Season's first paddle had some on, some in the Waupaca River

The Waupaca River delivers one more class 1 rapids at the end.

By David Horst
sandhill7@gmail.com 

It has to be said. We got some people wet.

The kickoff to the North East Wisconsin Paddlers 2018 Public Paddle series on May 5 was a little more challenging than our usual afternoon outings on a lazy river.

We opened the season with a segment of the Waupaca River from County Q to Brainard's Bridge Park, just upstream of the City of Waupaca. It includes a few sections classified as class 1 rapids, the lowest category in the whitewater rating scale.

Ken plays in the segment's final rapids

The pre-trip description on our website (www.wisconsinpaddlers.org) warned that this trip was not for novices. As a result, our count was held down to 23 participants -- both when we launched and when we took out. We encouraged people to leave the bent wood and Kevlar kayaks at home and dig up the old plastic beater instead. It was good advice.

My trusty old Perception Carolina took a hard smack from rocks on both sides. The acrylic-covered plastic that it's made of absorbed the punishment without damage. I also got hung up on a rock at one point and trapped by a downed tree at another. But I stayed dry.

Back to back

Coming soon: Another story in Wisconsin Natural Resources Magazine.

This one tells the story of Howard Greene's journals of canoe trips

taken in the early 1900s with "The Gang."