Koochiching State Forest: Paddling Tilson Creek

Today was the maiden voyage of the Grunwald Family's new canoe. We finally had a nice day without extremely high winds to take the canoe out and do a little exploring. We opted to stay close to home and paddle Tilson Creek.

We made the short drive to the Tilson Bay Boat Ramp and unloaded the canoe.

I parked the car on the other side of Highway 11 and we pushed off.

We headed under the highway bridge and into the relatively calm waters of Tilson Creek.

Tilson Creek is a bit shallow with lots of aquatic vegetation poking out of the tannin stained water here and there. We saw a little bit of wildlife, including some red winged blackbirds, mallards, and other ducks. Sierra enjoyed putting her hands in the water

or taking a relaxing nap on the floor of the canoe.

I would say it was a good first trip. If tomorrow's forecast holds, I think we will be back out on the water again very soon!