Last night reminded me that common sense is not all that common. I was with six other kayakers on one of our regular Tuesday evening whitewater runs on the Red River near Gresham, Wisconsin. It was around 7 p.m. We had just finished running the most technical feature, Monastery Falls […]
Tag: kayaking
Chambers Island: A sea kayaker’s day trip
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 […]
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 […]
Newport Beach surfing
We visited relatives in Southern California over the weekend and stopped by Newport Beach to check out the surfing action. There were a “few” surfers on the water Saturday morning.
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 […]
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.
Three Great Days of Boating in Mid-December
Editor’s note: Rob Smage is an accomplished Midwest whitewater paddler and author of many river reports on the American Whitewater website. He was also one of my mentors during my early ventures into whitewater kayaking. The following guest blog post came my way today via Tony Cantania, a fellow protégé […]