all the while the world is turning to noise
oh the more that it’s surrounding us
the more that it destroys
turn up the signal
wipe out the noise
- Gabriel

34 C was the size of the first bra we came across. After the recent flood the trees and banks of the Baraboo River were filled with everything you could imagine. Beyond 2 sets of red women’s apparel my elder son Julian and I counted 6 bicycles, countless tires and more plastic bags than a Wal-mart parking lot. It was a mess. Yet I had not paddled the section above the rapids since I was a kid and barring all the waste it was a much more diverse and beautiful area than I had remembered. Besides what good is red lingerie if no one happens to be wearing it?

Our Launch site was located just a few miles east of Baraboo just off a road called “Lover’s Lane”.  The park is so “off” the beaten path and seldom visited that the picnic benches are staked down to keep anyone from taking them away.

A dedication was added a few years back in memory of a local police officer.

The banks of the river are just beginning to dry out.  In this area the river must have been at least 5 feet above it’s current level.

This is about the best launch you are going to come up with.  The plan was to face the boats generally in the direction of the current and seal launch.

Even the raccoons had to work to get down to the water.  Interestingly we actually came across a raccoon later in the day.

We took a little side journey up a stagnant stream.  The stream we found was fed with natural ice cold artesian streams.  The warmer surface water sat still with the consistency of jello.

We paddled up the stream about as far as we could. Of course turning sea kayaks around in a small stream is a bit of a challenge.  I spun the boat around until it hung up on both banks, then stepped out into the muck and turned the boat around.  After doing what I could to get the mud off my feet I jumped back in and we headed back downstream to the river.

We enjoyed a variety of landscapes along the shores.  Over the centuries this sandstone outcrop has been etched away by the little river.

Around the very next bend we were paddling along the high banks of an open plain with farm fields beyond.

Around the very next bend the river slipped under a canopy of green.  Lost in this little forest was the remnants of an old train track.  A small island built of sandstone marked the place where a bridge once crossed the river.

I paddled under branches filled with everything the flood waters had carried.  It was here where the 34C showed up.  Across the river another stone cliff came into view. Large boulders had broken off and were now tiny islands along the shore.

The highway 12 bridge carries traffic along on their way to Wisconsin Dells.  It’s also marks the beginning of the Baraboo Rapids. For the next couple miles the river drops about 4 feet producing a few small play spots along the way.  As a teenager I lived next to this bridge. (well, the bridge before this one).  I spent an awful lot of time right here. Under the bridge and along the river banks.

The small islands take on the look of tug boats where their upstream sides have been stacked with dead wood and everything else pushed down in the flood.

The river banks look much more natural these days. Almost every bend now has gravel washes adorning the inside corners.  One would imagine this is much more how the river looked before a city was built around it.

You could have easily missed this little guy along the banks.  We stayed and watched him (or her) for quite awhile.  We guessed the poor thing must have been sick as it did nothing to get away from us as it clung to a log and occasionally shivered. The trouble with wildlife of course is that you can’t just ask them how they are doing and you certainly can’t just pick them up.  In the end we did the most logical thing, and just left it be.

Along with all the tires we counted 6 bicycles either on the banks or in the water.  Some areas are just a mess.  It’s hard enough to get anyone to care about rivers, especially when they run through cities.  Usually businesses & residents build facing away from the river and for some reason got in the habit of using the banks of rivers as places to put all their junk.  It’s sick really.   We discussed what an individual can do to get this cleaned up.  The river is much to shallow for some sort of raft or barge to carry the trash out and the banks are mostly private land.  Leaving it to each individual to clean up the banks on their land is pretty much a lost cause.  We paddled past all this trash before.  After the floods the main difference is that the garbage is sometimes gathered more conveniently in big heaps.  Then their are the bags in the trees.  In some areas it looks like a homecoming party.  Trees are just covered.  It would take teams days to pick all the plastic out of the branches now overhanging the river.

I was most curious how the river bed had changed after the floods.  In fact most the small play spots I had enjoyed are now just gone.  The river is much cleaner.  Larger stone for the most part had been pushed right up along the banks.  Still though, I did find one really nice spot.  Imagine a small wave about 20 feet long!  Yeah, it’s beautiful.  Things have lined up just perfectly to create a really wide wave.  It’s not much, but for people just wanting to learn boat control in rivers and on waves this will be a great “first experience” spot.

Right before the take out is where much of the damage had been done to homes.  Here the water flows down from the Baraboo Bluffs gathering into a small steam before entering the river.  The stream  must have been a torrent.  Here at it’s mouth there is now a wash that has dammed off about 1/3rd of the river.  Looking up the stream you see a deep gorge disappearing into the woods.  The power must have really been amazing.

After about 5 hours on the water we arrived at the landing.  Quite a difference from the grassy banks that lined the river just a couple months ago. The concrete landing was still in tact but it was beginning to be undercut before the water receded.

In many ways the Baraboo river has taken on a change of character of amazing proportions, then just as quickly it’s the same old lazy stream it’s aways been.  I couldn’t help but be impressed with the power of nature and it’s attempt to rid the river of the marks of humanity.   But like a gull covered in oil,  the pollution can not be just shaken off.  It will need a lot of help.  The next trick is finding enough people who give a damn about one little river in the middle of nowhere.  Certainly one of the biggest challenges a paddler can face.

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