Lower Wisconsin State Riverway
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Our trip on the Lower Wisconsin State Riverway was originally intended to start in Sauk City, WI which is about 21 miles northwest of Madison, WI. We would travel west on the river 88 miles to the confluence of the Mississippi River, and then 3 miles south on the Mississippi for a pickup in Wyalusing, WI. We estimated the trip would require 5 to 6 days.
We used Wisconsin River Outfitters in Boscobel, WI, who were outstanding to work with. Having arrived before they opened on Wednesday, we had an excellent breakfast at Unique Cafe. After returning to the outfitter, they were already starting up. They quickly had us loaded up in nice clean van with a smart looking canoe in tow for our trip. After an hour and a half, we were in Sauk City, and the canoe was in the water and moving at 11am. Although sunny and hot, it was a beautiful day on the water. Considering the late start, we covered 19 miles by about 4pm. We found a great sandbar about one mile east of the powerlines at Spring Green to setup camp. After an hour or more submerged in water, it was near dusk and time to start dinner. For the first day, we had a couple of steaks with mashed potatoes. To be honest, the steak was in my fridge for a few days prior and didn't come out too well on the pan over a white gas stove. Once the sun dropped, we were looking forward to campfire. However, the mosquitos were quite out of control. After the mosquitos fully ignored the Eucalyptus Oil, we went to the 100% DEET. They were not detoured by either of these. Finally, we elected to retreat to the tent. Because we were expecting a significant thunderstorm that night, we had the rainfly on. Too hot! We took it off and determined to put it back on when it started raining. At 4am, a light rain started. We heard thunderstorms 6 miles away and were pleased the storm passed by us.
Day Two involved us traveling through Spring Green, Lone Rock, and Gotham, about 22 miles. Again, this would be another hot day, but with beautiful traveling along the river. We frequently saw cranes, swallows, and bald eagles. Having started the day earlier, we were able to arrive in camp much earlier, around 3pm. There was a nice drop-off in the sand next to our sandbar where we were able to submerge in the cooler temperatures of the river while the daytime sun was still pretty strong. Our relaxation was aided by a few beers while in the water. We started dinner a little earlier. Chicken alfredo with fettuccine was pretty good and filling after the day. After sunset, we were looking forward to a long evening by a campfire, but the darn mosquitos were again very committed to their objectives. My partner pretty quickly went into the tent, but I braved it by the breeze for a few hours. Once the wind died down, even with the protection of the campfire, I had to also retreat to the tent. This evening was a little cooler that the last, allowing us to have a more comfortable sleep.
Day Three would involve canoeing through Muscoda and Blue River, finishing just east of Boscobel. 19 miles. At this point, every day was hot and required lots of sunscreen. Even with this liberal use of protection, places like the inside of thighs and exposed feet in sandals demonstrated they were missed. The only potable water refill was at Victora Riverside Park in Muscoda. This was a nice break to refill a large amount of water and use a proper restroom. We had lunch there at midday and then resumed our trip. We came across a very large group of teens/young adults around Big Island, who may possess the loudest portable speaker either of us have heard. In addition to multiple canoes, they may have had one or two jet skis. As you may imagine, it was quite a loud party and caused us to detour around it and our desired campsite. My partner found another little alcove a few miles up the river. This spot had a nice back channel running alongside that would become another excellent "spa" for our afternoon. After a few more beers while immersed in the water, we were ready to make dinner. Our third meal was a chicken taco dinner. Refried beans, chicken, vegetables, cheddar cheese, and taco sauce. It was very good. We started the fire a little earlier this night. Although we got a little campfire time together, the mosquitos again descended upon us. DEET and campfire were not enough, and we retired to the tent. While in the tent, we discussed the remainder of our trip. Given the extensive motorized river traffic and barges in the Mississippi River, we agreed to complete our trip within the Wisconsin River.
On Day Four, we called the Wisconsin River Outfitters and discussed getting picked up later in the day. They indicated they could pick us up in Bridgeport at 4pm. I think that was a fortunate adjustment, because as we descended the Wisconsin River, there were fewer and fewer sandbars. Along today's stretch from Boscobel to Bridgeport, we couldn't find any. Any campsite during this stretch would be muddy, grassy, or wooded. It would have certainly involved even more mosquitos. The river flow seemed to pick up a bit too, appearing to be 2.5-2.7 mph. Although we started fast, our calculations concluded we would arrive in Bridgeport well ahead of schedule. While we drifted for an hour, we still arrived at the pickup point at 2:30pm. We had awhile to wait. At 4pm, the outfitter picked us up and returned us to Boscobel. We got loaded up pretty quickly and had dinner at Culver's in Monroe, WI. Finally, we arrived back in Chicago at 11pm.