Dropping into the turbulence of Big Smokey Falls on the Wolf River. Photo by Mike Svob
PADDLING with Mike Svob
Online 'must reads' for whitewater paddlers
Printed guidebooks like the classic Whitewater, Quietwater or my series of Paddling books are an excellent resource for novice paddlers looking for places to go, for experienced boaters after new destinations, and even for paddlers with intermediate and advanced-intermediate skills (i.e., Class II-III) hooked on whitewater. For the third group, current guidebooks ease the transition into the more challenging (and, of
course, more dangerous) pleasures of such rivers as the Wolf, Peshtigo, Menominee and many others.
According to my experience, the great majority of Midwest canoeists and kayakers come to the paddle sports primarily for the wilderness experience, the camaraderie, the peace and quiet, and in many cases, the eventual exhilaration of testing one's skills by paddling nonlife-threatening whitewater (Class II, maybe even a little noncontinuous Class III here and there).
During the last couple of decades, however, a whole new class of paddlers have come onto the scene a fairly diverse group comprised of play boaters, "hair" paddlers, first descenters, waterfall nuts and others similarly inclined. There have always been such paddlers, of course, but not to the extent made possible by fairly recent developments in boating technology and information dissemination.
For all their diversity, they generally share a high degree of skill and confidence, a passion for whitewater and an abiding desire to push the envelope, sometimes to the point of personal endangerment.
Printed guidebooks provide a welcome entrée for such paddlers, but prove inadequate when they wish to move on to the next level. Guidebooks typically lean toward descriptions of river sections that are
paddleable for a significant part of the year (not just for a couple of weeks in the spring or after a big rainstorm), emphasize day-trips (which are usually mostly flatwater and may or may not include rapids), and, for various reasons, often shy away from including sections that are extremely dangerous.
Thus, guidebooks normally are a very limited source for highly skilled, advanced boaters who want to know
the location of a fantastic park-and-play hole or wave for a few hours of fun, or a relatively short run involving a super-challenging succession of big drops and similar challenges.
Fortunately, there are some terrific sources available for such paddlers in the Midwest. All reflect their relatively recent vintage by being available only on the Internet.
I'm going to introduce readers to three Web sites that are outstanding. In doing so, I hasten to add that all
three make fascinating reading for all types and levels of paddlers. In short, you don't have to be an advanced whitewater addict to derive a lot of pleasure from reading some of the descriptions and enjoying the great photos.
Although there is some overlapping coverage among the three sites, each is unique in style and format, and each includes many paddling locations that are not found in the other two.
Midwest River Inventory
My personal favorite site is Rob Smage's Midwest River Inventory (www.geocities.com/midwestrivers). Rob's "master list" comprises 67 paddling destinations in Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana. But if you play around with the Web site, you'll find information on many other places, including links to other sites. Not only does Smage provide splendid detail in most of his river descriptions (put-ins, take-outs, shuttle routes,
length of runs, level of difficulty, water-level information, warnings about special hazards, etc.), but the writing is usually of good quality, with occasional touches of humor. Many of his descriptions of specific river and creek sections and dam sites (for park and play) are not to be found detailed anywhere else, either in print or online.
A big highlight for me is the wealth of marvelous photographs that enliven the verbal descriptions. Some are
for locations that I've run personally. Check out the description and photos of Sheboygan Falls on the Sheboygan River, for instance.
But many others are for places that I never heard of before or are simply beyond my Class II-III skill level. Such is the case with his description of the Eau Claire Dells (which I've always talked myself out of running), the North Branch of the Pemebonwon River, and the Four Falls section of the North Branch of the Pike, among many others.
The excellent photos and vivid descriptions enable the reader to experience these places vicariously. Moreover, many of Rob's descriptions simply satisfy your curiosity about river sections that you've wondered about. On the Milwaukee River, for instance, I've long speculated about what lies just upstream from the killer dam at Lime Kiln Park, and about the urban portion of the river (Estabrook Park, North Avenue, etc.).
Both are covered in detail and, again, accompanied by terrific photos. Being a safety nut, I appreciate the care that Smage takes in warning his readers about potentially lethal situations (the dams at Lime Kiln Park and Thiensville, for instance).
Paddle guides
An outgrowth of many years of whitewater trips by members of the University of Wisconsin Hoofer Outing Club, this site (www.paddle guides.com/rivers/midwest/index.html) is probably the best starting point for
most whitewater paddlers. Unlike the Midwest River Inventory, it includes all of the classic whitewater destinations in Wisconsin, Michigan and Illinois (such as the Black, Red, Wolf, Peshtigo, Montreal, Sturgeon, Silver, Presque Isle, Vermilion, etc.). There are many lesser known destinations as well, like the Brunsweiler 63 in all.
Mostly written by Tom O'Keefe with contributions by many others, the trip descriptions are relatively
laconic (generally a page or less), and sometimes accompanied by a photo. Many entries are perfunctorily brief (e.g., the Little Wolf, Potato and Tyler), while other, more popular runs provide much more information (e.g., the Peshtigo Roaring Rapids and the Red).
Typically, the format for a section report identifies the trip length, level of difficulty, accesses, shuttle routes, gauge and water-level data, and a description of the nature of the run. Paddle guides provides none of the
hand-holding, step-by-step detail that you find in printed guidebooks, but the essentials are usually there.
Whereas Smage slips in a few mostly flatwater locations in the Midwest River Inventory, Paddle guides is strictly whitewater, ranging from relatively tame runs (Covel Creek in Illinois or the Bois Brule in Wisconsin) to some wild and dangerous stretches (the Sturgeon, Silver and Presque Isle in Michigan).
American Whitewater Association
In some ways, the most promising source of all is provided by the American Whitewater Association (www.americanwhitewater.org/rivers). The descriptions come from a variety of contributors and tend to vary considerably in detail and quality. But there's a ton of valuable information here.
The site currently includes 144 destinations in Wisconsin, 80 in Michigan, 60 in Minnesota, 17 in Illinois and
25 in Indiana. Many descriptions come with an excellent action photos. Check out the great shots of the South Fork of the Flambeau in Wisconsin and Bailey Creek in Illinois, for example.
Descriptions provide the expected information (trip length, level of difficulty, gradient, accesses, etc.). Frequently, there are cross-references and links to other sources such as those described above. There are
many paddling locations listed here that are not included in the Midwest River Inventory and Paddle guides, especially some out of the way, seldom paddled creeks. Because of the incredible coverage of the AWA site, it overlaps somewhat with the other two Internet sources.
Recommendation
By now, you've doubtlessly realized that each of these three Web sites provides something that the other
two do not. Thus they are complementary, and taken together, represent a huge fountain of information on Midwest whitewater paddling. My advice, especially with the winter months approaching, is to call up all three and have a good time playing with them.
Mike Svob is a native Illinoisan and long-time northwoods devotee. He has canoed and kayaked for more than 30 years in 18 states and several foreign countries, but regards Wisconsin as paddling paradise and
home. He now spends a majority of the year in Tucson, Arizona. He is the author of Paddling Illinois, Paddling Northern Wisconsin and Paddling Southern Wisconsin, all published by Trails Books.
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