Stateline Paddlers

In the Stateline Paddlers brochure, and on the calendar of the Website, I have a Pecatonica River trip posted.  I am changing that trip to Saturday 13 July (1 day sooner). Also because of bad river conditions the put in will be at Damascas and take out at Tutty’s Crossing in Freeport.

Damascas Landing is where the Pecatonica cross Cedarville RD.

Tutty’s Crossing is in Freeport where the Pecatonica cross E Stephenson St (or route 75). Lunch stop will be somewhere along the way.

We will meet at Damascas Landing on Cedarville Rd. with a car shift at 10:00 so get there 15 minutes early to remove your boat.

The usual rules apply including but not limited to:

Participants provide their own suitable canoe or kayak, paddle(s), PFD/approved life jackets, and wear PFD on water

Minors must be accompanied by responsible adult

Adults must sign in , on waiver sheet

Hydration/drinking water BYO,

Lunch BYO

Dump bag – Dry bag w/change of clothing

Contact: This list, e-mail to hereagain@grics.net,  or my cell phone (815)441-2021

Harry T. (Tom) Meyen

Members of Stateline paddlers and guests welcome

Members of Prairie State Canoeists and guests welcome Members of Mad City Paddlers and guests are welcome

Trip Report, 25 May 2019, Rock River

Expecting early morning rain, I left home at 08:20 in sun shine with scattered clouds.  As I drove the clouds filled in, and light rain began falling as I passed Castle Rock State Park. 

It began raining hard as I waited for others to show at East Park in Oregon.  It was raining as if the sky was falling when Jeff arrived and parked next to me.  I got noticeably wet moving five feet from my left door to his right door.  Lars was next, and parked in an open spot several places past my truck farther from Jeff’s vehicle. Dick was last to arrive, and parked to the left of Jeff, and joined us in the SUV.  I called Lars’ cell, and he joined us during a let up in the rain. 

From Radar maps on a smart phone we determined that the rain would pass us in just under an hour, and there were no more storms to the west.  After a few false breaks in the rain it stopped about 10:00 and we unloaded the boats and gear.  Jeff, Lars, and I drove to Lowell park, and left My truck and Jeff’s SUV as those were the vehicles with racks for extra boats.

The water was high, and we launched in an area that is dry land with normal water, and was out of the current.  A brisk West wind still make launching difficult enough that I would have had trouble in those conditions when I started paddling  about a decade ago.

Entering the current, I angled a bit up stream, and when the current caught the bow, the boat turned sharply down stream, and I had a good line toward the bridge.  The channel is narrow there, and paddling just fast enough to steer, I saw a maximum recorded speed over seven miles per hour.

Going down stream past the first islands, we saw a group of American White Pelicans to the right of our course.  We turned toward them, and they moved a few meters to the North as we passed south of them. There were between fifty and sixty bird in that flock.

With the high fast water, there were eddies and cross currents in areas that are very un-challenging with normal water, but we continued moving rather fast with minimum paddling.  For our lunch stop at Castle Rock, we landed about half way up the normally dry portion of the boat launch ramp.  The ramp was closed, and the access drive barricaded so we left the boats there since no one else was using the ramp.

We saw the eagle nest on the island just before we reached the big open area above the camping island. There was an adult bald eagle perched on the edge of the nest on the upstream side.  Most of the wild life we saw were birds, eagles, pelicans, vultures, herons, Eastern King Birds, and other small birds I did not get close enough to identify.   Jeff and I saw a few medium size turtles at one place when Lars and Dick were a bit ahead of us.

We saw no, zero, motor boats on the river while we were paddling. 

In spite of a late start and a leisurely lunch, we landed at Lowell park at 16:20 averaging just over five miles per hour for the trip.  By the last half of the trip, the sun was out, and it was warm enough that I would have been more comfortable if I had taken my nylon spray skirt instead of the neoprene one.  I also got a slight sun burn on my arms.

After returning to Oregon and transferring Dick’s and Lars’ boats and gear to their own vehicles, we stopped at Dairy Queen, and I replaced all the calories I burned on the river. 

It was a good trip after the early weather delay.

See you on the river,Tom aka Harry

TRIP CANCELLED FOR BAD WEATHER….

Stateline Paddlers trip on Turtle Creek ** Sunday, 4 November  2018 **  Car shift will be at 10:00, plan to be there 09:30 to 09:45 to unload.  The trip is about 11 miles. 

The launch is at on O’Riley Road about 400 meters (1/4 mile) east of the bridge in a small forests preserve on the north side of the creek.  Take out will be in Sweet Allyn Park on Highway “J” east  of Beloit.

 If you need directions to the launch, Take I-39 North to I-43, get off at Rt 140 go north about 1/2 mile to Townline Rd., then East about 4 miles to O’Riley Rd and turn North.  The road turns right after the bridge, and the launch is at the curve in the road. The O’Riley Rd. sign was missing last time I was there.  If you see a dead end sign just passed a road that only goes left, you are at O”Riley Rd.

The usual rules apply including but not limited to:

Participants provide their own suitable canoe or kayak, paddle(s), PFD/approved life jackets, and wear PFD on water

Minors must be accompanied by responsible adult

Adults must sign in , on waiver sheet

Hydration/drinking water BYO,

Lunch BYO

Dump bag – Dry bag w/change of clothing

Contact: The e-mail list, e-mail to hereagain@grics.net,  Stateline FB Page, or my cell phone (815)441-2021 

Harry T. (Tom) Meyen

Members of Stateline paddlers and guests welcome

Members of Prairie State Canoeists and guests welcome

Members of Mad City Paddlers and guests are welcome

Saturday, 9/22/2018 is the Pecatonica River East Branch paddle. Put in is at County Road H boat launch in Blanchardville,Wisconsin and the take out is off WI 78 in Argyle, Wisconsin. 
The picturesque paddle goes through prairies, Oak savannas, lowland forests with notable out croppings along the way. 
Expect to see bald Eagles, great blue herons, kingfishers, turtles, frogs, Hawks, cattle and pigs.
The trip is around 16 miles so we need to plan on about 6 hours unless the current us really flowing. Which after our rains this week hopefully so. 
Plan on lunch and bring snacks to share. 
We will have the shuttle at 10 AM. 
Usual rules apply but this should be a beautiful day out on the river. 
Text Kevin Seuring at 779-770-8536 to secure your spot. I will be leaving Rockford around 8:15 if anyone would like to follow me up.

We will meet at Yale Bridge on Saturday, July 21, 2018 at about 9:07 AM. The canoe launch is north of Sugar River Forest Preserve as shown in the map below. We will shuttle at 9:37 and try to be on the water 10ish.
The lower Sugar River is a winding river for moderate paddlers. It is usually a somewhat slower current however it is at higher water levels it can be stronger. It is has a sand bottom with some tree dams to go around. The section of the sugar we will run is from Yale Bridge Road to Two Rivers Forest Preserve. The trip will be all down river except for the last 1500 feet going upstream on the Pecatonica River to the take out in Two Rivers Forest Preserve. Bring a lunch or snack as we will be stopping on a sand bar along way if we can find one. I will go over a few pointers about paddling on a river just before we put in for the beginners if we have any.
The short trip will be 7.6 miles or about 3.5 hours weather permitting of course. Jeff Reuter will be hosting this paddle for more info call me on my cell at 815-494-8502. Here is a map of where we will be.
The usual rules apply including but not limited to: Participants provide their own suitable canoe or kayak, paddle(s), PFD/approved life jackets, and wear PFD on water Minors must be accompanied by responsible adult Adults must sign in on waiver sheet Hydration/drinking water BYO Lunch, BYO Dump bag – Dry bag w/change of clothing
Members of Stateline paddlers and guests welcome
Members of Prairie State Canoeists and guests welcome
I will also attach a map below