Great River Rumble Explores Wisconsin, Mississippi Rivers

Editor's note: Five Northwest Arkansans were among the paddlers on the 2014 Great River Rumble canoe and kayak trip that covered 111 miles on the Wisconsin and Mississippi rivers. The trip began July 27 at Prairie du Sac, Wis., on the Wisconsin River and ended Aug. 2 in Guttenberg, Iowa on the Mississippi. Flip Putthoff, outdoors editor, was among 150 paddlers on the trip. Here are excerpts from a journal he kept along the way.

Eve of departure: Sitting here by my tent enjoying a nice view of the Wisconsin River. We're camped at the VFW Park in Prairie du Sac, in central Wisconsin, about 90 miles upstream from the Mississippi River.

Great River Rumble

The Great River Rumble canoe and kayak trip heads down the upper Mississippi River or a tributary for a week each summer.

Here’s how the trip works. Paddlers meet at the take-out town, then board buses for the shuttle upstream to the start point of the trip. A large trailer provided by Wenonah canoe in Winona, Minn., transports boats to the start point.

Paddlers tent camp, usually in city parks, in the overnight towns. All arrangements are made by Great River Rumble volunteers far in advance. Meals are catered in and are available for purchase, or paddlers eat at restaurants in town.

All baggage is transported in rental trucks to the next overnight town my more volunteers. Paddlers only carry in their boats what they need for the day, such as sunscreen, water and lunch.

2014 Itinerary

July 27: Prairie du Sac, Wis., to Spring Green, Wis., 26 miles.

July 28: Spring Green to Lone Rock, 9 miles.

July 29: Lone Rock to Muscoda, 13 miles.

July 30: Muscoda to Boscobel, 16 miles.

July 31: Boscobel to Wauzeka, 13 miles

Aug. 1: Wauzeka To Wyalusing, 22 miles.

Aug. 2: Wyalusing to Guttenberg, Iowa, 13 miles.

Information: www.riverrumble.org.

Our group is big this year with 150 paddlers registered for the week and more coming for part of the trip. We'll start here tomorrow and end on Saturday at Guttenberg, Iowa, on the Mississippi River.

The river looks really nice. About as wide as the Arkansas River, but shallow with lots of sandbars for breaks and lunch stops. We're having our orientation and safety meeting in a bit, then it's off to bed for me. We have a long day tomorrow, about 26 miles to Spring Green, Wis. It will be the longest day of our trip.

We had a relaxing charter bus ride here from Guttenberg, where we all met and left our cars. The Wenonah canoe company brought their giant trailer that can haul more than 100 canoes and kayaks. It's quite a sight. Four smaller trailers also hauled some boats. Our flotilla is about 90 percent kayaks and 10 percent canoes.

Safety is No. 1 on the rumble. Everyone wears a life jacket and we travel as a group. There's a lead boat and a sweep boat and everyone stays between the two. We're all eager to get started. Can't wait for tomorrow.

Day 1: Got a nice early start on the water at 7:45 a.m., all 150 of us, for a beautiful, long day. We covered 26.2 miles, so you could say it was a marathon paddling day in more ways than one.

The mileage was long and we had big-time headwind. A sustained westerly gale of 15-20 mph with hat-flipping gusts to 30 mph. We put our backs into it and just got it done. The Wisconsin River was a froth of whitecaps all afternoon.

The incredible leaders of the Great River Rumble had the foresight to have some vehicles and canoe trailers at the half-way point in case anyone wanted to bail out. Several took advantage of this. These headwinds were some of the fiercest ever on the rumble.

Now we're at a nice private campground in Spring Green, Wis. There's a swimming pool and hot showers. More people are arriving to join the trip.

Day 2: A peach of a day. Gorgeous weather and an easy 9-mile paddle from Spring Green to Lone Rock, Wis. We paddled a mile up a tributary to reach our camp at the city park in Lone Rock. Everyone was ready for an easy day.

We have our two "rumble showers" up and going today. These home-built showers hook up to the nearest cold-water spigot. No hot, and no enclosure. You just hop in, become one with your goose bumps and soap down in your swim suit.

Our sandbar breaks are fun. We play Frisbee or football. One guy in the group keeps a stunt kite and some boomerangs in his kayak. We stop, play and swim.

The weather is perfect. It's cool enough at night that long pants and a jacket feel good. No wonder so many folks head north for the summer.

Got into camp early and it's been a nice relaxing afternoon. Lots of time to visit and get camp chores done. The main event tonight was a softball game. A team from Lone Rock challenged us to a game. About 15 rumblers stepped up to the plate to form our mighty team. We stayed with 'em for a couple innings. Not so pretty after that. Everyone enjoyed playing or cheering for our team.

More Than The River

Day 3: So it's easy to see that part of the Great River Rumble is on the river and another is the fun and frivolity when we get off the water. All our gear is hauled to camp in two rental trucks and laid out on the ground when we arrive. People find their little piece of real estate, set up their tents and feather their nest for the night. Then there's socializing, reading or exploring the town.

The Great River Rumble wouldn't happen without the hard-working land crew volunteers who drive the trucks and vehicles with trailers from town to town.

Today we're in Muscoda, Wis., (pronounce musk-o-day) at a spacious and beautiful city park. Lots of big trees and shade. A local winery is shuttling anybody who wants to visit their winery. Platoons of paddlers hopped on the bus and returned with bottles of local wine they enjoyed at dinner this evening.

We eat like royalty. Consider tonight's menu: Barbecue chicken and ribs, coleslaw, potatoes, corn on the cob and dessert. Cost $13.

Breakfast is available each morning. Tomorrow's fare is pancakes, scrambled eggs, sausage, hash browns, rolls, donuts, coffee and juice for $6.

Mostly community organizations serve our meals as a fundraiser. Occasionally we eat at restaurants in town.

Day 4: A gorgeous 16-mile paddle today. The Wisconsin countryside is strikingly similar to the Ozarks with a rolling, wooded landscape. The river is really wide now. We're more than halfway through the trip.

Our group does lots of good deeds during the week. We always leave a park cleaner than when we arrived. Our gang is always picking up litter.

This week three in our group rescued two canoe paddlers who were in trouble. They'd bit off more distance than they could handle. Our bunch got them to an access where their outfitter could come and pick them up.

Tonight we're at another lovely park in Boscobel, Wis. "Wild Turkey Hunting Capital of Wisconsin," so says the sign at the edge of town. We're near downtown, and all amenities are close for any resupply needs. We'll have dinner in the town's restaurants or taverns tonight.

It's nice to see some young folks on the trip this year. By young we mean people under 40. About five teenagers are in our flotilla.

It's also good to have more Arkansans along. Wendell and Carol Weed of Bella Vista are here, along with their friends Cliff and Candy Black of Tontitown. They're proudly sporting Razorback shirts and caps as they paddle their canoes.

People come to the trip from across the United States, sometimes other countries. We've had paddlers whose native tongue is French, Russian or Italian, but the common language of the Great River Rumble is laughter.

Day 5: We're seeing tons of bald eagles. It's like a bald eagle escort every morning as we start downriver. This is the Lower Wisconsin State Riverway and there is little development. It's quiet and scenic.

We just arrived in tiny Wauzeka, Wis., pop. 711. Talk about hospitality. The Lions club had free ice water and watermelon for us when we arrived. The smaller the town, the bigger the welcome.

Volunteers make the arrangements for our overnight stays. Once the route is determined, rumblers volunteer to take one or more of our stops. They make contacts during winter and meet with the mayor, parks director and anyone else necessary to make it happen. They hire a caterer if needed, arrange for trash pickup and porta-pots.

Everyone who helps out on the trip is a volunteer. No one is paid. When we stop for the day, we all help each other get boats out of the water and carried where they need to go.

On The Mississippi

Day 6: Like a band of voyageurs, we reached the Mississippi today.

The mood of the river changed in a few paddle strokes. We left the quiet Wisconsin River and entered the busier Mississippi with its cabin cruisers, runabouts and Jet Skis.

The upper Mississippi is beautiful with clear water, golden bluffs and wooded hills. We paddled a couple miles down the Mississippi, then traveled up a slough to Wyalusing State Park on the Wisconsin side of the river. Iowa is on the far bank.

The Great River is a wondrous network of side channels, backwaters and islands, plus the main channel where the barges and big boats go.

A little pack of rumblers built a fine campfire and we had a fun music jam and singing. Our dinner tonight was a catered Friday night fish fry, a Wisconsin tradition even when it isn't Lent.

Our last night in camp brings mixed emotion. Sad that our trip is nearly through, but what a week it's been, and it will be nice to get home.

Day 7: We all locked through together at Lock & Dam No. 10 at Guttenberg, Iowa. There's nothing to it. The lockmaster opens the upstream gate and 150 canoes and kayaks paddle into the lock. The gate closes. The water drops about 8 feet, so slowly we barely notice. The downstream gate opens and we paddle out the other side.

Our take-out awaits at the Guttenberg boat ramp 300 yards downstream. But hark. We hear a call of distress from a dainty female voice.

"Get the bleep out the way! There's a bleeping snake in my boat!"

The flotilla parted like the Red Sea. Our gal paddled like crazy for the ramp with a garter snake slithering over her legs and ankles all the way. She hit land and flew out of that kayak like a bottle rocket. Two good old boys got hold of the snake and tossed it toward the river.

She had fun telling the story that night at our farewell banquet. We put on nice clothes. Women wear makeup. Men shave.

River hats and sunglasses will be the fashion statement next summer when the Great River Rumble heads downstream on another adventure.

Outdoors on 08/14/2014

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