Bring on the canvas

After watching Waterwalker and salivating over Verlen's old #10; it's time to break out the 25 year old Summersong canoe and canvas pack, do a little trip and relive the glory. Gonna toss a straight shaft beaver tail paddle to boot, might even put a feather in my cap.
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Rallying the camp cruiser gang for a weekend paddle, we're back to the Wisconsin River, put-in Muscada our destination serenity... See ya on the other side of the weekend.
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The Capt'n

Amazing films

This feature-length documentary follows naturalist Bill Mason on his journey by canoe into the Ontario wilderness. The filmmaker and artist begins on Lake Superior, then explores winding and sometimes tortuous river waters to the meadowlands of the river's source.

Along the way, Mason paints scenes that capture his attention and muses about his love of the canoe, his artwork and his own sense of the land. Mason also uses the film as a commentary on the link between God and nature and the vast array of beautiful canvases God created for him to paint.

Features breathtaking visuals and exciting whitewater footage, with a musical score by Bruce Cockburn.

Every picture tells a story

Wisconsin River

Bringing it home

Pics to follow...
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It was tough bringing it home; another outstanding weekend on the Wisconsin River. This outing had drama, intrigue and adventure. Cocktails and Dreams at Aurthur's on Friday, high winds on Saturday (tough tough paddle into a steady 25) and the most pleasant April day paddle I've been on, Sunday. Not to mention that the five that dared were a pleasure to paddle with. "Koa " and Patrick's dog "Patch" were along too.
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A visit to a Ho Chunk Indian effigy and burial site on river's edge made this trip epic. We had Patrick " the encyclopedia" Cannon with us, which is always "educational " entertaining. For those of you that have paddled with Patrick, he's a hoot. His story telling is the tops.
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Wildlife abound, deer, beaver, eagles and turtles on every log and stump sunning themselves. We saw only one kayaker, looked to be on a day trip. A few angler's doing their thing, but virtually the river to ourselves.
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Dennis and Sandy put in on Friday up at Arena, Patrick, Gary and myself put it on Saturday morning at Peck's Landing. We had no real plan, but with the winds blasting on Saturday we set our sites on a pullout at Muscuda.
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The water was remarkably warm for a spring paddle. I wouldn't call it swimmable, but no real need for Choka's or booties. The evening's got into the low 30's. Frost on the boats and rain flys. We cut a lot of wood and had a raging fire. What is it about a campfire on river's edge that is so inviting?
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As usual the trip seemed too short. Left us all wanting more. As we drove over the Muscuda bridge looking down river, there was a silence that spoke to us " Back to the river, back to the river". Then the Blackberry sang out. "It's over babe e back to the world"

Lake Country Paddle

The kids just returned from a week in California with their Nana and Papa, cruising Monterey and San Fransisco Bay area. They were beat. Boo slept into noon on Saturday which is unheard of; normally a early riser.
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Gave me a chance to work on outfitting of the QCC Canoe. Bow and stern lines, and a mounting system for the PAS sail. Some decals and reflective tape.
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I had not paddled the QCC. Boo has been monopolizing its usage; but as she slept a great paddle morning away, I took it out for a spin. Here are my thoughts.
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At 16'10" and 23" wide, it's a good candidate for a single blader like myself. The rudder is crucial to efficiency under one blade.
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Plenty of room for gear and such. The extra large hatches and no bulkheads (my request at the build) was a good move for the type of paddling we do.
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The issue still; is the seat. I had it built with out seat stays or seat installed. My idea of a removable seat for Boo to lay down ended up being not the best move thus far. Can't get the comfort level to were we want it. SandyBottom sent a link for a seat that she liked (Gotta find the link); Went to a local kayak shop to see a closed cell seat - they didn't have any. Forget about me laying down in it.
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Paddling:

Boo and I got out Sunday; we planned on a Rock River paddle near Kanow Park but the park was closed do to early spring flooding. We went over to Lower Nemhabin put in off of Sugar Island road and paddled up to Upper Nashotah lake. There is a cut that allows you to connect all the lakes not shown on this map. This is a great area to paddle as no wake is enforced on Sunday's so limited motorized boat traffic. A handful of rec paddlers early on but as we made our way north pretty much had the lakes to ourselves. Perfect weather to boot!

Balmy weather

Low 70's makes for perfect paddling weather. No bugs No Jet Skis No worries; Sunset on Rock Lake.

Send in the clowns -

Happy April Fool's Day!!

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A day of days for a swash "knee" buckler like myself, no joke here. Looks like I blew out my knee a couple days ago playing fetch with the dog. POP!! No doctor but an ACL injury comes to mind. Going to give it a couple more days and see how it feels.
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We have signed up for the Everglades Challenge March 5th 2011 event. Good to get it on the books as something to focus on. Boo and I talking about her going solo; we're going to see how strong she gets after another season of paddling. Chief gave the nod as long as there is supervision "team" approach.

Boo up river single blade in the QCC500