Selina Walters and her dad on the Wisconsin River near Portage.

The Perfect Canoe Trip

 

Hello friends,

I recently took part on a canoe trip with my eight-year-old daughter Selina, on Father’s Day Weekend, that went about as smoothly as any canoe trip that I have ever taken part in.

Together, Selina and I paddled a 28-mile stretch of the Wisconsin River from just south of Wisconsin Dells to Hooker’s Resort, which is located, north of Poynette.

Saturday, June 20th
High 82, low 51

Selina and I have a half a dozen trips planned this summer and I believe the key to success, is keeping them simple and enjoyable.

This morning, our second adventure of this soon to be a 3rd grader’s summer, began early as we had a canoe and gear to drop off near Wisconsin Dells, a truck to drop off at Hooker’s Resort and then the return trip north, back to the canoe.
I noticed a favorable “tail wind” and high water, when dropping off the canoe and realized that a day of floating, swimming and relaxing was about to happen.

After loading our rig and painting ourselves with sunscreen, the journey began on a river that is 430 miles long and said to be the hardest working river in the United States, due to the 26 power dams on it.

A friend recently asked me how many times I have paddled this stretch, which ends up near my hometown of Poynette and I think it is fair to say 15-20 times.

Once, I was involved in a rollover, sometime after dark, on March 20th, 1988. My “very old buddy” Jeff Moll and I were just entering Lake Wisconsin, it was 20 degrees outside, and suddenly “Moby Dick” came up from underneath of our canoe and flipped both of us into the “Mighty Wisconsin”.

By all accounts, Jeff and I should have died that night as we had a hard time getting back in the canoe and an even harder time paddling to shore, which was followed up by an even harder time, finding help. Rumor has it that brain damage may have occurred due to extreme hypothermia.

Today, was a no stress day as Selina and I took part in what really was an incredible float trip. I had brought a fishing pole along and would occasionally trail a Rapala “Shad Rapp” behind our rig, but opted out when I realized no one really cared if we caught a fish.

This stretch of the Wisconsin is close to perfect as far as getting away from the real world. Due to the fact that there is so much shallow water, it is difficult to safely run a large boat up and down the river, your either going to get stuck or take out a lower unit.

The shoreline, for the most part is forested and when you see a house, it is generally a simple cabin.

The following is Father Marquette’s description of this area when he passed through here in 1673: “The river which we embarked is called the Meskonsing. It is very wide. It has a sandy bottom, which forms various shoals that render navigation difficult. It is full of islands covered with vines.

On the bank one sees fertile land, diversified with woods, prairies and hills. We saw many deer and a large number of buffalo.”

If your name is Selina Walters, you would say the best part of this trip was swimming and digging in the sand. I said earlier, my goal is to keep our summer adventures simple and fun and that goal was kept.

Our meals were cooked over a fire, most of our drinks were pre-frozen and with a solid tail wind and strong current. The passing scenery was our living room and the canoe was our couch.

We camped just south of Portage, where we swam, caught a fish and hung out by the campfire.

When we woke up in the morning it was Father’s Day and I could not think of anywhere that I would rather be or a person that I would rather be with.

That night, after our adventure was over, we headed over to Poynette, where friends and family were gathered from near and far. We had “kind of” a swimming party at the Lynn and Dick Schuster’s house (my sister and brother-in-law).

I was chasing my 8-year-old nephew Dillon, in the same backyards that I grew up in, when I ran head first into a clothesline and literally knocked myself silly.

I will blame that less than perfect moment on hypothermia that was caused on that trip back in ‘88 on an awesome river called “The Wisconsin”.

Play with your kids!
Sunset