Wisconsin River Kayak Trip – June 2023

Here’s where I would launch from- the Buena Vista Boat Landing in Gotham.
I put in on a channel feeding into the river.
the current was a good, steady 3-4 mph

I‘m off! Felt great to be on the river!
When an island appears I checked my map to see which side to paddle on. Appearance is deceiving until you get closer to see the various channels.
The scenery was delightful! The water, current, occasional fish jumping, birds chirping, trees shimmering in the breeze.

I saw no one during the day; no homes on shore, just beautiful wilderness!

Here’s the sandbar I choose; plenty of room and trees for shade
Here’s my kayak where I pulled out for the night

Around 3pm I scouted for a sandbar to camp on for the night.
I found a spot in the shade to rest and read my book about a fellow paddler who got stuck in tall weeds attempting to kayak the entire +2,300 mile Mississippi River.

After a while, around 5pm, I saw the sun starting to set for the night.

Here’s the view of my sandbar from my shaded shore spot. I had the entire sandbar to myself!

Here’s the book I read on my sandbar- about a guy who kayaked the Mississippi River!
I highly recommend this bug spray from Fleet Farm- it kept the mosquitoes and gnats away.

Around 6pm I made camp on the high point of the sandbar, installed my tent, sleeping mattress, and sleeping bag.
I dragged my kayak over so it wouldn’t drift away overnight if the water level rose.

The sun starting to set around 7:30pm. It was still quite warm- in the 70’s.
Very peaceful and calm; the gentle current moving along, birds still singing…

Thursday morning around 6am- daybreak! The sun was up, however there was a slight cloud cover, masking the glowing rays of the sun. The morning dew took a bit longer to burn off. Fortunately, I had kept my gel seat and clothing covered.

Oh no! A neighbor! 🙂 They had come in the night before and made camp on the sandbar downstream of me. I never heard a peep from them.

I took down camp, stowed my gear, and was ready for day two!
I had paddled 13 miles or a little over half-way, so I figured I’d be done by noon. I pushed off around 7:30am.

There were several people along shore fishing for catfish. I was chatting with this guy when he caught one. I paddled back to him, watch him, land it, and go a pic. He was happy!

I saw lots of wildlife- including about five eagles. They are huge and quite majestic.

Lots of interesting shoreline…

This pic is a bit blurry, but it shows a highway right behind the shoreline. This was about a mile away.

I accomplished my goals! Not getting stuck and not falling in! 😉

Turtle!

Drifting as I let the current carry me.

Ok, I guess I can start paddling again…

Here’s my take-out spot; a DNR boat landing
My take-out was near Boscobel– a great small town featuring WI River Outings and an A&W!
You can see where I stowed my gear in the bulkheads. It worked out great as it was covered from any water and splashing, as well as the sun.

I thanked the Lord for a safe and wonderful trip! I had to drive back to the put-in launch spot to reminisce! 😉
Ready for the next segment- some good biking on trails!
Of course, the surrounding area was picturesque.
For the trip I drove 369 miles over 8.5 hours and averaged 39 mpg