Wisconsin Adventurin'

Gearin' up

Bony, eh?

So, after I finished up my last rotation (yes, I know that was a month ago), I rewarded myself with some pretty fun whitewater up in the middle-to-northern part of the state. Caught up with some Sierra Clubbin' folk (Can you see John Muir at a dance party? Cause I can.) and some Mad-City Paddlers and hit the Wolf (best of section II and III - aka a few good rapids, a car-portage, and a few more good rapids) and the Red Rivers. We camped out at some National Forest campsite that had some killer lakeside sunsets and crazy-tough tent sites.

Lakeside sunset (there was a wider view, it wasn't as pretty)

Patchwork

We showed up at the campground late Friday night, and I bent something like 4 stakes before giving up and doing a crappy I-hope-this-stays-balanced set up of my definitely-non-freestanding tent. Oh, and it was cold and rainy Friday, too. Thankfully, my tent stayed up and my sleeping bag was warm enough. Saturday, we hit the Wolf sections, which were below suggested flow. I think about half my boat is still stuck to the rocks up there. Perhaps it was the low water, but these rivers just don't have much when compared to my beloved southeast. AW claims some III+ rapids exist on the sections we ran, but there would have to be substantially more water than there was. Anyhoo, we had plenty of pool in the pool-drop water, but the drops were fun. There were forgiving enough beancans that I got my not-much-of-a-surf on, and the surroundings were beautifully fall patchworked. I was accompanied by a lot of rec boaters with one or two serious whitewater dudes. We cleaned up a lot of yard sales, but everyone was pretty chill about it. Boyscout, Hansen's, and Gilmore's Mistake were all pretty entertaining rapids, and the fun ones were conviniently located for multiple runs. Friday night, we hit some local dive that had amazing steak (granted, I don't think I've had steak since the bike trip), and I really enjoyed the post-river hangout. There was some great company.

Flat

Gilmore's

Sunday morning, I crawled out of the tent, packed up, and enjoyed yet another sunrise by the lake before meeting up with the same folks to go run the Red River. Thankfully, the Red is dam-controlled, so we had enough water that I wasn't constantly apologizing to my little boat. It was more pool-drop, but the rapids seemed a little more creeky and fun. Monastery and Ziemer's Falls kicked butt, and I have a suspicion that First Ledge would be pretty sticky with higher water, too. (Monastery videos found here, complements of Larry.) Anyhoo, I met 2 couples that are some of the friendliest people I've met since moving, and plenty of other fun characters to go boating with - hurray! Come spring, I'll probably try to paddle with the Hoofers some as well. Sadly, there will never be anyone to match up with the King and Queen of the South Fork, but I suppose I'll have to cope.

Monastery

Ziemer's

This weekend (Yes, Halloween. Yes, I'm passing up way too many parties. Yes, I know Madison is renowned for its Halloween. Yes, I know it will be frigid.), I'm joining some of the same people on the Wolf. This time, it will be the entire stretches of sections II and III. Someday, I'll work up to section IV, but right now those falls just look scary.