Hey Logan, Glad you are enjoying the series! Yeah the locks are really cool structures and even though I had some long waits it was always cool to be around them! Enjoy the rest of the trip!
I've been watching your videos I'm through episode 1 through 8 you're doing a great job of information I appreciate it I'm going to keep continue watching
The dams on the upper river were largely for power generation and flood control. The Lock and dams are to maintain a 9ft deep channel for barge traffic. Lots of dynamic river is under water because of these structures
it was a long day! paddling the river was very rewarding. I really enjoyed most of my campsites and often had a river all to myself. it really is an underappreciated waterway for paddling
Wow! Discovered this thread on your trip dow the Mississippi, fabulous content. I’m shocked you don’t have 50k subs. Keep up the great work. Fair winds…
Those locks are an amazing feat of engineering. Such loose tolerances and they function as intended. I assume, using the river's energy, it doesn't take much external energy to raise and lower them. Seeing you in a kayak in them it really puts their massiveness to scale.
The locks are super cool. after so many of them I was happy to be done with them after St. Louis but they were always a neat experience! The locks are all gravity fed and emptied. All they do is open valves on the bottom of the lock to fill the chamber (raise the water). To lower they open valves on the down river side of the lock to drain the water. Really incredible designs and amazing to think they were built (mostly) in the early 1900's! The scale of the river is really hard to catch from my own camera and perspective. When someone on shore films you near the bridges, barges, locks etc is when you really realize how small you truly are out there!
Enjoying the videos I appreciate all the information you're putting out there for people to watch I'm on episode 8 it's my goal to start on May 3rd of 4th of 2024 depending on the snow melt
hey you are welcome! feel free to reach out if you have any questions. just know it can be pretty cold in northern mn that time of year but you seem to already be aware. my email is jkangler514@hotmail.com if you have any questions happy planning!
@@escapewithjay haha I started saying somtning about trying to control and how flooding/God could just wipe it out anyway. But it turned to a paragraph 😄
thats awesome and you are welcome! make sure you get on the mississippi river paddlers page on facebook as it really is the best resource available! Reach out any time and happy planning!
i feel exactly the same way! pretty much brainerd to red wing has been the area i have spent my life so it was really cool seeing it all from this perspective
were those just people who happened to be there when you landed - to help pull up the kayak? Oh - the homeless guys. cool. A few HUNDRED bucks? Holy cow. nice.
Some of those portages are crazy. Glad you got some help getting up those stairs. I had to google Wing Dams as I had never heard of them. Interesting concept but sounds like the underwater ones can be quite a hazard. Totally unique view of cities from the river. Thanks so much for sharing your Escape.
Hi Russ! yeah some of them can be a pain but its all part of the experience.. i had never heard of the wing dams either until i started preparing for the trip. i knew they were out there but not that far north. it was a strange year with the river being so high a lot of the dams were submerged but in later videos you will see some of the surface disturbance they create. having lived near minneapolis most my life it was quite the experience seeing it like that!
Hi John I would keep the solar panel on top of the deck bag when in use and under it when storing. I also crammed my map case under there as well so its possible you are seeing either of them.
yeah the locks are pretty neat, im working on a how to video right now for the locks. you rack up some big miles on the mighty river, what i would paddle in a week i was doing every day once i got going!
i really started using it after this point in the river. i hammock camped more than i tent camped the rest of the way. most of the campsites were good for the hammock. a few i chose to use my tent as the trees were small and couldnt hold the weight. after the twin cities you can camp any where giving you unlimited options
I assume you are talking about the St. Anthony upper and lower locks? I went through lock #1. The locks I portaged around are not part of the numbered lock system but are referred to as "St. Anthony upper and lower locks" (though they are the first locks on the river. confusing, I know). You have to portage the upper lock because it is permanently closed and no longer in use. There is no good place to put in for the lower st. anthony lock so you just end up portaging both of them.
This quickly became my favorite RUclips series ♥️♥️🔥🔥
Thank you Justin! I appreciate that very much, a lot went into it that for sure!!
@@escapewithjay Isn't that a Nuclear plant in Monticello?
Just watching this series and I’m hooked on it. It’s crazy how much power those lockes hold
Hey Logan, Glad you are enjoying the series! Yeah the locks are really cool structures and even though I had some long waits it was always cool to be around them! Enjoy the rest of the trip!
@@escapewithjay I will. I want to do this trip one day I’m an avid kayaker but I’m only 14 hopefully one day tho it seems like an awesome trip
I've been watching your videos I'm through episode 1 through 8 you're doing a great job of information I appreciate it I'm going to keep continue watching
sorry just seeing your message now. Hope you made it the rest of the way thorough and enjoyed the trip
Looks very industrious area. A lot of dams, they just dam that river. Especially on the rapids where they can find the hardest sediment.
The dams on the upper river were largely for power generation and flood control.
The Lock and dams are to maintain a 9ft deep channel for barge traffic.
Lots of dynamic river is under water because of these structures
Such a good video that was a very long day for u. There are some awsome camp sites on the river people never get to see less you do a trip like this.
it was a long day!
paddling the river was very rewarding. I really enjoyed most of my campsites and often had a river all to myself. it really is an underappreciated waterway for paddling
Wow! Discovered this thread on your trip dow the Mississippi, fabulous content. I’m shocked you don’t have 50k subs. Keep up the great work. Fair winds…
Thank you!
It means alot when folks appreciate the videos so much!
Those locks are an amazing feat of engineering. Such loose tolerances and they function as intended. I assume, using the river's energy, it doesn't take much external energy to raise and lower them. Seeing you in a kayak in them it really puts their massiveness to scale.
The locks are super cool. after so many of them I was happy to be done with them after St. Louis but they were always a neat experience!
The locks are all gravity fed and emptied. All they do is open valves on the bottom of the lock to fill the chamber (raise the water). To lower they open valves on the down river side of the lock to drain the water. Really incredible designs and amazing to think they were built (mostly) in the early 1900's!
The scale of the river is really hard to catch from my own camera and perspective. When someone on shore films you near the bridges, barges, locks etc is when you really realize how small you truly are out there!
Enjoying the videos I appreciate all the information you're putting out there for people to watch I'm on episode 8 it's my goal to start on May 3rd of 4th of 2024 depending on the snow melt
hey you are welcome! feel free to reach out if you have any questions. just know it can be pretty cold in northern mn that time of year but you seem to already be aware. my email is jkangler514@hotmail.com if you have any questions
happy planning!
Good episode man. Those locks blow me away. That is an incredible amount of the force of nature that man is controlling there.
Trying to control! we only have control when the river is in a good mood :^)
@@escapewithjay haha I started saying somtning about trying to control and how flooding/God could just wipe it out anyway. But it turned to a paragraph 😄
Thank you so much for your series im making a day planner based on your videos and doing my dream Mississippi trip next year or in 22
thats awesome and you are welcome! make sure you get on the mississippi river paddlers page on facebook as it really is the best resource available! Reach out any time and happy planning!
It's pretty cool watching you go through areas that I'm very familiar with!
i feel exactly the same way! pretty much brainerd to red wing has been the area i have spent my life so it was really cool seeing it all from this perspective
9:44 I live near there and frequently run from my home to the dam. It's definitely beautiful!
Whats up Brandon! are you talking about lock 1? how is the river looking in your area? it seems pretty low everywhere ive seen it
@@escapewithjay Coon Rapids dam. It's a beautiful area. And its been about 3 weeks since I've been there and it does look low.
were those just people who happened to be there when you landed - to help pull up the kayak? Oh - the homeless guys. cool. A few HUNDRED bucks? Holy cow. nice.
Just seeing your comment now... Yes these folks were just hanging out there. I had no advanced planning for help on the portages
Some of those portages are crazy. Glad you got some help getting up those stairs.
I had to google Wing Dams as I had never heard of them. Interesting concept but sounds like the underwater ones can be quite a hazard.
Totally unique view of cities from the river. Thanks so much for sharing your Escape.
Hi Russ! yeah some of them can be a pain but its all part of the experience.. i had never heard of the wing dams either until i started preparing for the trip. i knew they were out there but not that far north. it was a strange year with the river being so high a lot of the dams were submerged but in later videos you will see some of the surface disturbance they create. having lived near minneapolis most my life it was quite the experience seeing it like that!
Great to follow your adventure. Is that a map holder or a solar panel on the from of your cockpit?
Hi John
I would keep the solar panel on top of the deck bag when in use and under it when storing. I also crammed my map case under there as well so its possible you are seeing either of them.
Those locks are cool, I always wanted to try to go through one with my kayak but had no clue what to expect. Now I do.
59 miles that's insane!
yeah the locks are pretty neat, im working on a how to video right now for the locks. you rack up some big miles on the mighty river, what i would paddle in a week i was doing every day once i got going!
@@escapewithjay That's what I was thinking my little 20 to 30 miles a day was tough, I can imagine 60!
@@PADDLECAMPFISH well to be fair my kevlar kayak and the current of the flooded river this year made it pretty easy to do!
@@escapewithjay Yeah that CD kevlar is definitely a kayak camping dream machine!
@@PADDLECAMPFISH it really is nice, probably the nicest thing i own!
Hey question-- I saw that you brought a hammock. How were the campsites for using a hammock? I haven't seen you use it much yet..
i really started using it after this point in the river. i hammock camped more than i tent camped the rest of the way. most of the campsites were good for the hammock. a few i chose to use my tent as the trees were small and couldnt hold the weight. after the twin cities you can camp any where giving you unlimited options
Why didn’t you go through lock and dam #1 you walked around it
I assume you are talking about the St. Anthony upper and lower locks? I went through lock #1. The locks I portaged around are not part of the numbered lock system but are referred to as "St. Anthony upper and lower locks" (though they are the first locks on the river. confusing, I know). You have to portage the upper lock because it is permanently closed and no longer in use. There is no good place to put in for the lower st. anthony lock so you just end up portaging both of them.
That's too bad that homeless people would steal your stuff.