Kayaker With Ferry Bluff in the Background

I had arrived quite early,  so I waited.  I unloaded my kayak beside the water and chatted with a couple from the Kenosha are who had chosen this unlikely boat landing for a spot of early morning fishing.  The weren’t catching anything. As I carried more gear down to the boat, I checked my watch.  It was already five minutes to 9 and still no one had shown up.  Not surprising really, people tended to race in at the last second for these trips.  Out of habit I glanced at my phone.  There was 1 message.

The message was that everyone was waiting for me.  Really?  I looked around the small pull over bathed in early morning sunlight.  “If they were waiting,” I thought, “It has to be in another dimension.”  I called the lead guy back.  Voice Mail.  “Well,” I thought, “I may as well started re-loading my gear.  I must be going somewhere.”  A few moments later the phone rang.  I tossed my pretty black PFD up onto the roof of my Jeep and clicked, “Answer” on my phone.

VFW Park landing – Sauk-Prairie

Now when he told me they were at the VFW park landing, I knew I was at the wrong spot.  But where was the VFW landing anyway?  Just Below the dam?  Sauk Dam?  35 miles away in Sauk City!?  Oh.  Yeah, I am at the wrong spot.  “See you in about a half hour.” I said and I was on the road convincing myself I didn’t need to stop for gas along the way.

Life, well my life at least, has a way of tossing out these generally harmless little mind warps.  As it was, I arrived just as the group was setting up the shuttle and would end up waiting another hour before we were actually ready to get on the water.  Still, it’s always a bit stressful have your day launched by a bit of confusion.  On the other hand, I had I was not too terribly jazzed up to paddle the Upper Dells on a  festival weekend.

Only a few days ago I had been talking about paddling the lower Wisconsin river.  Our day trip tracing the Wisconsin River down where it empties into the Mississippi and back by car offered an intriguing picture of the river valley.  Now I was going to do the first 8 mile section.  Sauk-Prairie to Ferry Bluff.

My first impression of paddling this section of the Wisconsin is that Ferry Bluff is probably the place to start your trip, not end it.  Up until that point the river, while not without its charm,  (We did see geese, ducks & turtles) is basically a wide channel past urban sprawl fading into forest, then sandy flatlands with scruffy willow and cottonwood much like most of Wisconsin’s Lake Michigan shoreline.  If there is one special feature of this first section is that you must skirt your way around what could be a dangerous whirlpool that spins at the foot of an abandon train bridge at periods of higher water.  Currently the river is very low and  we spent more time simply looking for passage around wide bars and rocky shoals.

Old Train Bridge in Sauk-Prairie marks location of sometimes dangerous whirlpool

That said the trip was still a great time.  We took a dozen guests down the river, most of which I had met on previous trips or at a symposium somewhere around the Midwest.  The lack of amazing scenery leaves plenty of time to chat and simply enjoy paddling for paddling’s sake! Besides good humor and great weather can make a few short portages a fun social occasion. We were told that this first section can take up to 4 hours depending on the weather and the group.  It took us just over 2 hours with a break in the middle.  The shallow water made for some quick channels apparently.

Near the end we could see Ferry Bluff rising in the distance and a long chain of bluffs skirting the river into the horizon.   As we slid passed the nude beach and cut into the narrow stream that led to the boat landing beneath the bluff, I couldn’t help but want to continue on down the river.  It was after all, just beginning to look interesting.

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3. Upper Wisconsin Dells
4. Saturday, 9am
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