05-Jul-2001 -- I was visiting friends in northern MN, and thought I'd try a Minnesota confluence during my trip. I woke up on the fifth of July and emerged from my tent to find partly cloudy skies and a slight breeze. I knew that if I was going to attempt the confluence I had in mind that it was now or never.

I quickly loaded up my kayak and paddling gear and headed north. I stopped for lunch in Bemidji, and arrived at Ponemah around 4:30 in the afternoon. After scouting the town, I determined that the best access was in a park on the east side of town, and so drove there, parked, and unloaded my kayak. Lower Red Lake was a little choppy as I paddled away from the park, and I noticed that I had about four miles to paddle to reach the confluence. A few waves broke over the bow of the boat during the first half hour, but if anything the wind slowly diminished during the first half of the trip. There were no other boats on the lake as I paddled my Perception Captiva W/SW towards 48N 95W. The only signs of life I saw were seagulls, a few dead fish, and a dragonfly who went zooming by towards the opposite side of the lake.

After about an hour and a half, my eTrex indicated that I was near the confluence. I slowed down and maneuvered the boat until the GPS showed that I was directly over the confluence. Carefully removing my digital camera from its dry bag on the deck, I shot several pictures, having to reposition myself a couple times to stay over the confluence (if you think trying to get a GPS to "zero out" on land is tough, try it on a lake in a 16 foot kayak!). The wind had all but died out by this point, and I drifted near the confluence for a few moments, taking in the beauty and stillness of a summer afternoon in northern Minnesota. After celebrating with a drink of water, I paddled back to the park, arriving just over two hours after I departed, packed up the 'yak and gear, and drove off into the night.

In the Red Lake Indian Reservation, lying in Lower Red Lake, about 2.2 mi from the shore.