Paddling the Namekagon

Yesterday a group of five of us paddled the Namekagon River between Fritz's landing and Riverside Landing near Danbury, Wisconsin. The water was high. I drove my car to the take out point and squeezed into another Honda Fit to travel to the put in point. We had two canoes. I was in the bow of the Kevlar canoe with two people. The other canoe was aluminum and had two people in it. The river was high and fast. We expected the 17.5 mile trip to take 3 to 4 hours. We set off from the landing. This was my first trip on the Namekagon. I had heard it can be a dangerous river. Turns out this river, on this stretch, does have rapids but only class one rapids. I was given a fancy schmancy bent wood canoe paddle. I was holding it backwards. Three times I had to be told to turn my paddle around. We set off talking quietly and enjoying the passing scenery. We floated under an eagle nest set in a pine tree. We saw kingfishers flying by. Turtles warmed themselves on fallen logs. The water was reddish in color but not too cold. I was asked to keep a look out for rocks. I pointed out rocks or what I thought were rocks. Sometimes, with the water being so high, we could float right over rocks. Other times the woman who sat in the middle of the canoe on the floor said she could feel that rock. My cousin was in the stern and she is an excellent paddler. Sometimes I would suggest a path through the rapids and she would choose an entirely different path but it always worked out. A group of nymphs must have just hatched because big black dragonflies were everywhere.  Some of the dragon flies had elegant emerald green wings. When they landed on my sleeve I thought I had a most decorous bracelet. We stopped to rest on an island. We shared cookies, grapes and crackers while one person swam and floated around the island. We got back into the canoes and came upon some dangerous rapids. Some of these rapids were scary and some were only exciting. We got hung up on one rock. My cousin in the stern had to step out and move the canoe over the rock and then hop back in. I sat in fear gripping my bent paddle while she did that.  We came to a huge island. Our plan was to take the right side of the island because the left side had a series of rapids that was long and rugged. The right side of the island was calmer and slower and much more relaxing. Eventually we came to the take out point. I was sorry our adventure was over but my back side was glad not to be sitting in the canoe anymore. I drove the driver of the other car and another woman back to the put in point. The road between these two points is mostly gravel. Four wheeled vehicles have torn up that road so bad that there were times I thought I would get stuck in the sand. But we made it through. The other woman and I headed back to the cabin to get supper prepared. Some other women who did not come canoeing had made tomato sauce that was simmering on the stove. They had the pasta pot of water boiling and were in the process of setting the table when we came in. One of the women offered me a glass of Italian red wine. I was having a very good day. Eventually everybody got back. We unloaded the canoes and put the paddles and life jackets away. We sat down to a dinner of salad, polenta, french bread, pasta, tomato sauce, porcini pesto, chicken sausage, and brownies with cherries in the batter. Not every canoe trip I have been on goes this smoothly but this one did and I was grateful.