Getting dunked in the Kickapoo River

 So our friends from Missouri had traveled to northern WI to watch the predicted Northern Lights. They went to Eagle River Wisconsin and rented a Yurt at a campground with plans on kayaking, swimming, and enjoying the beautiful campground they'd booked into.

The Yurt was dirty, the bugs nasty, the lake had Swimmer's Itch, and the showers smelled like rotten eggs. The lake was filled with speed boats and water jetskis running all over...😕

They spent one night there and left in the morning as the clouds moved in and the prediction of the Aurora Borealis fell apart. 

When they arrived I was unprepared, but they were prepared with meals and great company. I invited them to stay with us and had to do some creative straightening up so they all had places to sleep. Their oldest son who is 11, really wanted to kayak. Did I know of somewhere they could go?

YES! I've wanted to try kayaking myself, but didn't want to try it solo for my first time. We went to Titanic Canoe/Kayak rental in Ontario Saturday early afternoon. Every rental place was crowded with people. I've never been there on the weekends and it has been 6 years since I canoed with the grand kids.

We got set up with older kayaks and a canoe and set off. Jesse and his little boy had trouble with the canoe right off and tipped it while bumping into the shoreline. Eventually we worked things out and they used a shoelace from Jesse's shoes to tie an empty kayak to the back of their son's kayak.

Mom and Dad put the youngest boy in between them on the canoe and things went fairly well.

On the weekends, the river is super crowded from bridge 1 through 4 with tubers and floating coolers. Party people. There was a lot of dodging and passing. It wasn't as enjoyable as going in the middle of the week was when I took the kids.

Once we passed bridge 4, it got quiet and peaceful. We still had 3 miles to go to get to out pull out point. We all relaxed and enjoyed the views.

These are shots of me that Kristi took.

Here is our friends' family.

After we stopped on a 'beach' to chill out and have snacks, the youngest boy was towed by the 11 year old.

I have to admit that the first time I tried getting out of the kayak, I lost my footing and ended up sitting down on the river bottom. It wasn't a bad dunking and I laughed! After all, this is a new skill and I needed to figure it out.

I climbed the bluff to take a shot of our 'rest' area. I wanted to see if my waterproof pocket camera would still work.

We paddled and drifted on to the the site where we were to pull out.

The shores near the bridges and pull out/launch areas are filled with riprap rocks so the footing get tricky as well as the current. I pulled myself to the shoreline and carefully walked feeling each step of the way and got out without incident.

A complete stranger assisted me in pulling the kayak up the ramp. I returned and helped others and saw both of my friends take a splash in the Kickapoo River. Jesse tripped up and went totally under. Kristi had done the same but only went up to her chest.

Somehow their cell phones survived and we all got out safely but we laughed and laughed. We were also nice and cool in the hot and humid air.

In conclusion. The river was a bit crowded at first. However it is one of the most popular places to rent a canoe, kayak, or tube and go down the river. It is scenic. The river is usually very gentle and easy. Buses pick people up and shuttle them back to their cars. 

Yes there were folks being loud and having fun, yes parts were crowded, but it was fun and everyone was friendly. When my friends tipped their canoe, strangers helped them. When their canoe got grounded on rocks a guy walked out and pulled them back into the flow.

Will I go again? OH yeah. In fact I'm trying to figure out how to kayak the less popular stretches. I'm even running images of getting a crappy kayak if I can figure out how to transport it and a bike at the same time.

A new world of exploration has opened up. Charlie needs a doggy life vest....then he could go with!

And I'm sure I'll have more Dunkings in The Kickapoo.

Have you done the Kickapoo? If you haven't, you are missing out!