Trip report: Saturday 15 April 2023

Today, Monday 17 April 2023, I rolled out of bed at 06:04 and looked out the window. There is a light covering of snow on the lawn. Going down stairs I looked at the dial thermometer on the deck, and it read 28° F. Just two days ago, it was partly sunny and in the eighties.

Friday, Maripat called me and asked if I wanted to paddle Turtle Creek, east of Beloit Wisconsin the next day. After checking with my bride of almost fifty-four years (The anniversary is Wednesday.), I said ‘sure’. At that point in time I was the first to sign on, and Maripat was going to call a few other regulars. We agreed to meet at the take out at Sweet Allen Park in Shopiere as both our vehicles can carry two boats, by transferring one we would start with the boats at the launch and a vehicle at each end and not leaving boats unattended.

Being early in the season, we decided to wear wet suits in case of upset in cold water. From traffic, stop lights, or poor planning, I arrived two minutes late, and found Maripat and Jeff waiting. To simplify car shifting, we moved all three boats to my truck, leaving the other two at the take out. I am the only one with rack space for three sea kayaks.

There was nobody else at the O’Riley Road launch when we arrived, and I parked I a place where my truck would not inconvenience anyone arriving later, and be difficult to block in. While we were preparing to launch, another truck with a fishing boat and three people pulled in. Taking care not to slip on the muddy shore we launched without incident and began our trip.

The water was higher that we usually see on this stretch of the creek, but still in the banks and flowing fairly fast. Other than fishing boat, whose occupants were more efficient than we were in getting on the water we saw one other fishing boat before the lunch stop. We did see the usual amount of birds including many geese, a few Great Blue Herons, unidentified ducks, King Fishers, and many red winged black birds. As to four legged wild life, we saw three deer near the South bank at one point, and at another point a swimming critter that was either a river otter or a juvenile beaver. We did not get close enough for a positive identification, but it was likely a beaver as they are more common there.

Approaching the lunch stop at Route 140, we saw the land teeming with people and kayaks, plus two men standing in the water fishing.. There must have been more than a dozen boats. We hung back a few minutes as there were a couple of boats launching and we wanted to give them plenty of room and thought there would be more places to pull our boats ashore.

Alas, only two launched, so we joined the crowd. As we were finishing eating the others began launching, a few at a time. I finished my lunch, then exceeded my planned calories, totally destroying my diet plans, with Maripat’s delicious brownies. Before we put on our PFDs, one of the ladies in another group took a picture of us with Maripat’s camera.

Successfully launching our boats without getting wet, we soon passed the groups that had launched while we ate though they had launched as much as twenty minutes before us. Sea kayaks are naturally faster than short wide recreational kayaks, and most of those people appeared to be relative beginners. I base this opinion on seeing the way they paddled, and some of them having their paddles upside down.

Within a half hour of launching a head wind rose, dark clouds moved into the sky over us, but there was still blue sky around the clouds. For the next couple hours we experience light rain, heavy rain, more light rain, and Sun shine for intervals of ten to fifteen minutes. The temperature dropped at least ten to fifteen degrees. Before lunch, I was thinking that maybe I would have been happier without my wet suit. That was no longer true.

We landed at the take out without incident, and Jeff drove me back to my truck while Maripat stayed with the boats. Not having to load my boat twice saved time and effort, especially as boats somehow gain weight at the end of the day. 

Overall, it was a good trip, and we had fun. The high water and fast current resulted in a few places where we had to pay attention to our paddling to avoid trouble, but nothing that would be a problem for an advanced beginner.

I have to compliment Maripat on her selection of the day. The mild variations in the weather were just enough to add interest to the trip, and we were never uncomfortable.