Today I was near the Minneapolis airport with 30 minutes to burn so I took a quick detour to the Fort Snelling State Park to check out the kayak ramp on Picnic Island as a prospective launching point for a trip around the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers. The water level was high with about 10 feet of the ramp still above the river level, the parking lot was completely cove red in snow and ice and large puddles of water. On my way out of the park I stopped at the Park Rangers office, and was given the third degree about if I had a state park permit for my car (which I do have affixed to the windshield..). Once the grilling was over I was able to ask about alternative launching sites, the ranger told me that the water level was rising quickly and they anticipate Picnic island being submerged within four days. She suggested an alternative launch site on the south shore under the Cedar Avenue bridge, but frankly if they are expecting that much water in the next few days I think it might be prudent to let the surge pass and wait for the flow to return to normal. The rapid thaw bought on by the rain and moderate temperatures is dumping huge quantities of water into the rivers very quickly. Let me know if you are planning on going afloat this weekend, I would love to hear what the river was like.
I saw this T-Shirt today on a blog I follow, I am not sure if it is an authentic Life is Good shirt, but either way the shirt is funny and I am a huge fan of the Jake shirts, having way too many in the closet. I have collected every kayak one I can find and numerous skiing Jakes too. The girls have many animals, dogs, cats, horses etc. Even J has a few… a regular Jake family.
