling season in a couple of months.

Fifth-one paddlers gathered in the auditorium of the Outdoor Campus after an hour of socializing and networking in the lobby.  President Steven Dahlmeier opened the conference with a look at the activities of the association over the past year.  He provided the continuity for the conference as a variety of presentations were offered over the next four hours.

Kayak Outfitted for Adaptive Paddling

The first presentation offered a review of the adaptive paddling activities provided for people with disabilities who wanted to stretch themselves through kayaking.  Cory Diedrick, board member of the SDCKA, was a key figure in this process, and he was accompanied during the presentation by paddlers who were able to take advantage of this opportunity as well as others who helped bring this plan to fruition.

Presentations were offered on the health and future of the Big Sioux River, both within the Sioux Falls area and on the upper river watershed from Summit to Brookings.  In addition, a representative of the Iowa DNR presented a review of the demolition of the Klondike Dam and how that affects the river flow on the Big Sioux River in that stretch between SD and Iowa.

Several South Dakota paddlers and a support team participated in the MR 340 this past summer.  This event took paddlers 340 miles down the Missouri River between Kansas City and St. Charles in 88 hours.  Kati Albers, David Mays, and Pat Wellner offered their photos and recollections of that major accomplishment.

A group of SDCKA members offered some tips for paddlers regarding choice of paddles, safety equipment, and gear for cruising.

Pete Larson, long time SDCKA board member, presented his slides and story of a 14-day rafting trip through the Grand Canyon this past summer.

Jarett Bies and Steven Dahlmeier discussed the South Dakota Kayak Challenge (https://www.facebook.com/pages/South-Dakota-Kayak-Challenge/74472547629?ref=br_tf) race between Yankton and Sioux City and plans for next summer.  In addition, Jartett presented the first look at a new 50-mile race along the Missouri River from Fort Randall to Pickstown.  Details of this race can be found on a dedicated Facebook page at the following URL:

https://www.facebook.com/50fortTofield?ref=br_tf

For many of us at the conference, this gathering was the first time we had chatted since mid-November when the waters in the Sioux Falls area iced up for the long winter.  We laughed it up for a few hours and began to anticipate our first cruises of the season.  Now, we just watch the daylight hours lengthen, the sun continue to strengthen, and the snow and ice to gradually melt.  Normally, we are able to get out on the water in April, and that means just another 8 or 9 weeks to go.

Big Sioux River: 26th Street to Bicycle Trail Bridge in Sioux Falls

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 26^th 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 26^th 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.

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/ 

Fensterman Slough--Too Late for this Year

For a long time, I have wondered about Fensterman Slough, a long east/west oriented body of water located west on Highway 42, just northwest of Wall Lake.  I suspect that this is one of the least known paddling opportunities in the general Sioux Falls area.

Fensterman can be reached by tuning north off of Highway 42 at 460^th Avenue and traveling a short distance to 265^th Street.  There is a Dead End sign along 460^th Avenue, but don’t let it discourage you; just continue until Fensterman Slough is in sight ahead.  Signs identifying it as a waterfowl production area mark it, and there is a road into the parking area that leads down to the shoreline.

At the western end of Fensterman, the slough is narrow and winding. Toward the east, the slough curves around heading generally northeast to a wider end through many peninsulas and bays.  The east/west axis seems to be about two miles in length, and the widest section across seems about half a mile.  There are low hills surrounding the slough, although tree cover is scattered. 

There is a rough road leading from a parking area down to the shoreline.  The bank is several feet high, and it is a challenge to get down to the water’s edge.  I managed it easily enough by grabbing handfuls of tall grass to balance my descent and to pull myself back up.  It would be easy enough to launch a canoe or kayak at this point.

Dave Finck and I had set out this afternoon at 1:00 p.m. in his van pulling a canoe trailer heading west out of Sioux Falls, past the Wall Lake turn-off, hoping to find Fensterman and take a cruise around it. All we had was a copy of the South Dakota Atlas and Gazetteer to point the way. The temperature had been up to around 50 degrees in the past few afternoons, and we hoped to find the slough still ice-free.  As we drove west on Highway 42, however, we saw ice covered ponds near the road and began to fear that we were too late for this exploration. 

Finding Fensterman was something of a challenge.  Of course, there are no signs indicating the slough, and we had no idea where or if there was an access point.  So, we drove about the area trying various roads, generally circling the slough site.  Finally, we reviewed the map and decided to go back down to Highway 42 and look again for a north route that might lead us to Fensterman.  Earlier, we had passed a “dean end” sign and thought that the dead end might indeed be the shore of Fensterman Slough.

Proceeding north on 460^th Avenue, we passed the dead end sign and continued on until we saw blue water ahead.  There are a few homes in the area and a road leading up to a grassy parking area and a sign indicating boat access.

Walking down a pathway through the browne grass, we reached the shoreline and looked out over a lake covered with ice.  Perhaps the surrounding hills prevented the west wind from breaking up the ice over the lake, even in the 57-degree temperature of this afternoon.  Launching a canoe was just not possible today, and it seems as though the long winter has taken hold of Fensterman Slough for the next several months.

We wandered down a long narrow path along the southern shoreline through the grass and looked over the slough from several vantage points.  The slough looks like a fine place to paddle, and the nature of the waterfowl protection area suggests great bird watching ahead.  There were some unidentifiable white birds sitting out on the ice a couple hundred yards off shore.

We saw an island located a hundred feet or so off the southern shore, and I thought of how next year I will step onto the island and walk around it.

Fensterman will be on my list of waterways to paddle early in the spring.  I am looking forward to paddling the entire shoreline of the slough as soon as spring arrives and the ice is gone for the season.  Sometimes I wonder about the distinction between a lake and a slough.  Scott Lake, just north of Hartford, for instance, was called Scott Slough until some point when the slough was dropped in favor of lake.

I have been visiting the rivers, creeks, lakes, sloughs, and ponds of this area for a number of years.  It is very pleasing to find a new waterway in the area, especially one relatively easy to visit.  Flashing paddles, next year, on Fensterman Slough!

To access all the photos taken at Fensterman Slough today, please see my Flickr page at the following URL:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/jayheath/sets/72157637677997395/

Lake Poinsett: A Guest Narrative from “Patricia from Omaha”

The following is another guest narrative from “Patricia from Omaha.”  She has become a regular guest contributor to this blog, describing her paddling adventures on area lakes and waterways that I may not have visited.  The narrative this time presents a cruise on Lake Poinsett, one of the largest lakes in South Dakota with a surface area of 7,886 acres. The lake is northwest of Brookings, just a few miles west of Estelline, SD. (JAH)

On my way to a campout with my sister from Fargo, I spent a night at the Lake Poinsett Recreation Area.  I checked out the rec area's boat ramp on the south shore but decided against using it.  Poinsett is a big round lake, and my philosophy is that if I can see the whole lake from the ramp, there's no need to put the kayak in the water.  However Google Earth showed both an attached lake and a river to the north, so I went in search of an access on that side.

I started driving clockwise around the lake; at about the 9 o'clock position I found a beach with a boat ramp, but it wasn't close enough, so I pressed on.  The campground host had described a ramp on the north shore and that was my goal.  I was following roads close to the lake, and found a promising ramp at the end of NW Lake Drive off of Highway 28/192^nd Street. A little further east on 28 and just after the 458^th Street intersection, I saw a boat ramp sign and a road that led back to a sandy beach.  I found nothing further, so this is where I returned.  I backed the van close to the water and unloaded the kayak, glad not to have to paddle across the entire lake to get here.

A large flock of seagulls watched me put in and paddle to the left past them, looking for the river.  It was late afternoon with a light wind and a pleasant temperature.

I arrived at the north inlet quickly; it was very shallow but the water was flowing strongly from the lake side and help push me across the soft sand (more about that later).

Around the turn lay a body of water with a bay to the left, full of trees and ducks.  I paddled that direction for a bit; the ducks all flew off but I did snap this turtle catching the afternoon sun.

Back in the main body, I paddled further north, coming to the bridge on Highway 28, from which I had spotted this waterway.  Near the bridge were more gulls and a solitary pelican.  The bridge was high and easy to travel under, so I pushed on.

Like a rerun on TV, on the other side of the bridge was a body of water with gulls and… another bridge, on 459^th Avenue.  This one was a different animal however; it had massively heavy metal plates hanging on the other side and a mechanism for lowering them.  I learned later that it is a dam to keep too much water from flowing back up from the river.  Looking at its pictures on Google Earth, it was pushed hard back in 2011.

I confess I felt very uneasy paddling under the pieces of the dam and relieved when I was past it. On the other side was a long and narrower stretch of water, more quiet and agrarian.  There were rushes and a heron on the shore, and farm buildings with cows further up.

Paddling on, I came to my third bridge, this one on 192^nd Street.  It was a fairly ordinary and solid looking roadway and I passed under it easily.  Now my waterway was definitely a river, with odd square blocks placed across it at one point.  I wasn't sure if the blocks were meant to stop boats or were just leftover from some former structure.  They were far enough apart to allow easy passage, so I kept going.

The river turned into the twisty and intriguing path that I enjoy exploring, just to see what's around the next corner…and the next and the next. Believe it or not, around one of the corners lay my fourth bridge.  It looked smaller and more rickety than the previous three, but was still easy to paddle under.  Finally the usual combination of tiring muscles and decreasing sunlight caused me to turn around.

On the way back I saw these farm buildings and tall pines that make a graceful picture.  A strangely bent tree caught my attention, reminding me of a Japanese torii arch.  It's funny how one spots new sights on the return trip, or how the aspect of something familiar changes.

So I paddled back, past the rickety bridge and the plain concrete one and the bridge with the scary dam plates and the pretty concrete one.  I reached the narrow spot where the water rushing in had eased me over the sand.  The current was not working in my favor now and I was having a difficult time.  I paddled hard but the spot where the channel was the thinnest and the sand highest stymied me.  Just like Platte Creek, I have no pictures from this part as I was busy trying to make some progress.  The sand was too soft for any leverage.  I was contemplating getting out (and wet) when I tried one more tactic.  I paddled up to the troublesome spot, leaned almost flat forward in the kayak, reached my arms and paddle as far to the fore as they could go, and dug into the water on the other side of my obstacle.   It was enough to get me up and then over, and with relief I paddled along the lake shore back to the beach.

            My adventure continued however.  After I wiped off the kayak and loaded it in, I found that my van was having a similar problem as the boat; it just couldn't get going in the soft sand.  I had backed too far down the beach. With no cell phone reception there and being on my own, I needed a solution.  Rocking the van back and forth didn't work and neither did trying a lower gear.  Finally I remembered that I had some small logs for campfires in the back.  I laid them in front of my tires like a wooden road, and with that (and a prayer) I got out of there.  

            The park ranger later explained to me that the place I used as an access used to have a boat ramp, but it was washed out in the flood of 2011 and there were no plans to replace it.

            The river north of Lake Poinsett was a great paddle, excluding the sand traps.  I would have liked to explore even further, and I would use that same access, although I would keep my van up on the hard surface and carry the kayak to the water.  As it was, I re-learned a valuable lesson about being aware of your surroundings.