Scott (L) and Todd (R)
Two Paddles was created by Scott Miller and Todd Foster. Best friends for many years, Two Paddles allows them to combine their love of paddling and their love of working on projects together.
Todd grew up in and still lives on the Sauk River in St. Cloud. He grew up paddling as a member of Explorer Post 7. Scott grew up biking from his childhood home in Maple Grove east to the Mississippi River at the Coon Rapids Dam, and paddling with his Dad on the Minnehaha Creek.
After becoming friends at Many Point Scout Camp in northern Minnesota and running North Wind Winter Adventures the two decided to do a Boundary Waters trip together. This sparked dozens of canoe trips over many years including a 2,000 mile canoe trip from Minneapolis to Hudson Bay in 2005. That epic adventure was to commemorate the 75th anniversary of a trip on the same route taken by Eric Sevareid and Walter Port in 1930, chronicled in the book “Canoeing with the Cree”.
Scott and Todd have also paddled on the Snake River in Wyoming, the Missouri River in Montana, the Buffalo River in Arkansas and many great rivers in their home state of Minnesota including the entirety of the Sauk River and many trips on various sections of the Mississippi River.
Todd (L) and Scott (R)
In 2023, Scott was the leader of a team of four people who set the Guinness World Record for fastest canoe trip down the 2,296 mile Mississippi River and Todd served as the Lead Advisor for the attempt. The Facebook page for the team is called “Mississippi Speed Record” and can be found at this link
Scott and Todd on the Snake River in Wyoming
The Outside Magazine article about the trip can be found at this link
The world record attempt went “viral” which resulted in thousands of people cheering the team both from the shore and via the Facebook page. Scott and Todd created these races and tour as a way for more people to experience the magic of paddling on the Mississippi River.
The world record attempt required dozens of volunteers to staff the ground support crew and the safety boats. Scott’s wife’s Uncle, Mike “Moose” Dougherty lead the support crew. Mindy Schroeder-Kragness served as Moose’s right-hand woman and helped organize many volunteers that were Many Point Scout Camp alumni (like herself and Scott and Todd). Moose, Mindy and other key volunteers from the record attempt have volunteered to help run the weekend as well and Scott and Todd are so grateful for their ongoing support. Scott’s wife Heidi has helped with graphic design projects, including designing the Two Paddles logo and the logo for each event.
As part of the training for the world record attempt Scott paddled the ultra-distance canoe races the “Missouri River 340” (the MR 340) and the “Great Alabama 650” (the AL 650). The founder and director of the MR 340, Scott Mansker, was also a crucial volunteer for the world record attempt. Scott Mansker organized 3 support boats and 3 incredible support boat crews for the attempt. Scott Mansker has also been kind and gracious with advice as Scott and Todd have worked to create the new Mississippi River Paddle Weekend. The MR 340 community has been a source of assistance and guidance in many ways, including from the creator of a Missouri River navigation app that many 340 racers use, Jon Marble. After using the app in the MR340, Scott was so impressed that he asked Jon to create a similar app for the Mississippi River and Jon graciously agreed.
Both the MR 340 and the AL 650 served as inspiration for Scott wanting to create an ultra-distance race on the Mississippi River in Minnesota. After talking about it with Todd the two created the MR 150.
When word got out that Scott and Todd were planning the MR 150, Roland Ring-Jarvi contacted them to see if they’d be interested in taking over his “Mighty Miss” races. They met with Rollie and came away impressed by the history of his races and his passion for seeing them continued. With Rollie’s blessing and support, they created the MR 48, MR 25 and MR 10.
Finally, Todd had a vision for an event for people looking for a fun, relaxing recreational paddle on the river. Todd noticed a Paddle Bridge Guide Collective van parked near Scott’s house. After reaching out to Theo Byrnes, owner of Paddle Bridge, a partnership was formed to create the MR 7.5 Recreational Tour, with Paddle Bridge supplying guides, shuttle vehicles, drivers and kayaks for rent.
Scott and Todd figured out how all races and tours could happen on the same weekend, with Coon Rapids Dam Regional Park as the hub of activity, and thus Two Paddles’ Mississippi River Paddling Weekend was born.
