It was a canoe trip down the Vermillion River in beautiful northern Minnesota that unfairly ruined my reputation as a skilled outdoorsman. A buddy and I had paddled north from Vermillion Lake to Crane Lake on the Minnesota-Canadian border. Four days of awesome scenery, wildlife and some great fishing had combined to make for a great late summer outing.
During he first three days on the river we had not seen another soul. Then a little incident occured, which when told and retold over the years put my good reputation at risk.
The river was mostly placid on that fatefull day. It flows gently through pine forest, and acres of wild rice with an occasional Class I or II rapids. Class I rapids are easy paddling for beginners. Class II means some whitewater which is relatively easy as long as you have the basic basic skills. Class III means the rapids are runnable for experienced and skilled paddlers. Class IV means for experts only with decked canoes or kayaks. Class V is very dangerous whitewater for professional kayakers with rescue available. Class VI-X means forget it.
There were a few class III rapids on the Vermillion but we had chosen to portage around all of them. Erring on the side of caution because even though all our camping gear was secured by rope in the canoe, we were not willing to risk getting it all wet. Until the last day that was.