By Dave Sanko
The Mississippi River trip was a somewhat enduring trip for the students and staff that participated in it. The crew consisted of 14 students, Doug Berg, Lesley Seamans, and Susan Turnquist (student teacher). We paddled through pouring rain, wind, and cold weather to make it over such obstacles as Cass Lake. Because of the big waves and the strong winds to which most were inexperienced and unprepared for, the group decided to fall short of the schedule and camped half way across Cass. We finished Cass the next day and went through about 10 miles of marshy river that led us to Lake Winnibigoshish, which astonished most by its size. But we knew it had to be done, so we decided to dry off before attempting it. We started off again and made about half of the lake before we had to camp because of wind, rain, and waves. The next day proved to be even worse with bigger waves and stronger winds. We decided to have a lay-over day and see if it would blow over. We were busy drying clothes, getting wood and sterilizing water for drinking. The rain finally stopped late that afternoon, but too late to start out. So we waited for morning. We saw our first snow fall of the year that night about 9:00. We were all very excited. It snowed about 1 1/2 inches.
The lake looked pretty calm the next day end the crew set out in good spirits and laughter. We got about half way across the lake and the waves started to gain in size rapidly to about 4-5 feet high. We then knew we had to be serious. We tried not to panic when our canoes started to fill up with water, but even the experienced canoeists I know were a little frightened. After many problems we finally made the 12 mile stretch in a little over six hours of hell.
At the end of Big Winni was the beginning of the Mighty Mississippi which proved to be not too mighty this time of year. We endured about 30 miles of marshy river with floating bogs which were a bit tricky at times.
We averaged about 30 miles a day. Sometimes we would go 40 miles to get back on schedule, from the time we lost on Big Winni. Among other things, we experienced weather down to 14 degrees, which was cold to sleep in unless you had a good sleeping bag. But also there were warmer nights where some were tempted to sleep outside of their tents, and some did! We camped in whatever environment we could find, such as cow pastures, wayside rests or just a clearing along the river, end we hoped there were no farms and mad farmers around.
The group had quite an experience in Palisade in which a black lab followed our canoes along the river and started swimming after us for about 2 miles. We figured he was a stray and took him with us. We named him “Pal” (of course)—-short for Palisade. Later we found he had been beaten or hit by a car because he was so sore, so he just duffed—out in Doug’s canoe the rest of the trip recuperating. He finally pepped up a little, but when Doug brought him home he got worse and finally died, which saddened us all.
In my opinion, the group had some experiences they probably won’t ever have again. But then again, knowing the way some Mini-School people are, they will probably try it again. The trip consisted of 300 river miles and about 50 lake miles. The people that attempted this trip left Anoka with the great satisfaction of knowing they did it; they had reached their goal. Some had their doubts but all had a lot of hope, and together, we all made it. Some had fears for it was their first trip, but they had the reassurance of the people who knew what it was like and they helped them. By the end, they found out what a Mini-School trip was like and the result is that we made it!!!!!
Students on the trip:
Jim Gunderson, Rick Berg, Terry Politte, Scott McPherson, Rick Rogney ,Ted Pfiffner, Roger Rogney, Missy Quigley, Andy Korn, Rick Geyen, Dave Force, Brett Otterson, Dave Sanko, Steve LePage