Submitted photo Upstate New York native Madison Eklund took his photo as she kayaked across Marsh Lake, between Appleton and Ortonville, on her kayaking trip up the Minnesota River.

MINNESOTA RIVER — Upstate New York native Madison Eklund reported scenery on her kayaking trip up the Minnesota River turned vastly different as she paddled northwest into Lac Qui Parle Reservoir and Marsh Lake.

“Once I launched and got out of the sheltered area, It was like the wind came under my wings and I started flying,” Eklund posted on Facebook.

“The miles went by quickly. It was refreshing being off the river finally, and not having to fight the current.”

The upper part of the Minnesota River located in one of the major waterfowl flyways in North America and is said to be popular with birders. Marsh Lake has the largest pelican rookery in Minnesota and is one of only two white pelican nesting colonies in Minnesota.

As many as 10,000 pelicans, tundra swans, snow geese and sandhill cranes migrate to the area. Other birds in large numbers in the region include blue-winged teal, mallards, pintails and wood ducks.

Eklund reported seeing an aquatic flower called swamp smartweed with pinkish flower spikes that float on the water.

On Lac qui Parle Lake, said to be one of the best walleye fisheries in Minnesota, she found large carp that jumped out of the water and hit her kayak. In addition, Eklund said the carp made sucking sounds when they looked for food.

She toured the Lac qui Parle Mission established in 1935 by Christian missionaries who established a school. Fort Renville was an historical fur trading post established by Joseph Renville Jr., part French and part Dakota, who is remembered as an interpreter, translator, expedition guide and founder of the Columbia Fur Company, according to the Renville County Historical Society.

Eklund, who recently married a man stationed at the Grand Forks, North Dakota, U.S. Air Force base, plans to kayak 1,700 miles from Minneapolis up the Minnesota River to Big Stone Lake, Lake Traverse, Mud Lake, Bois de Sioux and Red rivers, across Lake Winnipeg, into the Echimamish and Hayes Rivers to Hudson Bay.

(Fritz Busch can be emailed at fbusch@nujournal.com.)