I've been waiting to try the Kettle for some time.  It's a bit of a hike, but I think everyone should try it some time.  About 70 miles north of the Twin Cities, near Hinkley, is St Croix Park.  There are several rivers and streams to paddle in this area.  The one to try for a more interesting ride is the Kettle River.  We opted for the shorter run, starting at Maple Island and ending at Kennedy Brook.  This still requires a lengthy drive into the park on dirt roads.  It was 40 minutes from Hinkley to Maple Island, because of the limited entrances to the park.  We wasted a lot of time getting ready and driving in.  I had to get my permit renewed and a 'shortcut' I thought I saw on the map was a closed road.  A gentleman living by that road came out to describe the wonders of vague DNR maps and tell me how to just go to the main park entrance.

The put-in was a relatively bug free area at 11:00, but Tom found both Deer and Wood ticks trying to get a bite out of him.  For this journey, Tom took the Helios, and I used the Safari.  Both boats performed well, but as always, the Safari took some getting used to.  I just need to remember to use those foot braces for maximum control.  The water was moving at a pretty good clip, moving us at 2-3mph with almost no effort.

Rapids were of the Class I variety.  There weren't many obstacles but the switft current made it an enjoyable trip.  We saw a few fisherman in canoes in some calmer portions of the river.  This trip really didn't take long, maybe an hour and a half.  We had planned to do this section twice but all the road time burned up the day too quickly.