Sturgeon Falls

After hours in the hospital dreaming of being on the water. Seeing the levels at Sturgeon falls imminently dropping, I had to make a trip up there before flows were too low for play. So along with Nora, I made the 8 hour drive into the Canadian landscape. After a night, sleeping in the car I woke Saturday morning and eagerly got onto the water.


The wind was ferocious, as we paddled out into white caps and the sky mottled with grey clouds.
Sturgeon Falls was looking smaller than I had yet seen it, and yet the features were more than enticing. Fortunately, it had rained in the nights previous bumping up the level at Sturgeon Falls, and providing just enough water for eddy access.


The day was a cold one and I spent more hours on the water than the few times I remember being on shore resting. Moreover, was warmer being on the water paddling my heart out, than inactively munching food on shore while the wind swept away what little body heat remained. And so it was that I managed to log at least 5-6 hours of paddling time.

slept heartily and woke to the sun shining glorious as the wind had taken the clouds with it as it blew away. Upon paddling and portaging up to Sturgeon Falls, the river was looking gorgeous. Without wind the water flowed like moving glass. Truly a piece of nature's art. It was even more surreal paddling on the placid flowings. It was excrutiating knowing I had only three hours of paddling before I would drive 8 hours homeward. But the time came and went too fast. I drive home content, and glad that I taken my one chance at getting up to Sturgeon Falls for the year.

Paddling the Mississippi at Flood: Dream Hole

As we drove through through the farm studded fields on the road leading to St. Cloud, the waters of spring thaw were clearly abundant. Every stream and river we cross was swollen and testing it banks. I sat internally contemplating the day ahead.

It was to be my first day of the Spring season back in my kayak. The icy grip of winter forced my four month seasonal hiatus from whitewater and had eroded my confidence in my paddling abilities. We arrived at the banks of the ever flowing Mississippi river to the sight of its reach extending far beyond its normal banks. An avalanche of water flowed over once exposed rocky slides, creating holes and waves of stirring magnitude.

Myself, Scotty, and Lara put on for a first run. The plan was to make a clean run up the middle avoiding the gargantuan features, scouting the hazards, and looking for the play spots. I ferried out in the lead. The Mississippi being enormous river and I knew the ferry out would be long. I paddled frantically looking over my shoulder at the ominous waves down stream as the water carried me downstream steadily. Finally, I could relax as I turned my boat down stream to face what lie ahead, knowing that I was well out of the path of the giant holes on river right . I nervously surveyed ahead the oncoming wave train, unsure what lay behind it's 5-6 foot crests. I managed to skirt the edges of the biggest waves and saw only calm water ahead. Paddling back to shore, I took another duplicate run to shed my rust and nerves. Meanwhile other paddlers had found the location of Dream Hole.... the holy grail of the Mississippi.

Here are still's of the taken courtesy of Tom...
you'll see me about half way through in the blue drysuit and green boat

Dream Hole is fabled feature that comes into existence only at insanely flooded levels on the Mississippi (last seen 10 years ago). I had never even heard of it until seasoned paddlers mentioned the possibility of its return on the local forum. At normal levels, what exists where dream hole resides is merely a bed of dry granite untouched by waters. Yet now with the Mississippi 9.8 feet above it's normal water level, Dream Hole had risen again. The Dream Hole is a wave/hole situated uncomfortably between a giant hydraulic in front of it (with a bit of wave on it's river left side for the daring) and 60-70 yard wide ledge hole of sizable magnitude behind it. Upon viewing, Dream hole itself looked miniature in comparison to the features surrounding it. Yet in reality it was akin to waves I had ridden in Sturgeon Falls. The process for reaching Dream hole was some what tedious. It included busting through some over reaching tree branches into eddy and ferrying out. Once you had successful (or unsuccessfully) ridden the wave/hole and thus flushed off, you found yourself paddling rigorously back through tree branches into the eddy. If you had the misfortune of not rolling up in time, in the event of Dream Hole getting the best of you, one faced the consequences of sparring with the ever wide hole behind it.

I slowly took baby steps into Dream Hole, easing my way onto it's left shoulder and getting off a the first sign of lack of control. However by my third ride it, being on dream hole renewed some familiarity with whitewater in me and had awakened my paddling confidence. I began to throw some spins. By the end of the day I was feeling pretty comfortable getting thrashed about at bit and managed to get flipped and surfed upside down... and eventually flushed. I rolled up from the icy waters with an ice cream headache despite the neoprene covering my head. Dream Hole/Wave was a gorgeous experience... a wave that is of the highest quality.

After a last run through the rapids in my creek boat I headed back northward and homeward. The ride home I fought to keep my eyes open in the beautiful exhaustion of a eventful day. I left the river with confidence for the paddling season ahead.

Here is a video shot that day... seen is Scotty, Doug, and Gus (I'm duffing in the eddy). Gives a good perspective on the action.

The Return to Sturgeon Falls

With the specter of medical school looming over my head, leaving Yellowstone I was not quite ready to give up the freedom of my summer. I mounted a bus in Billings, MT that took me to St. Cloud, MN. After 15 hours of the Greyhound population and listening to the "dancer" in the seat behind me drop her whole life story on some kindly elderly woman, I stepped of the bus and into my friends car. We quickly drove up to Duluth, grabbing my boat and another paddling buddy we headed Northward to Canada.

I fell asleep to lull of the open road. Hardly being conscious of anything since our border crossing, I looked to my watch which read 2:34 am and saw the headlights of the car illuminating our campsite. We threw up a tent and went to bed.

A quick nap on the water

Waking up late, we headed down to the water to begin the morning trek to Sturgeon falls. Having arrived, I smiled at the site of the myriad of large play waves awaiting us while excitely ambling up the rocky shore. I was surprised to find that even after a month away from my kayak, I still felt very comfortable on the water. The features had changed significantly due to the relatively low water conditions compared to my last outing to Sturgeon Falls (still at 63,000 cfs though!). "Big Mouth" regularly reared up and spread it's watery jaws in the form of breaking river wave. There were the smaller features to refine one's technique and the larger features to test a paddler's skills.

Myself on "Surfer's" and Dave on "Chameleon"

So for 3 solid days we played on the waves of Sturgeon falls to our hearts desire. A daily noon nap would be had on the island as a necessity to endure an 8 hour day of paddling. Every evening after coming off the water happily exhausted, we would sit along the water's edge drinking a celebratory beer in twilight of the falling sun. I went to bed at night with a torso so sore it was difficult to forcibly laugh and noting that there was plenty of laughter to be had.

Dave on "surfers" and me on "Chameleon"

A day later, having driven home, I found myself in a lecture hall staring blankly into my computer screen as slides of cardiac physiology were flashed incessantly. Yet, I sat focused and felt ready for the onslaught as if floating into the rearing waves of Sturgeon Falls and from the chaos gracefully surfing ahead. It was a renewing and glorious summer and Sturgeon Falls was my my last hurrah before it's end.

The Season for Playboating

After all the water of spring rains wained away and the creeks became bony trickles there was still left enough water to playboat. The regular trip to the St. Louis's first wave/hole albeit alone or with friends became a restoring endeavor, since I was still inflicted with the thralls of medical school that raged onward nearly until July. Yet by the time the Midwest Mountaineering Kayak Festival had passed, it was becoming clear that the St. Louis's water was quickly shrinking to it's summer level. In search of more time on the water, I never thought twice upon an invitation to travel to paddle Sturgeon Falls on the Winnipeg River in Canada.

I drove down to St. Cloud and rendezvous with paddling friends Scotty and Nora.We headed Northward under the eventual cover of nightfall. Sturgeon falls in lore and by word of mouth has been described as a world class play boating location. Located 20 minutes East of Winnipeg Manitoba it is within striking distance for us. I had only seen pictures of it's large picturesque features. As we arrived we drove down to the boat landing I peered into the darkness seeing little, but could hearing a distance roar across expanse of water before me.

Myself surfing Sturgeon Falls! (courtesy of Nora Whitmore)

As the morning dew settled upon the tents we awoke and rallied with fellow paddlers from Minnesota, paddling into the expanse of water towards the distant sound of Sturgeon Falls. Upon my first sight of Sturgeon Falls, it looked promising but its beauty and power was yet to be fully appreciated. When we neared the doorstep of Sturgeon's features, the size and magnitude of the waves became wonderously impressive. To the eye, Sturgeon Falls appears as if two lakes are mystically flowing between one another. However in viewing a map, it would become clear that it is actually formed by the flow of mighty Winnipeg River. If one looked casually at it's expanse, you might be able to convince oneself you were standing beside a flowing ocean of perpetually breaking waves. During our time, 68,000 cubic feet per second flowed through Sturgeon falls and created multitude of beautiful standing waves ranging from 4-10 ft. Yet between the maze of waves there stood an singular island of smooth rock, and behind it formed the giant eddy that is a sanctuary for kayakers. The eddy swirled and surged in pattern like that of serpent swimming, creating small whirl pools strewn about. Furthermore, it provided a place of rest and access to the waves.

Over the course of the next three days, I spent countless hours surfing waves from the mounting sunrise to the falling sunset. Imagine being on a 8 ft tall standing wave while it crashes behind you and then throwing a stroke and surfing backwards, staring the explosion of water in the face before you...the feeling is priceless. On Sunday afternoon we left Sturgeon Falls. My body was sore in places I had never perceived. When I arrived home I slept heartily smiling at passing of well spent Fourth of July Holiday.