I have been told I have the magic touch when it comes to choosing dates for kayaking across the bay of Green Bay. (To be clear, I’m talking about calendar dates.) Last year our “Paddle Across the Bay” group journeyed from the northern mainland tip of Door County to Washington […]
Category: kayaking
Kayak trip leaders learn the ropes
Fellow level 4 kayak instructor Bill Merrick and I spent two days this week at Gardner Dam Boy Scout Camp helping six kayakers attain their ACA level 1 kayak instructor certification. The candidates are preparing for their summer jobs as guides for kayak camping trips in the Apostle Islands and […]
Black River Narrows Trip Report
By guest blogger John Hart The temperature dipped little by little, hour by hour as I drew closer to the shore of Lake Superior in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. With every drop in temperature my excitement ticked up a notch, knowing I was getting closer to the start of an amazing […]
Another Go at the Peshtigo
If you love rivers you need to experience the Peshtigo. My first experience was some 10 years ago in a two-person raft my wife and I rented at Kosir’s Rapid Rafts, the oldest whitewater outfitter in Wisconsin. We returned to the Peshtigo this past Saturday for another go — Mary […]
A Sticky Situation at the Monastery
Monastery Falls (also known as Novitiate) on Wisconsin’s Red River cascades ten feet in elevation over a distance of 200 feet. The second drop can sometimes be sticky. Some say sucky. Before launching last evening with the Tuesday evening regulars from NEWP, I handed my video camera to Angela to […]
Lester River Race
For the past three years I’ve wanted to be in Duluth, MN during the annual whitewater race on the Lester River. I’ve seen photos and videos of expert kayakers negotiating the class IV and V features of this challenging river, and it looked like there were good observation points for […]
Prairie Paddling: Whitewater Comes to Iowa
When it comes to having an eye on the future, three towns in Iowa have their stuff together. Charles City, Manchester and Elkader each have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars to create whitewater parks. For someone who spent his first 30 years in Iowa, this is an amazing development […]
Try prescription-strength Nature
A good message for bug- and snake-haters and other lovers of the indoors. Link to video Link to video 2
Indoor Kayak Training
Now that rivers are icing up in the Upper Midwest, it may finally be time to declare the end of the 2015 late-fall, early-winter whitewater paddling season. Some hardy sea kayakers will still be at it wherever they can find open water. While most kayakers wait for warmer weather, pool […]
December Beatdown on Lake Michigan
A cold, rainy day in late December but rare open water for this time of year on Lake Michigan. Fellow paddlers in the video: Dan O’Connor and Peter O’Malley.