Last week we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and kayak on the Milwaukee River. I already have 18 ft. sea kayaks which are not really suited for river paddling. So at the end of last year, I decided to get a recreational river kayak – specifically the Old Town “Otter”. So this week was my first time out in it and I fell in love with it! I was amazed at how easy to steer they are – they turn on a dime. For some reason, I felt much more in control in this kayak as compared to the sea kayak.

Old Town "Otter"

The first day out, we paddled from Grafton to Glendale. What is convenient, is that the kayak launch in Glendale is within walking distance from my house. This leg of the river was not new to me as I have traveled it a couple of times before in a canoe. Did see some interesting critters though: a couple of Blue Herons, an enormous snapping turtle, numerous ducks, geese, woodpeckers, etc. – but the highlight of the trip was to see a pair of owls. Now it’s not too often that one gets to see an owl in the middle of the afternoon, not to mention a pair of them! I don’t think they were horned owls as I didn’t notice the horns – barred owls perhaps? It looked pretty close to the one in the photo below – I do recall that it had an especially round head.

Photo courtesy of Crow_Warrior44

The day after, we were back on the river again. This time, heading South towards downtown Milwaukee. I had never paddled this section of the river so it was completely new for me. As we paddled down, a baby fawn stood on the bank of the river and with wide eyes, watched us go by. Bad day to have forgotten the camera! Further down, we were fortunate to come upon a falcon splashing away in the water. I have no idea what kind it was as we couldn’t get close enough but it was definitely a falcon as I’m familiar with its cry. This is why I so love paddling on the river because you never know what sort of critter will turn up.

I much enjoyed the scenery of this new stretch (for me) of the river. What was different was that there were several spots of faster water – semi-rapids if you will, which made the route especially interesting. At the very end of the journey where a dam used to be, the water was considerably faster and rapids-like. As I am not a whitewater kayaker, I was a bit tense upon first encountering it, but the fun far outweighed any nervousness – what a blast! Who knows? I may become a whitewater paddler after all.

Photo by mjmonty

The week on the river reminded me that I need to take more time out from work and just get out and have fun!
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