We have been on the road for almost 3 weeks but have not hit the water ... until today. Yesterday we extended our stay at Buffalo River Camping Resort for an additional 3 nights. That gives us a home through the weekend, always a concern when traveling in the summer without long term reservations. It also gave us some time to do some paddling and sight seeing at a more leisurely pace.
Today we drove about 35 miles to the Wisconsin Dells to paddle a section of the
Wisconsin River in the Upper Dells. The Wisconsin Dells is both the name of a town and a particular region of the Wisconsin River. We have driven by the cut-off to the Dells almost every year since 1997, but have never bothered to stop. We had been told it was a gaudy tourist trap, much like Gatlinburg, and they were right. However, the Wisconsin River near the Dells is very scenic, albeit clogged with motor boats, jet skis, tour boats and "ducks".
We chose a section of the river where we could paddle upstream in an oxbow around Blackhawk Island, then turn down stream on the Wisconsin River. After negotiating "the Narrows" we would loop back into the oxbow and return to our starting point. "Look Ma, no shuttle!" Very cool. The literature suggested the Narrows could be very treacherous at high water, but there was no problem today. We had also been warned about heavy boat traffic and fast, rude boaters, producing heavy wakes. While there was some traffic, it was less than expected, and we had no problems.
It turned out to be a fairly quick trip. We were on the water for only a little over 2 hours and paddled just a little over 3 miles. We finished so quickly, we did not eat the lunch we prepared. After loading the boat, we cruised the tourist strip, then found a quiet town park where we ate our sandwiches and cookies. Before returning home we hit the local Walmart for some groceries.
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| Our put-in on the Wisconsin River |
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| Our route on the Wisconsin River |
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| Myron's usual view of the river |
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| Cold Water Canyon on the Wisconsin River |
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| These are Wisconsin Dells ducks, but not "THE Wisconsin Dells Ducks" |
4 comments:
I really like the Delorme maps you use to show your route. If I had been with you, you could have dropped me off at the double track railroad to wait for a train.
Boy that Matilda really loves the water. I guess those bluffs are what the Dells are known for.
More pics of the Dells will follow in a future post.
Actually Matilda loves to wade, but hates to swim. She's a perfect canoe dog, because she never jumps out into the river. She is, however, always the first one out when we hit the beach and the first one in the boat when we depart.
Another good post. Thanks.
I love it when folks post feedback online. That helps keep me going. This blogging thing isn't easy, ya know? Thanks Dave and George.
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