Root River (via the North Branch) Overall Fastest Known Paddle: 15H 7M

Route created by: Scott Miller & Scott Duffus

83.2 miles

Supported

(this is also the fastest tandem male FKP)

Start: Chatfield Access. mile 86.4 on the DNR map. 6:44am on May 12th, 2025.

Finish: Highway 26 Access, mile 3.2 on the DNR map. 9:51pm on May 12th, 2025

Boat used: Jensen 17-foot tandem canoe

Map resources from the Minnesota DNR

Trackers used: Garmin Inreach Mini 2

Support Crew: Mike “Moose” Dougherty

Trip Report: Water levels were the low side of medium per the DNR’s water level ratings. We met Moose at the put-in with a goal of getting on the water at 6am but didn’t actually start until 6:44am because things take time. Also Moose had brought us a fantastic breakfast of egg bake, chocolate croissant, coffee and orange juice. One of the things that really works for me on these endurance paddlers is to start off with my hydration and food levels pretty high and try to keep them there. Scott Duffus brought 46 ounce bottles with hoses attached so we could drink hands-free, which really helped me to stay hydrated and drink a lot, and Moose met us at various landings throughout the day to swap out hydration bottles and give us new food. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, sunny and warm rising from a start temp in the 50’s to about 80 degrees. An occassional slight breeze felt good. Scott dipped his hat in the water many times to stay cool and I took off my shirt and dipped it and put it back on.

With the low water we had to keep our wits about us to try and stay in the deepest part of the river, which wasn’t always easy. We never ground to a stop but we did drag along the bottom in places. There were a few rapids, nothing too crazy except at one place where they’d removed a dam. There were big standing waves going at a sharp curve to the left; we decided to lift over a shallow sand spot on the left bank instead of running the rapid because we thought there was a good chance we’d flip over.

We saw a ton of Eagles, a fair number of Geese, an Oriole, a Cardinal and Goldfinch, an Otter and a few Beavers. The high bluffs and hills were beautiful scenery. We kept the canoe moving, with each of us only taking very short breaks to eat, drink or use the bathroom while the other person kept paddling. The day flew by. When the sun set, clouds of “midges” swarmed around us causing our scapls and faces to itch. We had a hard time not inhaling them into our mouths, lungs and noses. Scott had a headlamp he rigged to a powerful lithium-ion battery and he would turn it on and off with his foot so we could make sure we didn’t run into any of the many downed trees lying in the channel or extending off one of the banks (these were more frequent in the lower sections of the river).

We averaged 5.5mph but on one of our training runs a few weeks earlier when the water was much higher and faster we went over 40 miles with an average at 6.5mph, so this record is definitely beatable with better water levels! We hope someone tries it soon because it’s such a beautiful river and a fun long-day adventure.