January Paddle

Great day for paddling; Great day period! Sandy launches after John broke away shore ice; Smart man to bring an ice axe, you'd think he had done this before.
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John moves in for some stabilization to brace Sandy as she enters her boat, 14 degrees slippery shore and ice cold water; best to take help when you can get it. Paddling solo is always a pleasure, but in extreme conditions it is nice to have good paddlers around.
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All's good in the world, we all made it on the water without **incident; snow and ice in the bottom of the canoe, you might as well be standing on ball bearings, it can get pretty slippery.
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No wind, river clear of debris and ice, just beautiful; **we did have a brief discussion with Law enforcement at the put in. It appears we were on private land and the owner has had enough of trespassers littering his property with cans and garbage. We were asked not to launch there without permission; law enforcement was quite friendly, I think we were the least of his worries.
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Interesting moment on the water, we stopped for a coffee and some tomato soup to warm the bones; We were gawking at all the goose poop when we were greeted by a couple walking through the cemetery, they just buried the son this past October. They seemed to take sollice our presence, asking questions about the river and our canoes, they commented how nice it was to have him buried by the river; a moving moment as it appeared to offer them some comfort, that people were around looking over him so to speak.
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John working his way back up river; we ran out of highway as the water turned to ice as the current slowed.
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Just another banner day in Wisconsin, John and Sandy taking it all in. You can't see them but there is a large flock for geese overhead encouraging us to move on so they can get their open water back.
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The Capt'n