Klondike Dam / Rapids 06/29/2014 1480 CFS 8.78 Feet

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Sunday ended up being a beautiful day so we decided to do a little kayaking at the old Klondike Dam. The Klondike dam was an old mill dam south of Sioux Falls, North of Canton and east of Harrisburg/Lake Alvin. It used to be a 100 year old dam but was damaged a few years back. 2012 Iowa decided it was cheaper to destroy the dam and replace it with a rock arch rapids. The reason they just didn't tear it down was because of the water levels. There are two wells close by that use the water levels made by the dam. If the dam was removed without rapids or some sort of structure the water level would be too low. Iowa and South Dakota worked together to get this project complete around 2012. With the recent rains a few weeks back it has made the Big Sioux River go up to flood levels. We decided it was a good level to kayak it on 6-29-14 since the river has gone down quite a bit. We have kayaked this section before at about 925 CFS and 1150 CFS. Today we decided to portage on the Iowa side (east bank) since some of the west bank was washed out. It actually worked out a lot better since we were able to paddle up the eddy on the east side about a third of the way up the river. Then we were able to portage on a flat rocky surface the rest of the way which is way easier than the west bank that took about 15 minutes to portage compared to 5 minutes on the Iowa side. We messed around in the eddy practicing edging, rolls, and bracing. We also ran the rapids about four times. Here are some videos that were taken of the day.

The group was made up of Josh Dragstra, Dan Buys, Mitchell Joldersma, Helen Harvey, and Stephan Bruggeman.

Mitchell Joldersma

Stephan Bruggeman

Dan Buys

 Josh Dragstra

 Mitchell Joldersma

Josh Dragstra

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Sioux Falls Whitewater Park Project Update 06/23/2104

Sioux Falls Whitewater Park Update 6-23-2014

We have a little bit of updates on the Sioux Falls Whitewater Park Project. Since last discussed on here there have been a couple of changes to the proposal.

First, the location has been narrowed down to one spot unless another one reveals itself. The spot we want the designers to put most of their focus on is at Lien Park located northeast of Downtown on Cliff Avenue on The Big Sioux River. Lien Park has the highest flow throughout the year in the Sioux Falls area; which makes it an ideal spot to use the Sioux Falls Whitewater Park all season long. The water level for a good park should be at least 250 CFS and if you check out the past 60 year flow rate at USGS you can see that you get above 250 CFS between the end of February all the way to the beginning of December. The park also provides a good location for parking. Currently it is a gravel parking lot with small barriers but can be expanded if needed. The park could easily be set up for events because the banks are a clean slate and option for hanging slalom gates are available and room to build built in seating. Events could be hosted such as a slalom race, 8-ball Sprint, soap box races, and freestyle Lien Park is also a good starting point for a lot of kayaker flowing south towards Brandon and farther down the river so it would be a good location to put a canoe/kayak ramp at the end of the park. The best part of Lien Park is that is parallel to the bike trail which would make it easy for paddlers, stand up paddlers, tubers, swimmers,  and rip boarders to walk back up to the beginning of the course.

Other parts of the river in the Sioux Falls area didn’t have enough flow throughout the paddling season, DENR opposed certain contaminated areas, and area didn’t work with Parks and Recreation for room for events or parking.

The second change to the proposal is we also got another estimate for a designer to come in kayak the river to see where the best option is, design park, fill out proper permits, hold investor and stockholder meeting, and price out the whitewater park. River Restoration is a well-known name in the whitewater industry. They have down work in Elkader Iowa at their whitewater park and they are working on design for Manchester Iowa Whitewater Park.

More updates on the Sioux Falls Whitewater Park:

A group has been formed as the Board of Directors for The Sioux Falls Whitewater Park, The Sioux Falls Whitewater Park has non-profit status EIN Tax ID, and Sioux Falls Whitewater Park has one more application to fill out to be non-profit status in South Dakota. We will also be starting fundraising for the designer to come in to do their conceptual design. The fundraising will start once the paperwork is submitted and approved by the state. Fundraising will consist of free will donations and possible raffle.

The group is also looking for logo design and a web page to be built. If anyone is interested they can contact us on Facebook or email at siouxfallswhitewaterpark@hotmail.com

Kayaking Klondike Dam / Klondike Rapids Summer 2014 Training

Our group is hoping to get all different skilled level kayakers together at the Klondike Rapids/Dam a few times this summer to practice wet exits, rolling, bracing, throw rope safety, and working as a team and partners.

Klondike Rapids is known to most fishermen but ever since the dam was torn down and built into rapids it has been noted by many paddlers for a good place for rapids and easier portaging for those longer trips.

The way the rock dam was formed, it now pushes water towards the middle of the rapids as it goes down stream. This ends up making great eddies at the end of the rapids past the bridge. You have the option for calm water right by the banks, going out further you hit the eddy sending water back up river, and past the eddy line you have small rapids with a swifter flowing river. Right by the bank with calmer water is a good place to practice for the beginner in rolling and wet exits. For the person familiar with rolls and wet exits; the eddy is a good place to start because you don’t flow down the river losing all your gear. For the more skilled person you can shoot in the end of the rapids and practice rolling and if you don’t complete it you can just slide into the eddy and get sent up stream to the group. Now if you complete the roll when hitting the rapids you can just go up river on the eddy and slide back into the rapids to practice more rolling without getting out. I thought this section of the river would be best to bomb proof those rolls, learn to roll, and practice throw bags because it has so many options for learning.

I hope to get groups together a few times this summer to go over everything and help each other achieve better paddling skills.

Kayaking Skunk Creek 6-10-14 and 6-17-14

We had some big rains come in so we kayaked 6-10-14 east of Hartford SD. We started on 257th street and ended at 258th street small little stretch class I. On 6-17-14 the river rose so we hit it up again at the same spot but went further down to Benton street straight east of Hartford. Great for beginners but watch out for fences. The river was high enough luckily bit it crosses over 4-5 fences. A rock dam at the end is a nice little 2-3 feet drop to end the trip.

6-10-14

6-17-14

Kayaking Split Rock Creek SE South Dakota Palisades Park Garretson SD

Here are a few videos from the recent rain. A little rapids in SE South Dakota
Northeast of Sioux Falls in Garretson SD. First video is shot on 6-18-14 second video is a link you will have to go to and that was shot 6-15-14.

Here is an updated video. Hopefully better quality and half the length.