The Upper Wisconsin River - A Paddling Adventure Part 1

Hey everybody, it's Flower. Welcome back to my channel. Hey, we are about to embark on another adventure, and it's something that I haven't done for a very long time, and that is a paddling adventure. We are going to paddle the Upper Wisconsin River. I've been wanting to do this trip for so long, and it's crazy because I have lived on the Wisconsin River before, and yet I've never paddled from its source, so I don't know what the upper portion looks like. Right now, I am at the border of Michigan and Wisconsin at a place called Lac Vieux-de-Zerre, and that is the source of the Wisconsin River. We are going to paddle the Silver Nider. It's going to be about 35 miles, and we're going to end up just north of the town of Eagle River. This is the beginning of the river right here. Here's the river about 100 yards down from the actual mouth coming out of the lake. There's a parking lot here, and I'm going to put in just on the other side of the road because I can't fit through that culvert. All right, here we go. Well, today is Friday, July 10th, and it's about almost one o'clock in the afternoon. You guys, I have no idea what I'm getting into here because I couldn't find almost anything on the internet about this northern portion of the river. Apparently, this is not the part that anybody paddles, so I know that the first five miles I've heard are narrow and kind of slow, and then after that maybe it picks up, but yeah, this is an adventure. Thanks for coming with me. I'm excited about it. That's our first obstacle. I think we can make it. It'd be kind of incredible to think how something this small and shallow could end up being the Wisconsin River, which is our longest and largest river in the state. It's cool because there's all these grasses along the side of the river, and it just looks so thick. Every once in a while, you see a little tunnel or something, and you know that's where the muskrats and the beavers and the otters all come down to the water. Not so sure I'm going to get around this obstacle. We did it. I made it through that tiny little channel. Well, this dam, though, has all the way across, so I'm gonna have to get out and pull the boat over. And it looks like we're getting out again. Oh, we're out of the boat for the third time. Well, that one was less fun. We got through it, but the bottom looks really sandy, but it isn't. It's all mud, and I was in up to, like, over my knees. I almost lost my shoes. I just ended up taking them off, going barefoot. Yikes, now I'm all paranoid that there's leeches on me. Maybe that's why people don't paddle this portion. Oh, well, it's an adventure, right? Looks like I have a new little friend. Well, it's opened up a little bit more. I can go a little faster. We have not been going very fast, mostly just because of the tight turns. Wow, you guys, that was like the fifth deer I've seen so far. Man, I love it out here. It is so beautiful and wild. You know, I've only been out here for, like, three and a half hours so far, and I've seen five deer, and five bald eagles, and three great blue herons, and, I'm sorry, let's get through the weeds, and a muskrat, and a mink, and ducks, and frogs, and songbirds, and dragonflies. Sorry I'm not getting it all on film for you. I really am trying. They're just faster than I am. There goes a kingfisher right now. Got angry deer on both sides of me. All right, so we've reached highway 45, and it is very noisy. Well, I guess my kayak is the love boat, at least for these ebony jewel wings it is. Making babies on the boat. I'm sorry, mommy duck. I'm not here to hurt your babies. She's trying so hard to get me to follow her. I'm leaving, I'm leaving. Man, I have to get out again. That goes all the way across. Oh, look at this cool little bridge. Oh my goodness, enough with the beaver dams. Actually, I think I can get through this one. Well, guys, you know how I said that I had no idea what I was getting into doing this stretch of river? Yeah, I've been in the water for six hours already, and I kind of thought I'd be at my campsite already, and I am nowhere close. Like, nowhere close. This river has just been such tight corners and so shallow with not very much current. I'm apparently the slowest paddler on the planet or something. I'm getting nowhere fast, and I mean, at least it's a nice evening. Like, I couldn't ask for a better evening to be out on the water, so that's good. But yeah, you have to actually go to a designated campground because it's... I mean, look at the surroundings. You can't just get out anywhere. And also, even if you could, a lot of it's private property. So I might be paddling into the dark. We'll see. Man, just when you get your speed going, you get beached because it is that shallow when you gotta get out and pull the boat. Oh my gosh, you lost it. I've been fighting this river. It's just had so many little riffles, which would be fun if it was just a little deeper because, I mean, if you're bottoming out in a kayak, it's like two inches deep. Clearly, I do not need my life jacket. I just passed a house, and there was a sign in their yard that said, beware, waterfall ahead. I really hope that was a joke. Well, this is our campsite. It's beautiful, and we made it just before dark. Let's go bring the boat up. Well, guys, today was an amazing day. I really enjoy water trails, even though it was a lot harder than I expected. I think I was imagining just sort of an easy float with maybe a little paddling, and that was not the case. I had to do a lot of paddling today simply because there just wasn't really a current. But I think we made it 14 miles in eight hours, which isn't great. But hey, we saw so many beautiful things out there. It was a gorgeous day. I am tired, and I'm gonna eat and go to sleep, and I do hope that you join me for the rest of the journey tomorrow.