Photo by Pat Christman
Colton Witte (front) and Sean Bloomfield paddled the Minnesota River under the Highway 99 bridge in St. Peter Saturday morning. The Chaska teenagers are following the same path Eric Sevareid and Walter Port took to Hudson Bay in 1930.
ST. PETER — Sean Bloomfield said he's practically memorized the book "Canoeing with the Cree," which chronicles a pair of teenagers' 1930 river ride from Minneapolis to Hudson Bay.
"I've read it over 20 times," he said.
"They used it for book reports when they were in seventh grade — and eighth grade, ninth grade, 10th grade ..." added Dan Witte, the father of Bloomfield's paddling partner, Colton Witte.
But less than a week into Bloomfield's and Witte's attempt to replicate the adventures of "Cree" author Eric Sevareid and his friend Walter Port, the Chaska teens are finding out that the book is more inspiration than field guide.
For one thing, Sevareid and Port left home in June, during a drought. By the time they got to the bend in the Minnesota River at Mankato, the water was so low that there was more pushing, pulling than there was paddling.
Bloomfield and Witte, meanwhile, have trudged along a swift, swollen river — going against the current, which they will do until they reach the South Dakota border.
For complete story, see the Sunday, May 4, print edition of The Free Press, or sign onto the e-edition at http://www.mankatofreepress.com/
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