Editor's note: The 21st annual Great River Rumble canoe and kayak trip explored the Chippewa River in Wisconsin and the upper Mississippi River July 30-Aug. 6 and covered about 100 miles. The trip started on the Chippewa at Eau Claire, Wis., and ended at Winona, Minn., on the Mississippi. Flip Putthoff, Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette outdoors reporter, was among the 175 paddlers on the trip. Here are excerpts from a journal he kept during the week.
Night before departure, July 29
Great River Rumble 2016
The Great River Rumble covered 100 miles on the Chippewa and Mississippi rivers in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Here is the itinerary:
Eau Claire, Wis., to Caryville boat landing, 13 miles
Caryville to Meridean boat landing, 10 miles
Meridean to Durand, 19 miles
Durand to Wabasha, Minn., 21 miles
Wabasha to Great River Harbor, Wis., 13 miles
Great River Harbor to Fountain City, 15 miles
Fountain City to Winona, Minn., 9 miles
Information: www.riverrumble.org.
We're camped at a beautiful city park here in Eau Claire, population 65,000, ready to start another Great River Rumble trip in the morning. The Chippewa River is beautiful here. About 75 yards wide with clear, inviting water. The current moves right along.
The rumble is a weeklong river trip like no other. It usually starts on a tributary of the Mississippi in the upper Midwest and most always ends at a town on the Mississippi. Paddlers hail from across the United States, but most come from Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois.
There's a little southern in the mix of accents this year, with paddlers from Kentucky and Tennessee on the trip. I'm the lone Arkansan. This is my 10th trip with the Great River Rumble.
So where do 175 people spend the night on a river trip? Most nights we stay in a town's riverfront park, a state park or public boat landing. We sleep in our tents each night, but it's not really camping. We don't make fires or cook. If we're at a riverfront park, paddlers dine at the restaurants and taverns in town. If we're out in the boons at a state park or landing, breakfast and dinner are catered.
All our camping and personal gear is shuttled to the next overnight town in two rental trucks, kind of like a big paddling show moving downriver. We only carry in our boats what we need for the day, like lunch, cold drinks and a magnum-sized water gun for the skin-soaking water fights that break out on hot afternoons.
Trip arrangements are made months in advance by volunteers in charge of each night's stop. Everyone who helps out on the rumble is a volunteer. No one is paid. A volunteer road crew moves this traveling show to the next overnight town each day while we enjoy the river.
It's a trip anyone can join. Check the Great River Rumble website for details.
It's late, the Chippewa is lovely in the moonlight. I'm eager to get started in the morning.
July 30: We're off and paddling down the amazing Chippewa River, on water that's cool, clear and the color of weak tea. We passed under the bridges and buildings of downtown Eau Claire and into the wild. Much of the Chippewa shoreline is a wildlife management area with no development.
Perfect weather, upper 70s with low humidity. Bald eagles are everywhere and seem to escort our flotilla downstream. Long sandbars make great stops for our breaks, and for a little Frisbee or football tossing.
Only traveled 13 miles today. Our paddling was done about 1:30 p.m., We're camped at a boat landing with big shade trees, nicely manicured grass, but no running water. No problem. The road volunteers trucked in cases of bottled water, more than we could ever need. A swim in the cool river is refreshing in lieu of a shower.
Catered dinner tonight of brats with sauerkraut, seven-layer salad, cheesy potatoes (hey, this is Wisconsin), and watermelon.
Aug. 1: An easy 10-mile day. We'll take it, since there are long days ahead of 20 or more miles. We're seeing a little timber in the water now and three people flipped their boats today. No harm done with everyone wearing a life jacket zipped and buckled. Just a refreshing unexpected dip.
Got into camp about 1 p.m., at a boat landing along a public bike trail. Sort of linear camping at this stop. Again, no running water, but plenty of bottled water.
The rumble becomes a small tent city each night. I'm camped under a shady cottonwood tree at the edge of a big soybean field, out in the back 40 away from the main camp.
There are some fine musicians on the trip and music jams break out most evenings. Harmonica Bill, a retired firefighter from Iowa, really adds some zing to the playing and singing of everything from blues to bluegrass. Now and then a shy rumbler will get up to sing. It's a party everybody seems to enjoy, relaxing in their camp chairs at sunset.
Another catered dinner tonight. Roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, creamy salad, rolls and fruit. We eat like royalty on the rumble.
Aug. 2: Sunrise over the soybean field was beautiful, then it was back on the river for the paddle to Durand, Wis., our first overnight stop in a town. The Chippewa's flow moved us right along on this 19- mile day.
After two nights in the boons, we're in a hot bed of civilization. Everything is close to the Durand city park where we're camped smack in the middle of town. There are hot showers or a cool dip waiting at the city pool. Stores are nearby with anything we need.
This being Wisconsin, there are about six taverns downtown all offering cold drinks and sumptuous dinner fare. There's a guy singing like Elvis at one of the taverns, and he's darned good. The band invited some of our rumble musicians into the group to jam.
Festive as the night is, nearly everyone is in bed by 10. We're an early rising bunch, getting up at 5:30 or 6 a.m., to pack up, get our gear on the truck and our boats ready for the water by 8-ish.
On the river, the trip moves along at a brisk pace to cover the daily miles. Fun and safety tie for top priority. We travel as a group, with a lead boat and a sweep boat that brings up the rear. Everyone stays between the lead and sweep. The flotilla is 80 percent kayaks and 20 percent canoes. Most kayaks are speedy, touring-class models. Most canoes are lightweight Kevlar.
Aug. 3: We reached the Great River, the Mississippi, about noon today. We were warned that today would be the hottest day of the trip, really hot. Could hit 90 degrees. Hardee-har-har. That's a spring day in Arkansas. It has been a joy to bask in these cool northern temps.
A 21-mile day today, longest of the trip, ending at the spacious riverfront park in Wabasha, Minn. Everyone did fine, including the half dozen in our group who are over 80. The oldest is 86. Most Great River Rumble paddlers are middle age to senior citizens. Always good to see young faces on the trip when paddlers bring their kids or grandkids. Minimum age to come on the trip is 14.
The mood of the river is way different on the Mississippi. More power boat traffic, with an occasional tug and barges moving goods upstream or down. Towboats, they're called, even though they push the barges. They don't pull them.
A myth is that these mighty towboats put out a wake big enough to flip a houseboat. Not so. The wash from these gargantuan rigs is minimal. Cabin cruisers make bigger wakes.
We locked through our first lock and dam today. It's a much anticipated event for first-time rumblers. All of us paddle into the open gates of the lock. When we're inside, gates close and the water drops slowly, anywhere from 4 to 8 feet, in about 15 minutes. Big steel gates on the other side open, and we paddle out the lock's other side.
Aug. 4-6. An overcast dawn Thursday turned into a stormy morning. Clouds black as ink drifted low over the Mississippi and eventually caught us. Rain pelted us hard with some lightning. We pulled off to wait out the storm near our second lock and dam. We would have had to wait anyway because a towboat was in the lock. The lockmaster radioed our trip leaders it would be at least an hour until we could lock through.
More rain and thunder in the afternoon and we waited out another storm for 90 minutes. The safety of all is the top priority for the rumble leaders. Everyone was glad to get to our camp at Great River Harbor, on the Wisconsin side of the Mississippi.
Mother Nature saved her wet finale for our arrival. Just as the last boats landed, the deluge hit with washtubs of rain and a tree-bending gale. Our camp area was a quagmire. Dry ground eventually emerged and we all made the best of it.
The reward for a day of stormy adversity was beautiful weather the rest of the trip. Skies cleared and wind shifted from the north for a nice tailwind into Fountain City, Wis., for our last night of camping, then on to Winona on Saturday to finish the trip.
An evening farewell banquet in our ending town is a nice tradition and great way to end the week. Guys shave and put on clean clothes. The gals look pretty in their makeup and nice outfits.
Then it's head home on Sunday, about 11 hours from Winona back to Northwest Arkansas. Time passes with good tunes on the radio and fond memories of another Great River Rumble.
Flip Putthoff can be reached at fputthoff@nwadg.com or on Twitter @NWAFlip
Sports on 08/30/2016