Day 252

Daily Stats (side trip)
Start: 10:00 AM - De Pere, WI
Finish 2:00 PM - Green Bay, WI
Time: 4:00 hours
Daily dist: 8 miles
Total dist: 5000+
Companions: 99 other Wisconsin paddlers!
Weather: Beautiful partly cloudy skies, 80’s
Notes: A Fox River Heritage Paddle

One of the goals for me on this trip was to join fellow paddlers along the way to share their local waters with them. This weekend is giving me an amazing opportunity to meet and paddle with literally dozens of other paddlers. The Fox River Heritage Paddle is a series of short day trips strung together on weekends over the course of the entire summer. Starting in early spring a hearty group of paddlers set out from the Indian Agency House in Portage (where I’ll be ending my paddle in a few weeks by the way) and enjoyed a run down the twisty narrow river under trees just starting to fill in with bright green sprig leaves. Over the course of the summer the adventure has taken them all the way down the river (minus a couple of sections that had to be postponed due to unusually high water) to today where we ran the last section from De Pere to Green Bay where the tall ships festival was in port.

The same SUP paddler Doug that escorted me out of Portage on launch day was with the group today.

The organizers of the event have done an incredible job of promoting the trips which themselves do a great job of highlighting the history, ecology, and beauty of the river. Throughout the summer attendance at the paddles has been good with an average of forty or more people showing up to share the water. Today, when my parents and I pulled into the launch area in De Pere, I was somewhat surprised to see the entire parking lot full of cars and every inch of the lawn lined with kayaks and canoes.

Over 70 paddlecraft and 98 paddlers crowd the lock in De Pere WI

After sorting out the shuttle and a quick orientation we launched into the Fox river and headed down stream toward Green Bay. Only a half hour into the paddle we reached the lock in De Pere where we crammed over 70 boats into the chamber and (after a few words from the mayor of De Pere) were lowered about ten feet toward Green Bay.

Mom helped lead the group up front in the voyager canoe

Once out of the gate the enormous group spread itself out along the river and I spent the rest of the day paddling from the back to the front and back again taking the chance to meet and chat with dozens of people. All the while I checked in on my mom in the voyager canoe up front and my dad paddling a kayak, for the second time in his life, somewhere in the middle of the pack.

Dad and the wide open horizon of Lake Michigan behind him

A few hours of paddling brought us to the downtown waterfront of Green Bay where we viewed the tall ship fleet which was in town for the weekend. After another half hour of paddling we reached the end of the Fox River and the open water of Green Bay. Many of the paddlers seized the opportunity to venture out into the open water then returned to the city boat ramp where we ended the day.