Friday I planned a little trip for a nearby river. If the weather was right and was feeling up to it Sunday I would do it.
Sunday came and it was sunny and a bit chilly, in fact when I got up around 6:30 it was 30° and a pretty hard frost was on the ground. I talked with Tracy and I went back and forth should I get some yard work done instead? She convinced me to go for the trip. It is birthday month after all.
So I loaded up the car and we were off by 9:15. (I say we as Tracy was only dropping me off and she would be picking me up later).
The river: Sheboygan. The put in: County Hwy J - just west of Johnsonville Sausage company. The tempuarture at 9:50 AM when we got there 44°. The put in was not your run of the mill easy, next to the river slide in and go. Nope this was a nice 20' grassy steep slope, basically under the County J bridge. I slid my boat down then grabbed my gear and got in, worked a few new things that I had picked up for my camping trip. A spray skirt, and some warmer wet weather clothing. I got all set and then realized I left the batteries to the camera in the car. Tracy scooted down the hill to hand them to me. Then I waited to make sure she could get back up the slippery, wet hill.
Off I went, no more than 10 minutes into the trip, I came around a corner to see cows close to the river. Of course I loudly say "MOOOO". The cows look up, and a few even start walking towards me, who's the goofy guy in the green banana?
This river is a mix of some tree lined banks to open farm fields. Nothing spectacular like the high cliffs of mirror lake. You can tell you are in farm country. Corn, cows, barns, and junk left all along the bank. Old cars, trucks and just 'stuff'
It is interesting because I see more than I might had the trees not lost most of their leaves. But there are still a few trees holding on for a few more days.
The river is mostly flat water. Although it is more riffly than the Milwaukee river. One ro two sections that were 200-300 yards long where you pick up some speed and have some fun but nothing to classify as rapids. When scouting this trip I saw the gauge was higher than average and the flow rate was also much higher than average. I would be hard pressed to do this river in any lower water, It was at times only a foot deep in places. Bumping a few rocks here and there.
The river passes the Sheboygan Airport and a little jet took off an flew overhead. It then tuns south and goes under Highway 23. There is the old Plank Road Trail that runs parallel with Hwy 23. So a foot bridge also passes over the river.
At this point I was about 11 1/2 miles in and could have attempted a take out at the trail rest spot. But I was making good time and decided to push on. As the river continues it starts getting more urban. More houses on the banks, swings, docks. Into Sheboygan Falls there is also a large manufacturing plan for Bemis. It was noisy and smelled of wood pulp. Kind of anti climactic after 13+ miles of, for the most part, quiet river. Not much longer after that I came up to the take out.
When Tracy picked me up it was now 55° and I was not even cold. Pretty happy with the way my clothing worked. 15 miles in one afternoon. Probably too much in such a short time. I was tired the next day and mys arms and shoulders were pretty sore. Its almost 4 miles more than my previous long. I would say 10-12 miles a day is good to go without a break. Good to know future trips.
Would I do this river again? Maybe. it was nothing special, but it was close to home so that makes it a little more easier to like.
Click Here for a Map of my trip
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