Lake Minnetonka Circumnavigation - Day 1

June 26, 2015

As I've gained paddling experience over the last seven years, I've looked each Summer for a goal to challenge me. Having recently read the historical account of Ferdinand Magellen's famous circumnavigation of the globe I decided my next goal could be kayaking a lap around my favorite paddling spot, Lake Minnetonka. I will be paddling in every channel and every bay on the lake, while also crossing several large stretches of open water over a mile in length.

Knowing that Minnetonka is a very busy lake in the summer, I decided to do my paddling in the early morning. Also, to keep from having to back track I convinced my son Nik to drive me to the put in spot each morning and my wife Christina would pick me up at take out. This freed me form having to worry about having a predefined pick up spot, since I wasn't sure how far I'd be able to manage each day.

Me and my little boat ready to launch at the Port of Excelsior

As I pushed off from the docks at the Port of Excelsior, the sun was just poking above the horizon, casting a shimmering light on the calm morning waters of the lake. Nik stayed to see me off on my adventure. I set a course along the shore of Excelsior Commons heading east into the rising sun.

The journey starts with a single paddle stroke

This part of the lake is very familiar to me, having spent much of my early kayaking days paddling in the waters around Excelsior. In all my previous experience, I had never seen the lake so calm and peaceful. Aside from an occasional fishing boat, I had the lake to myself. My pace was conservative so I could make it as far possible. However, after a couple miles I felt great and was able to pick up my pace a bit.

Paddling through The Narrows channel into Old Channel Bay

The channel between Lafayette Bay and Old Channel Bay is called The Narrows. It's a scenic, almost river like stretch of water. This channel marked the passage from the part of the lake I know well, to the first of many unexplored (for me) parts of this largest of Twin Cities Metro lakes. Having come thru the channel I now faced by first big stretch of open water, known as Upper Lake Minnetonka. My next navigation point was an small island called Enchanted Island. 

By the time I reached Enchanted Island my arms were starting to fade. There was a public landing there, but it was only 10am and I didn't really want to end my day quite yet. To the southwest is a small cluster of islands and beyond that Minnetonka Regional park which has a nice landing spot. So I decided to continue on with that as my goal for the day.

A quiet cove on Wawatosa Island

The largest of this island grouping is Wawatosa Island. I found a beautiful calm cove with a small beach that seemed like an ideal place to land, stretch my legs and have a snack. There must have been a Goose nest on the island because once I landed a pair of adult geese followed me around and at times got pretty aggressive when I assume I got too close to their family!

After a short 30 minute paddle, I landed at Minnetonka Region Park concluding my first segment of my "Lap around Minnetonka". I was pretty tired but felt really good about what I had accomplished today. I had paddled 10 miles in 3-1/2 hours.