Canoeing with Jasper

As an inaugural post for this blog, allow me to relate the tale of this past Labor Day, when we took Jasper on an afternoon canoe trip down the Root River outside Lanesboro. We got rental and transport to the put in from the Little River General Store. It took some coaxing to get Jasper in the canoe (read as: he had to be carried in and set down), but he was mostly game once we got going. The Root was still swollen from recent flooding, and we moved along quickly.

He was more than a little skeptical of this craft that swayed underfoot, however. While I rummaged through our dry bag (no longer dry due to a thoroughly cracked Nalgene), I set my paddle a little too close for his comfort. With nowhere else to hide from the flat-bladed teror, he decided to take his chances with the river, and made a hasty acrobatic escape. Thankfully, Jasper is a natural swimmer, and we got a quick hold of his leash to keep him from floating away. He was, even after his most recent clipping, a most bedraggled sight when we pulled ashore to load him back in.

That was, however, the worst of it. The cracked Nalgene was a total loss, emptying its entire contents into the now-wet bag. However, our wallets and phones, though perhaps a bit more humid than usual, were able to dry enough in the afternoon sun that there was no permanent damage.

We would call this a successful outing - hopefully the first of many.