By David Horst sandhill7@gmail.com
See photos on FlickrCheck on plans for Fox-WIsconsin Heritage Paddle 2013 at www.wisconsinpaddlers.org
With the temperature in the low 70s and the wind just a whisper, kayak and canoe paddlers launched from Lutz Park, passed through all four Appleton locks and landed 6.5 miles later at Kimberly's Sunset Point Park.
I was the member of the Heritage Paddle organizing committee who questioned whether the locks paddle had run its course. People may be thinking, been there, done that. Cars with boats strapped to their roofs started arriving early, and kept coming. In the end, 147 boats took to the Fox River. So much for me having my finger on the pulse of the paddling community.
The perfect weather had drawn them all out. The woman with the pristine wooden boat. The two boys with matching recreational boats. The guy paddling his young daughter and her two stuffed dogs. They all paddled with a smile.
