This afternoon, the weather was a mild 72°f (22°c) with a partly cloudy sky. A perfect day to paddle some of the Namekagon River. We loaded the truck with the kayaks and gear, packed a small snack and took off. We dropped Nancy's car off at the Cable Wayside Landing, then returned to the Cap Creek Landing, just a mile or so from home, and put in.
It's 5.9 miles of river, and most of it was pretty good. The water level is very low, we haven't had any decent amount of rain in a long time. In parts of the river, the depth can vary between a few inches and a few feet. The rocks that are normally under water and make for a fun ride down gentle rapids, were exposed and ready to bounce us around.
We took a short snack stop at the Phillipi Landing.
Then it was back into the river. The last 2.4 miles were pretty bad. There were more than 25 times where I had to break my paddle in half and use both short halves like cross country ski poles to push my self through shallow spots and free myself from the rocks. Talk about an upper body workout!
We were on the river for just about 4 hours. It was pretty slow going with such low water levels.
A few pictures from today.
Large patches of Forget-me-nots.
Low bridge..
Interesting green life on the end of an old piling...
I know there's a name for this, but it escapes me....
Even with low water levels, a day on the river is better than a day at home!
