I FINALLY found the newspaper article regarding this trip. I thought I had made a post of this months ago after it was printed-but I can't find it. So here it is again
Justyn Johnson is pictured on the Minnesota River at Renville County Park.
Justyn Johnson, canoeist
Nature calls
Jo Colvin, Lifestyle Reporter
09/01/2006
Justyn Johnson didn't want to get caught going up a creek without a paddle. It would have been a really long trip.
So he made sure he brought one with, along with 90 pounds of gear, a cooler, fishing poles, other camping paraphernalia and his mode of transportation ? a canoe.
And even with the paddle ? going downstream most of the way ? it took him 23 days to canoe the length of the Minnesota River ? a 327-mile trek.
A self-professed non-planner, the 28-year-old Brandonite decided in April that he wanted to go on a canoe adventure, which he spent the next three months mapping out and planning.
He had canoed frequently on the smaller lakes and rivers in Douglas County and enjoyed the "remoteness."
"You can go anywhere in a canoe," he said. "Instead of fishing on shore you can jump in a canoe and get to more remote spots."
But Johnson decided it was time for more of a challenge. He wanted to "rough it." So he opted to traverse the entire Minnesota River, "because there was a Cenex every 20 miles."
"If you're going to do your first big trip, it's easier to do it like this," he continued with his ever-present grin. "There's a town every 10 to 15 miles. You can grab a can of Mountain Dew at the next town if you need it."
On July 1, Johnson's parents, Mary and Donn, dropped him off at the mouth of the river, at Big Stone Lake near Ortonville. At 10 a.m. he hopped in his canoe, waved an excited goodbye, and dipped his paddle into the murky waters for the first time. In peaceful solitude, he set off, ready to enjoy the sights, sounds and challenges the river would present.
And there were many. On his third day, he had to paddle five miles across Marsh Lake near Appleton. In an eerie Alfred Hitchcock-like scene, the sky above him teemed with birds, squawking and flapping reprimands at him for invading their territory.
"I could probably say there were a million birds on that lake," Johnson recalled. "It was horrible. Everything was white with bird poop. It was like a nuclear bomb went off."
Temperatures in the mid-90s, not to mention exhaustion, bird poop and creepy near-attacks by pelicans, combined for the "worst day" of Johnson's trip. He suffered from dehydration and hallucinations.
But he persevered, and the rest of the trip made up for that one bad day. Wildlife abounded and he saw nature in her glory ? bald eagles, owls, deer, raccoons, beaver, coyotes.
"At the beginning, I heard coyotes every night," Johnson said. "They were a blast to listen to. That's the best sound besides the loons I've ever heard in my life."
Johnson's favorite part of the trip was the two days he spent paddling from Granite Falls to Franklin.
"It was beautiful," he said. "It had a northwoods feel. You kinda got the feeling you were in the Boundary Waters."
Most nights, Johnson would pull over on a sandy beach or a sand bar along the river and set up camp. He portaged to campgrounds near the river only five nights. And the weather gods were looking out for him ? it rained just two nights.
Dams and rapids were one obstacle Johnson faced, but he only had to portage around them on five occasions. With each portage, he made three trips to carry all his gear.
He also traveled during the summer's most intense heat. Because the water was so dirty, he had to put off swimming and bathing until he found clean water.
"When you came to a clean part where another river flowed in, you had to take advantage of it," he said.
The only human contact Johnson had was at the campgrounds and on weekends when other canoeists were on the river. Although he enjoyed the people he encountered along the way, he also loved the solitude.
"I was never lonely!" Johnson said adamantly. "I had all the time to think about stuff. It was relaxing. Sleep when you want to sleep, get up when you want to get up. It was the best."
But he does admit he was happy to see his parents when they visited him three times along the journey.
"It was nice to see someone you knew. They would take my empty cooler and hand me off a new full one," he confessed. "I wasn't really roughing it too much."
Johnson's final destination was Fort Snelling, near where the Minnesota River flows into the mighty Mississippi. With the end in sight, he pushed himself hard and in the last three days canoed 70 miles, with 38 miles being the furthest he traveled in one day.
"It took every last ounce of energy I had to get out of the canoe after that," he said.
On July 23, 23 days and 327 miles after he set off on his journey, Johnson arrived at Fort Snelling, wiser and more thankful for things he had taken for granted.
He enumerated what he had gained through his experience ? an appreciation of clean water, wildlife, birch trees, solitude, patience, daring yourself to succeed, challenging yourself physically, family, nature, and of course, Burger King.
And he did not lament all that he had lost ? 30 pounds.
With no concrete plans for future forays, Johnson hopes to someday pan for gold out West; mine for diamonds in Arkansas; and canoe from Duluth to Sault Sainte Marie, or from Lake of the Woods east on Rainy River as far as he can "before the Boundary Waters police escort me out."
"I plan on more difficult trips someday, unless I find a woman and settle down," he mused. "If some 5'5" blond, blue-eyed woman tackles me down, it's all over for adventures I guess."
Unless he takes two paddles.
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