Get Off The River!
That beautiful river is not what you think.

I turn on my phone to send a picture of the colorful sky and discover several texts received earlier. One reads, “Bad thunderstorms coming. Get off the river! They are saying 60-70 mile an hour winds and hail.”

Within seconds the temperature quickly drops. The wind picks up, the trees are swaying, and I’m still on the water. 

Luckily, I am on a rather narrow stretch of the St. Croix. At full speed I run my kayak onto the riverbank and seek cover under the nearest large tree as the winds strengthen and rain begins to fall. Then comes the hail and I am being pummeled. As the shear amount of hail increases, so do their size and velocity and I wonder how much worse this will get.

The canopy of the trees aren’t providing the protection that I had hoped and the ricocheting hail begins to sting. There is nothing I can do but to watch and wait this out. To protect my face I create a makeshift helmet with my life preserver. But the rest of my body is exposed and being pelted by hail the size of large marbles which now covers the floor of the woods.

For greater protection I move to the middle of a nearby small cluster of trees and pick one that I wrap my my arms and legs around. I think to myself, I hope my kayak doesn’t get blown back into the water with the only set of keys to my truck.

Just as quickly as the storm came in, it leaves. I get lucky this time. All I can do is take pause, look up and say, "Thank You.”