If there is one highly noticeable change to the Minnesota River since our canoe trip down it 10 years ago, it is the rapid erosion of the banks.

In 1998, we had noted that banks had eroded some following the massive flooding of a year earlier. Today, thousands and thousands of trees along the Minnesota have recently, or will soon fall into the river as banks are quickly being eaten away.

Many of the trees, including basswood, giant cottonwoods, maple and oak have just fallen in this spring as evidenced by the green leaves still on the branches.

In one dramatic example, a large tree that had been on the shoreline was now standing upright in the river, but some 10 feet from the bank, which had apparently been recently washed away.

Rivers naturally want to widen themselves by steadily eroding away what they can from the banks.

But many who live along the river have said increased development and more farm drainage systems have caused the river in recent years to rise rapidly with runoff water, causing the undercutting of the banks that destabilizes them until they fall into the river.

The river takes shape

We finished heading across Lac Qui Parle lake Monday morning and after portaging the dam, got on to a real river channel.

The banks of the river are lush green and still filled with wildlife. The bald eagles are thriving — we’ve seen several adult and immature eagles perched along the way. Deer, often with fawns, watch curiously until dashing into the thick underbrush. Great horned owls, ducks, giant snapping turtles, beaver and songbirds — from gold finch to orioles — thrive here.

We passed over our first rapids just before Montevideo, but it was not as exciting as the rapids 10 years ago when the river was more than two feet lower than now. The high water covers the rocks that make the whitewater boil in rapids and we simply glided over a fast moving spot in the river.

There are about five rapids in the upper stretches of the river — all are Class 1, the lowest risk class for rapids.

We smelled the cattle before we saw them. We rounded a bend and a herd of cattle eyed us curiously from the eroded river bank that served as a fence — and presumably a toilet.

It seemed like a good idea

When John Cross and I decided we should do the same canoe trip down the length of the Minnesota River that we did in 1998, it seemed to make sense. The first trip was well received, it raised awareness of the river and we had fond memories of it.