Day 3 (The calm before the storm)

Daily stats

Start: 7:30 AM - Spring Green WI
Finish: 3:30 PM - Boscabel WI
Time: 8:00
Daily dist: 40 miles
Total dist: 98 miles
Companions: None
Weather: Snow highs in upper 20’s
Notes: Carried enough gear to bivy for fear of support crew not being able to reach me.

Today we were met by Brain Butler at 7:00 AM at the put in near Spring Green. Brian had tried for two days to catch up with me and was the one that put the good luck poster on the bridge in Prairie Du Sac. I‘ve paddled with Brian‘s dad out in San Diego and it was Brian‘s mission to complete the cross country connection around this trip. Brian proved to be one hell of a nice guy and I’m glad he made such an effort because as I launched into driving snow in the early morning light I appreciated all the encouragement I could find.

Brian Butler came down to see me off

The weather man predicted several inches of snow and we had concerns of how well my parents would be able to get around with the truck with the resulting bad roads. With a remote chance that they may not be able to catch up with me at the end of the day, I carried enough camping gear to pull off a comfortable overnighter. The extra weight didn’t slow me down much but judging how many times I grounded out on sand bars today I think it deepened my draft.

Bridge at Lone Rock WI

An interesting thing about a broad unrestrained river such as the lower Wisconsin river is that even though it’s a half mile wide you end up navigating a serpentine channel not much more than thirty feet wide. Ironically the deep channel in such a wide river is often right along the bank. I’ve spent the last two days weaving around strainers (downed trees) along the banks and scanning every ripple in the water for clues for where the channel may go from there. When I pay attention and get it right I can cruise along at up to seven miles an hour. When I get it wrong I can end up grinding to a stop on a sand bar. When this happens I push along with the paddle as long as I can and sometimes have to reach with my bare hands through the icy water to push myself forward off the bottom. I’m looking forward to the canalized Mississippi where hopefully this type of fun will be behind me.

Frozen hat

The problem right now is getting to the Mississippi. We’re staged about a half days paddle from there but Mother Nature has thrown us a curve ball in the way of a huge early winter snow storm. Up to a foot of snow is predicted to fall from now until tomorrow evening to be followed by sub zero temperatures and strong winds, an outright blizzard. Right now schools have been cancelled for tomorrow and it’s snowing and blowing like crazy. I can handle paddling in those conditions but picking me up at the end of the day may prove to be a harrowing experience for my parents driving my little pickup truck. It was insanity to start this trip this late in the year but I never counted on having one of the biggest early winter storms in twenty years. My support crew has been promoted from a pure luxury to a near necessity. It would be pure suffering without my parent’s help.

Our plan right now is to see what the morning brings. If it looks like the roads may be clear before the end of the day I’ll get on the water. If the roads are going to be impassable then I’ll have to take the day off which would probably make the most sense.

One thing I forgot to mention (sorry the weather has been on my mind). The eagles were out again today. Between Spring Green and Lone Rock I was never - never - out of sight of an eagle. I started playing a game of sorts to see what the highest number of eagles I could see at one time might be. The answer is 14, by sitting in one spot and turning my head I could see 14 different eagles. Next the game became how many in one tree… can you believe 11. It was amazing.