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Mille Lacs - July 29th, 2000
by Rich Wahls

On Saturday July 29th, 10 members of ISK met at Father Hennepin State Park on Mille Lacs for a night paddle. The date was selected to coincide with a moonless night. In addition to being a night paddle, the goal was to use compass and celestial navigation methods to paddle to a Father Hennepin Island, nearly three miles toward the center of the lake.

Chad and Jeff check their cylumes and lights.

Lisa prepared to hit the water.

Trip leader Dana hams it up. (Nice reflective PFD!)

Twilight deepened as nine boats geared up and prepared to paddle off at about 10:00 pm.

As the last boats hit the water we paired up and assigned numbers for safety counts.

We pre-planned a route with specific bearings and projected paddle times. After moving out of the dock area we paddled about 20 minutes along the shore to a visible starting point for the open crossing. Twilight was rapidly giving way to night as we headed slightly west of north into the open lake. There was enough unpredictable wave action to keep us all alert during the circa 50 minute paddle to the island. The effect of the waves was exacerbated by the arrival of complete darkness, making it impossible to see the waves coming.

Rhett stretches his back and stabilizes my boat while I shoot a photo or two. Note the darkness three miles out into the lake. The faint lights in the background are other paddlers.

We hit our route almost perfectly as planned and had no problem at all finding the Island. Father Hennepin Island is essentially a large rock outcrop which is a major bird rookery. As we approached within 1/4 mile of the island we could hear the raucous calls and screeching of thousands of birds. We rafted up for a break and a few photos, during which the easterly winds drifted us 1/4 to 1/2 a mile west of the island. No getting out to stretch your legs on this trip.

After a ten to fifteen minute break we re-grouped, paddled east past the north side of the island and then set our bearing for the return trip. This time we did not execute the shortest crossing (to the point) but instead headed directly back to the landing. Being the third paddle of the day, our pace was slow and many fought a lack of energy. We paddled more into the wind, which made for a slower pace, but which also made the waves much easier to deal with. By that time they had diminished some anyway. We arrived back at the landing at around 12:30 or 12:45 without incident or trouble. We had paddled almost seven miles. The navigation went very well and we managed to keep a fairly tight group throughout the trip. Exhausted we loaded our boats and headed for bed.

Rich looking VERY tired, yet having had a great day. On Sunday morning most of us headed off on a search for breakfast. The breakfast place initially sought was closed on Sundays, so we wandered around a while and finally found a recommended restaurant on the west side of the lake. After that we headed back to the park to pack up our gear and call it quits for the weekend, but not before a few members scouted out a better campsite for next years' night paddle at Mille Lacs.