Living in Morton with time to spend exploring the Minnesota River Valley made quite the impression on a young Darby Nelson.
During his formative years, Nelson explored Morton Creek, hiked Minnesota River bluffs, observed aquatic creatures and collected gneiss rocks. After seventh grade, his dad — a teacher — moved the family to northern Minnesota.
The change in scenery impacted him deeply. He missed exploring the river and never forgot what he learned. He went on to earn degrees in the sciences, including a PhD in ecology from the University of Minnesota. Along the way, he met his future wife, Geri, a biology major, while working in Itasca at a biology station. He taught biology and environmental science for 35 years at Anoka Ramsey Community College. He also made time in the 1980s to serve three terms in the Minnesota House of Representatives and was active with Conservation Minnesota, the Freshwater Society and the Nature Conservancy.
Always ready for adventures, the Nelsons traveled extensively, making time for lots of canoeing in hundreds of lakes and rivers in the Midwest, New England, Alaska and Canada. Yet, the Minnesota River always had Nelson’s heart. Thus, it was only natural for him to eventually write a book about it. And the best way to share the river’s history, geology and botany was to experience it firsthand by canoeing its 335-mile length with Geri as his paddling partner.
The couple, who reside in Champlin, spent two summers in their 17-foot Kevlar canoe paddling through navigable sections from the Little Minnesota River near Browns Valley to Fort Snelling State Park in Bloomington, where the Minnesota flows into the Mississippi. They would be gone for five to seven days at a time, avoiding high water and camping on sandbars, which made for easy and safe landings. Along the way, Nelson took copious notes of what he saw.
The couple also routinely checked and recorded water clarity evaluated with a Secchi tube. Whenever they stopped, if he couldn’t see over it, Nelson would climb the riverbank to see what was on the other side.
“Canoeing into Morton was most meaningful for us,” Geri recalls. “We met kids fishing on the bridge and we talked with them. They knew a lot of people and family we knew.”
Nelson was intent on writing a book about the river. It would be his second tome on Minnesota waters. He published his first book, “For Love of Lakes,” in 2012. This book would be entitled “For Love of a River: The Minnesota.”
By now, however, Nelson had been diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment. He finished his first draft in 2016 and he and Geri continued to refine it. They contacted friend and writer-film producer John Hickman for help in revising the text and doing final edits.
“As I joined the team and the editing process, I was well aware of Darby’s stature in the environmental community and his writing ability,” Hickman says. “Geri was Darby’s first reader and editor, bringing significant ability and knowledge of biology. Plus, she was with Darby for every paddle stroke. That’s why it was possible to bring this book to completion.”