Draft:Mississippi River Paddle Weekend

The Mississippi River Paddle Weekend is a series of paddles races encompassing the MR 150, MR 48, MR 25, MR 10, MR 7.5, Mississippi River Family 5 Mile Challenge, and the Mississippi River High School Paddle Challenge all held on the Mississippi River from Brainerd, Minnesota to Coon Rapids, Minnesota. The MR 150 is a qualifier for the Great Alabama 650 canoe race.

Course

There are fourteen dams prior to Minneapolis, all of which must be portaged around; there are no locks. Eight of the dams are upstream from the start of the MR 150. After Brainerd there are five dams that must be portaged around in the first 80 miles of the MR 150 route. The fifth dam is the St. Cloud dam, after that, the final 60 miles of the event are free-flowing and unobstructed. The MR 48, MR 25, MR 10, MR Family 5 Mile Challenge and MR High School Paddle Challenge all start within this sixty mile stretch. All of these events end at the last dam without a lock - the Coon Rapids Dam. The MR 7.5 Recreational Tour starts just below the Coon Rapids Dam.

Over the course of the 152.5 miles of the river that the Two Paddles events use during the “Mississippi River Paddle Weekend” there are four major tributaries that join the Mississippi. They are all excellent paddling rivers and, like the Mississippi, are designated as recreational Water Trails by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. In order they are: the Crow Wing River which enters from the west at mile 990.6 (26 miles into the MR 150 race), the Sauk River which enters from the west in St. Cloud at mile 929.7 (86 miles into MR 150 race), and the North Fork of the Crow River which enters from the west at mile 879.6 (along the course of the MR 150, 48 and 25) and the Rum River which enters from the north (on the “east” side of the river) at mile 871.4 (along the course of all four races and the location of “Peninsula Point Park” where the MR Family and High School Challenges start).

The first section of the MR 150 race is 48 miles from Brainerd to the city of Little Falls. After portaging around the Brainerd Dam just two miles into the race, paddlers pass through the cities of Brainerd and Baxter. The city of Brainerd is famous for having 460 lakes within 25 miles and many Twin Cities residents associate the area with the lakes, cabins and pine trees of northern Minnesota. Paddlers will pass eight miles on the east bank that are part of Crow Wing State Park. Later, after the Crow Wing River joins the Mississippi, the Fort Ripley Military Reservation lies on the west bank for 18 miles.

The second section of the MR 150 race is 39 miles from Little Falls to St. Cloud. It starts with a portage around the Little Falls dam. Nine miles later is the portage around the Blanchard Dam, which at 47 feet is the tallest dam on the river. It is an impressive site when the water is high and a loud, powerful torrent of water comes over it. The portage trail includes a challenging up-and-down single-track trail through the forest. 24 miles later is the portage around the Sartell Dam and the three cities of Sartell, Sauk Rapids and St. Cloud. Together these cities form the largest metropolitan area in central Minnesota. 3 miles later is the exciting class 1-2 Sauk Rapids, and three miles beyond that is the final portage of the MR 150 at the St. Cloud dam.  Paddlers have the option of running the rapids or portaging around them, unless the water is high enough that the race organizers mandate everyone portage.

In the third section of the race, the 60 miles from the St. Cloud dam to the finish at the Coon Rapids Dam, there are over 100 islands and no dams or portages. This section begins with the 12 mile state designated scenic and wild section through the Beaver Islands. At the conclusion of those 12 miles is the town of Clearwater, which is where the MR 48 starts (from the Clearwater boat ramp on the east side of the river). The river flows 16 more miles to the town of Monticello then seven more miles to Norin Landing/Kadler Ave. ramp in Otsego which serves as the starting point for the MR 25 race. From there the river flows past historic downtown Elk River and Dayton. At mile 879 paddlers will enter the Mississippi National River and Recreation area. This national park service administered corridor runs for the next 72 miles. The first 16 miles of the recreation area are classified as ‘wild and scenic’. The next landmark is the Mississippi West Regional Park ramp in Ramsey is the starting point for the MR 10 race. The river The next landmark is Peninsula Point Park at the Rum River/ Mississippi confluence, where the MR High School and Family challenges start. continues through the northern suburbs of Champlain, Anoka, Brooklyn Park and Coon Rapids. The final six miles before the Coon Rapids Dam are a flatwater pool with little current.

The Mississippi River 7.5 Recreational Tour starts at the Coon Rapids Dam and ends at the Carl W. Kroening Interpretive Center in North Mississippi Regional Park in Minneapolis. This is a quiet, winding stretch with towering trees and bald eagles. Paddlers will start in the city of Coon Rapids and pass by Brooklyn Park, Brooklyn Center and Fridley before finishing in Minneapolis.

Records and history

Two Paddles was created by Scott Miller and Todd Foster. Best friends for many years, Two Paddles allows them to combine their love of paddling and their love of working on projects together.

Todd grew up in and still lives on the Sauk River in St. Cloud. He grew up paddling as a member of Explorer Post 7. Scott grew up biking from his childhood home in Maple Grove east to the Mississippi River at the Coon Rapids Dam, and paddling with his Dad on the Minnehaha Creek.

After becoming friends at Many Point Scout Camp in northern Minnesota and running North Wind Winter Adventures the two decided to do a Boundary Waters trip together. This sparked dozens of canoe trips over many years including a 2,000 mile canoe trip from Minneapolis to Hudson Bay in 2005. That epic adventure was to commemorate the 75th anniversary of a trip on the same route taken by Eric Sevareid and Walter Port in 1930, chronicled in the book “Canoeing with the Cree”.

Scott and Todd have also paddled on the Snake River in Wyoming, the Missouri River in Montana, the Buffalo River in Arkansas and many great rivers in their home state of Minnesota including the entirety of the Sauk River and many trips on various sections of the Mississippi River.

In 2023, Scott was the leader of a team of four people who set the Guinness World Record for fastest canoe trip down the 2,296 mile Mississippi River and Todd served as the Lead Advisor for the attempt. The Facebook page for the team is called “Mississippi Speed Record” and can be found at this link

The Outside Magazine article about the trip can be found at this link

The world record attempt went “viral” which resulted in thousands of people cheering the team both from the shore and via the Facebook page. Scott and Todd created these races and tour as a way for more people to experience the magic of paddling on the Mississippi River.

The world record attempt required dozens of volunteers to staff the ground support crew and the safety boats. Scott’s wife’s Uncle, Mike “Moose” Dougherty lead the support crew. Mindy Schroeder-Kragness served as Moose’s right-hand woman and helped organize many volunteers that were Many Point Scout Camp alumni (like herself and Scott and Todd). Moose, Mindy and other key volunteers from the record attempt have volunteered to help run the weekend as well and Scott and Todd are so grateful for their ongoing support. Scott’s wife Heidi has helped with graphic design projects, including designing the Two Paddles logo and the logo for each event.

As part of the training for the world record attempt Scott paddled the ultra-distance canoe races the “Missouri River 340” (the MR 340) and the “Great Alabama 650” (the AL 650). The founder and director of the MR 340, Scott Mansker, was also a crucial volunteer for the world record attempt. Scott Mansker organized 3 support boats and 3 incredible support boat crews for the attempt. Scott Mansker has also been kind and gracious with advice as Scott and Todd have worked to create the new Mississippi River Paddle Weekend. The MR 340 community has been a source of assistance and guidance in many ways, including from the creator of a Missouri River navigation app that many 340 racers use, Jon Marble. After using the app in the MR340, Scott was so impressed that he asked Jon to create a similar app for the Mississippi River and Jon graciously agreed.

Both the MR 340 and the AL 650 served as inspiration for Scott wanting to create an ultra-distance race on the Mississippi River in Minnesota. After talking about it with Todd the two created the MR 150.

When word got out that Scott and Todd were planning the MR 150, Roland Ring-Jarvi contacted them to see if they’d be interested in taking over his “Mighty Miss” races. They met with Rollie and came away impressed by the history of his races and his passion for seeing them continued. With Rollie’s blessing and support, they created the MR 48, MR 25 and MR 10.

Finally, Todd had a vision for an event for people looking for a fun, relaxing recreational paddle on the river. Todd noticed a Paddle Bridge Guide Collective van parked near Scott’s house. After reaching out to Theo Byrnes, owner of Paddle Bridge, a partnership was formed to create the MR 7.5 Recreational Tour, with Paddle Bridge supplying guides, shuttle vehicles, drivers and kayaks for rent.

Scott and Todd figured out how all races and tours could happen on the same weekend, with Coon Rapids Dam Regional Park as the hub of activity, and thus Two Paddles’ Mississippi River Paddling Weekend was born.

The first weekend was held in 2022 and had 200 participants from 15 states and 3 Canadian Provinces. The second weekend was held in 2023 and grew to 225 participants from 18 states and 3 Canadian Provinces.