Rich C. from PaddleAway.com and our Float Your Boat Meetup group sent out an email this past Wednesday about the Prairie Coast Paddlers season opener on the Kishwaukee River. The event was Saturday, April 26th.
What a beautiful river. This stretch of river will be on my list of favorites. Because it’s a bit of a drive, I’ll have to plan other things around any paddle trips or I’ll really need to paddle it bad. It’s an hour and a half drive – that’s the down side. The other down side (just for that day) – it was WINDY AS HELL! I think upwards of 35 MPH. Rachael had the CRV, so I was transporting my kayak on our Civic, upside down, flat on our rack load bars. Straps across the hull on each bar and bow and stern lines tied down at each end. The trip there was not so bad, on the way back, though….man. Heading south on I-39, with wind coming from the west, my kayak was twisting and jerking all around the top of the car. I envisioned several times the kayak just snapping in half and flying onto the highway, causing a bad accident. It was a little tense. I stopped once to make sure things were all in place, battened down the hatches, etc. Once I got to I-88 Eastbound, it was a tailwind and it was nice and quiet…no trouble at all. There’s really no lesson here, except perhaps check the wind conditions before you head out.
We met at 9:00am at Baumann Park in Cherry Valley. It was chilly and the water was pretty fast. There was rain the a night or two before and the stretch of river along the park had a large downed tree crossing about 1/2 the river. We had plenty of room, though.
We caravanned to the takeout at Atwood Outdoor Education Center at New Milford. Twelve of us in a crew cab or in the truck bed with a shell. Seemed that Dan of the PCP was playing ‘coyote’ (a term identifying a smuggler of Mexican Nationals to the US).
Back at the launch, we were dropped at the latrine for a last chance and we walked the 100 yards to the put in. We noticed a bus with many high school kids and a ton of canoes on the grass behind our kayaks. An ‘instructor’ was giving some very loose instruction on paddling. I think some PCP paddlers were imagining they would be doing a rescue somewhere along the way. It took us awhile to launch 12 boats, but once we were all in, the fun began.
We didn’t really see much wildlife. It was probably too windy and the water too high. The sun was out and it was a pretty day, though. We stopped for lunch at Kishwaukee River Forest Preserve along the way. Nice shelters, canoe access and a latrine.
The nice stretch of river just downstream was only marred by the I-39 overpass. It was interesting to see the very tall pillars but would have been much better without them.
I would opt to do this trip later in Spring. The trees are just budding, so there is a light green tint to the otherwise bare branches. The weather was okay, but not ideal. The wind was the worse but the temp was fine. I can imagine the trip on a warm, early summer day, with the trees full and green, wildlife swimming and flying all around, and the water running a little slower.
I’m just a casual paddler. No need for speed.
Well the wind was pretty bad on this trip and I took an unplanned swim
. Regardless, the Kish is still one of my favorites.
As you suggest, we’ll definitely have to paddle it again later this year, should only get better.
Another good starting point is the Distillery Rd. put-in. This stretch has a somewhat wild feeling to it.
Paddle On!
I wasn’t going to mention your swims.