Day 258

Daily Stats
Start: 8:30 AM - Oshkosh, WI
Break: Noon to 3:45
Finish 5:45 PM - Eureka Lock, WI
Time: 5:30 hours
Daily dist: 17 miles
Total dist: 5000+
Companions: None
Weather: Mostly cloudy skies, 80’s, passing storms (some strong)
Notes: From big lakes to a small river.

We had planned on getting a leisurely start to the day, but Bob and I were both up early so I decided to pack up and head for the water sooner than later. True to the rules of the game Bob took me right back to the boat ramps were we pulled off the water two days ago and watched as I once again made four bags of gear disappear into the hatches of the Ikkuma. With promises to paddle together again some day, I bid farewell to Bob and headed out across the last large lake I’ll see on my run to Portage. With the morning haze obscuring the view of the far end of Lake Butte des Morts about seven miles away it made it seem even bigger than it is. The mouth of the Fox river lie only five miles up and I soon made that and entered a river only half the size of what I’d paddled from Green Bay to here.

Probably one of my last views of a watery horizon on this trip.

With record amounts of rain fall this summer the current is still flowing as it would be in early summer which means a bit more work for me, but with fair winds and comfortable temps it was smooth sailing. At about noon I came into the town of Omro which had beautiful waterfront parks that seemed to stretch on forever. With lots of time and not too far to go, I decided to take a break at the boat ramp on the west end of town and take advantage of a good cell connection to get caught up on e-mails and blog posts. While I was typing away on my computer a SUV (with kayak racks on top) rolled by very slowly then stopped when the driver saw my boat. The driver then got out and took a closer look at the boat then finally noticed me sitting a few hundred feet away under a park gazebo.

Hey aunt Bev your niece Pam says hello

It turned out that the driver of the car was a local paddler named Pam. She’d been tipped off about the trip by her aunt Bev who lives on the Wisconsin River up in Rhinelander. Both are kayakers and have been following the trip for a while. After a nice visit, Pam drove home and I finished checking my e-mails with the sound of thunder rolling continuously my way. Any thoughts of getting back on the water had to wait as I quickly re-stowed my gear in the Ikkuma and pulled it a bit further up the boat ramp as the winds began to whip the river into a frenzy. Just as I pulled my rain coat on the skies opened with loud cracks of thunder and I retreated back to the shelter of the gazebo I’d been in before. As quickly as the storm arrived it passed leaving broken clouds and some sunshine in its wake.

Figuring the coast was clear I put back on the river and enjoyed another couple of hours of fine paddling. However, with only a half mile of river between me and the camp I was headed toward, I got chased off the river by yet another even more lively storm. Fortunately I was able to pull out on a gravel beach next to two huge oak trees. Once again I battened the hatches on kayak but this time, instead of a nice park shelter, I was forced to rely on my rain coat while I crouched behind one of the massive trees as monsoon like rain fell and winds blew hard enough to rock my fully loaded kayak sitting on the ground next to me. The worst of the storm lasted only a half hour or so but the rain persisted for a half hour more. By the time it all let up it was getting dark so I decided to make camp where I was. With darkness descending it became a race to get the tent set up so I could escape the swarms of mosquitoes attacking from all sides.