Erynn and I trekked up to Northern Wisconsin to do some Whitewater Rafting with our friends Joe and Melissa. Erynn found a nice outfit on the Wolf River named Shotgun Eddy that provided the rafts and campsite for us. Even though it was Labor Day weekend, it wasn't too busy and we had a great time.
Joe and Melissa aren't what you'd call the outdoor types, but they were up for some fun. On the way from Chicago, we stopped at K-Mart where Joe did some shopping to pick up some appropriate footwear (the debate was between Prada sneakers or K-Mart aqua-socks). Erynn and I vetoed his idea of wearing his Prada shoes during the rafting trip. I think afterward he was glad we made him buy the cheap ones.
The trip from Chicago took like six hours, but on the way we found Waldo!
As I just mentioned, Joe and Missy were up for the adventure, but they didn't have any of the gear. Aside from K-Mart, Target was our next destination to to outfit them with a tent, sleeping bags, and assorted other gear (i.e. full size air mattress). Once we got to Wisconsin, we set up our campsite right on Shotgun Eddy's site and built ourselves a fire. Joe and Missy's tent is on the left, and ours is on the right.
The next morning we set off for a leisurely morning of paddling down the Wolf River. Here are Joe and Missy setting off for their first-ever rafting trip.
The troops took time to pose before the action started.
The trip we went on was about 5 hours long. There only about 5 rapids, which implies that there was a lot of paddling going on. At the end of the summer without much rain or winter runoff, the current isn't that strong. Here's a picture of Joe and Melissa paddling along nicely.
This was the first falls of the day and you can see Missy hanging on for dear life. I don't blame her since Erynn was launched out of our raft and went over the falls rear end first! Erynn fortunately was okay, but I think our egos were bruised a bit since we'd both been rafting before on numerous occasions.
As you can see, Joe and Missy faired a bit better than Erynn and myself by making it out of the first rapid in one piece. Shaken, not stirred.
Here's Erynn taking a break from the day's activities.
Joe likes rocks.
Near the end of the trip, we went through this amazing gorge with a rpid in the middle. The sides of the gorge were probably 50 feet high.
Here are some more cool photos of the gorge.
I managed to only have one photo of myself taken during the entire trip. Just to prove that I was there, here is the photo (I'll give you one guess who took it).
The final rapids of the day were probably the coolest. It involved crossing the entire width of the river across a small shelf drop followed by the eight foot drop you see above. In the photo you can just about make out Joe and Melissa going over the falls.
We had an amazing time, but I think we were all ready to be done. Here are Joe and Missy at the take out site just after the final rapids.
© 2004 Doug Rathburn