Upper I-O-Wanna Canoe/Kayak Trip, June 3 -5

“....or a raft of logs like ol' Huck Finn?”

“Hey, didn't I send you a note asking when you were arriving? tsk, tsk, stovey not answering his e-mails. LOL - lizs

Yeah, I got it but I figured you were just being nosy. ;-)
I have not read the trip page details yet, been busy as a cat herder.
We will show up Friday or Saturday morning.
We will rent a car at the airport so no one will need to pick us up.”

“How does on herd cats?”

“NOSEY??? ME?? NOSEY???? phhht!

lol....

Just thought I could maybe offer helpful advice on getting around...... but NO... NOSEY, I mean.”

“OK, looking like this:

Campground Friday night (you guys going will get details. BUT... we are on a bluff... by a volleyball court and big campfire -- which is a change from earlier plans and VERY COOL!!! )....
$15 each for non-electric tent sites

Canoe/kayak rental from Randy's at Bluffton...
$20/day... so $40.

Shuttle...
$20 (for however many canoes are on it)

I'll take care of paying the shuttle for now; we can split it up later

Saturday night...
primitive(!!!) camping along river in DNR bottom land.

Sunday...
Everyone takes out at Randy's campground in Bluffton, followed by lunch at Randy's Bluffton Store, and drive to and then hike at Malanaphy Springs for those who would like.

We'll leave vehicles a few places for shuttling people or providing potential bail-out points.

Check e-mail for details!”

“Will we pay $ to outfitter to shuttle gear & 'private' canoes to the put-in or will there be a 'self-shuttle' by the group? Or what would be the cost of the outfitter shuttling vehicles?”

“lizs...
I've been trying to convince my wife that we should go on this trip and meet some of you guys. BUT. It's her birthday on the 6/3 and she'd rather go our for a gourmet dinner, spend time with me alone, etc...
I told her we'd have plenty of alone time in the canoe, but she's not buyin into it.
This shindig is only 2.5 hours from my house. Driving me crazy that I can't be there. Ya'll have fun and be safe.”

“Maybe take her to an even MORE EXPENSIVE gourmet place the weekend before or after her b-day???

DOD, I need to call back for more info on how the shuttles work. The gal had to check someone in and then I got busy with other stuff. Yeah, I'm not sure. But I do think we'll leave vehicles in at least two strategic locations along the way, one being a parking lot near the overnight primitive camping. Well, probaby a mile hike away, which is as close as it gets. :-)

I understand you want to leave right away Sunday, so I'll see if we can't leave two vehicles in Bluffton.. . yours, so you can go, and then another for shuttling us. We don't really need a paid shuttle on Sunday if we have enough cars and drivers.

I'll work on it.

where we camp Friday night is where we'll put in, so I don't think people with their own canoes or kayaks will have any expense for shuttlng. Just for camping....

am trying to think of any other stuff I haven't thought of (where is Stovey to watch the analness come out??? LOL)”

“am trying to think of any other stuff I haven't thought of (where is Stovey to watch the analness come out??? LOL)”
lizs
6:24:56 PM
5/25/05
ignore this user


LOL..Lizs...I dunno???????”

“Hi all,

Some PICs!!!

I won't be able to do the paddle but may be able to come up for the camp Fri nite.

I will let y'all know early next week.

Highcountry”

“My kayak has it's own trailer so I'm hoping others, who also carry their own boats, will arrange something with me so we can park our cars at either end..whichever is safest:)...I would prefer not to try and shuttle it on a group canoe carrier....I am so fed up with the last 4 weeks of rain that I don't care WHAT the weather is that week-end..I just want OUT!!!!”

“Brain not working very well, sleepy.....

OK, tell me if I'm wrong, but sounds like trekky & I need to drive to Randy's at Bluffton to meet up with the group and camp there Friday night.
Sat morning rent canoe and have it and us shuttled to start point of river.
Float/paddle Sat to some primitive(!!!) camping along river Sat Night.
Continue float/paddle Sunday morning to takeout at Randy's.

This right?

As far as food needed on the canoe, lunch & dinner Sat, and a breakfast Sun.”

“is afraid the yak will get a scratch...LOL.

after you run over your boat, scratches aren't so awful....LOL”

“http://www.bluffcountry.com/randy.htm
This the place?

Hey Stikmon, come go with us.”

“Stovey NO, not Randy's Friday night. I just don't wanna say where we'll be staying on the thread. WATCH YOUR E-MAIL. You got a lengthy one. :-)

Highcountry, if ya wanna catch up to us, send me an e-mail. I **think** I remember you are in CR, is that right? My e-mail is in my profile. Thanks!

AND LETS MAKE A THREAD TO GET SIMER THERE!!!!”

“lizs, got your email this morning.
Yes, no trouble to post the map on my website for a while.
I'll put it up and email you the link tonight so you can email the others.”

“What kind of local temps can we expect camping on the river bottom.
Highs 75+ Low Mid 50s??????

Wasn't there snow on the ground a couple of weeks ago????

Looks like the closer Wal-Mart will be in Rochester as we drive down. I plan on us buying supplies as we drive thru.
last edited: 5/26/05 10:21:05 AM”

“pfftt on wal-mart”

“LOL, this is the Midwest. I've seen flurries on Memorial Day weekend in the past. So you'll just have to keep an eye on the weather forecast as the date fast approaches. I'd suggest weather.com and use Burr Oak, Iowa.

Could be stinkin', freezin' cold (although it will be JUNE for cripes sake!). Could be 95. Ain't it wonderful??!??! :-) LOL!

Right as you get to Rochester, there's a super Wal-Mart on the north edge, off to the right. Keep your eyes peeled. I think it's maybe at the Circle Drive and/or County Road 22 exit??

However, if you miss it, you get a second chance. There's another one on the south end, on Broadway/Highway 63. Travel this road further toward downtown Roch and there's a Gander Mountain outdoors store at the Crossroads strip mall area. It has a few more real outdoor-related things.

OR.... you should go to the REI in Bloomington. Fantastic NEW store with a climbing wall. It's probably maybe 3 miles west of the airport on, I think, 494, south side of road. Don't know the interchange. It would be beyond the Mall of America, I think (I often miss my turn when I go to the airport and have to turn around at the MOA.)”

“Go to walmart.com and use their store locator to get the address. Then get the direction and/or a map from mapquest.com. Or, mapquest.com might do it all for you.”

“Just wondering if I should have seen an email with details for Friday? Have not seen it yet.

I'll keep my eyes open for it.”

“RE: Highcountry, if ya wanna catch up to us, send me an e-mail

Okie dokie, Lizs :)”

“E-mail sent.

Another with map link will come later, plus more shuttle info......”

“lizs, you have mail with the link for the map hosted on my website.

Very LARGE map. ;-)

The dang file is almost a half meg, so dialups be patience.”

“hey, I like to make good use of an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper... soooooooooooo??? :-) It's a lizs work of art. WHAT WAS I THINKING?!??! I should have autographed it!

LOL!

Thanks for hosting! I acutally did compress the .jpg quite a bit.”

“Oh, for anyone new here that hasn't seem my website, the address is:
http://www.datasync.com/~wksmith
old and not updated in a while”

“and this applies to, ummmm... just the website????















LOL! ;-P”

“Stikki..I've got a folding kayak..very hard to scratch..but, it can do some interesting flexing..plus, I hate unpacking it;)

REI in Bloomington, take 35W South, pick up 494 E and take
to Lyndale:
http://clients.mapquest.com/rei/mqinterconnect?link=map&id=15&level=9

It's hard to miss..it's on your right going east and looks like this:
http://www.rei.com/stores/bloomington/

It's not far from the airport...
last edited: 5/27/05 12:32:44 AM”

“Lets BUMP this puppy for a reminder..


Oh yeah, and **I** give BAD directions??? hehehee... If STovey and trekkngirl are heading to REI from the airport, they're heading *West* on 494 and would exit at Lyndale. MHH grabbed directions off the REI site, which is apparently routing from downtown Minneapolis (airport is in SE)”

“MHH gave directions she uses from home..not from the airport...stupid MHH...Stovey, you take the Lyndale exit on your right, turn left on Lyndale so as to cross back over 494..REI is on the South side of 494 as you go west on 494...sounds more complicated than it is..see mapquest map above....zoom in, zoom out, change center point..Meanwhile, I've been packaging food, cleaning off extra dry bags to bring with me and praying for a decent week-end for a change..

How was your week-end, Lizs?
last edited: 5/29/05 2:04:40 PM”

“Am I the only one excited about this trip? LOL!”

“I stopped at Bluffton today to rent the canoes. Three canoes and one kayak, with poor, POOOOOR lizs writing out a check for $160. >8-O They supposedly hold it till next weekend.

THOSE RENTING CANOES BRING MONEY AND PAY UP RIGHT AWAY, OR YOU WILL SUFFER ON THE UPPER IOWA!!!! Mooooooooooohahahahaha!! LOL! ;-)

I talked to Randy, who runs the whole show. He will bring the rentals up to (sheeyat! after all my care, I had the campground name TYPED OUT RIGHT HERE!! lol) the campground Friday night, which is great.

I figured canoes are needed for four parties: Stovey/Trekkingirl; elementary1 and friend, lizs and spalpeen and Dr. Atomic. They are $20/day for 2 days each.

Randy highly suggested getting a kayak for the Dr. He said it's easily manueverable (sp?) and plus, people could switch off trying it. Fair enough. Unless I hear big objections -- OR SOMEONE CAN BRING A SPARE SOLO CANOE (which Randy doesn't have) -- we'll stay with the one kayak.”

“Flight tickets, Check
Car Rental, Check

Weather report - Oh lizsssssssssssss.... WE ARE GOING RAIN OR THUNDERSHOWERS??????
Trekky & I will be at the campground Friday afternoon, rain or shine.

Anyone used HOTWIRE for booking rooms?”

“I had been hearing super forecasts, nice and warm, but see a chance of rain or storms has entered the picture.

The weather channel says:

Jun 3 Friday
A few thunderstorms possible. Highs in the upper 80s and lows in the mid 60s.

Jun 4 Saturday
Scattered thunderstorms possible. Highs in the low 80s and lows in the mid 60s.

Jun 5 Sunday
Showers, maybe a rumble of thunder. Highs in the upper 70s and lows in the upper 50s.

National Weather Service local station in La Crosse says:

.FRIDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. HIGHS IN THE UPPER 70S. CHANCE OF RAIN 40 PERCENT.

.FRIDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. LOWS IN THE UPPER 50S. CHANCE OF RAIN 30 PERCENT.

.SATURDAY...PARTLY SUNNY WITH A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. HIGHS IN THE MID 70S. CHANCE OF RAIN 30 PERCENT.

.SATURDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. LOWS IN THE UPPER 50S. CHANCE OF RAIN 20 PERCENT.

.SUNDAY...PARTLY SUNNY WITH A CHANCE OF SHOWERS. HIGHS IN THE MID 70S. CHANCE OF RAIN 30 PERCENT.”

“Wow, Stovey, I was checking that before I saw your post. Karma, dude!

Look at the difference in those temps, that's CRAZY!

don't know about hotwire.
last edited: 5/30/05 8:04:09 PM”

“Let me know if you're interested.... the campground runs shuttles UPriver. I would need to contact and see if he might do, say, at 3 p.m. or something?? And maybe go a hour or two upriver?

Just an idea.... LET ME KNOW! I know Dr. Atomic/spalpeen and Prosecutor (if Ruby could get off early) are interested. Anyone else? Make it worth his while and he'd be more likely to do it, I'd guess. :-)”

“I don't have a dry bag :( ..since I have never canoed before..why would I have one? ha! Would one of you REALLY COOL TT'ers have one they could loan?
Or do they rent those at REI ?”

“I borrowed one or two from matahari last spring for a canoe trip. Maybe she can help you out.

I'm hoping I'm OK now that I purchased a HUGE one from Wal-Mart, complete with backpack-esque straps, and I have a small one for valuables. But that's all I have, whether or not that's enough.

Plus a cooler, of course. LOL!”

“I got in a 23 mile practice canoe trip with Backpacking Princess today.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/prosecutor104/album?.dir=c50f&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/prosecutor104/my_photos”

“Shoot, I don't have a dry bag either. I guess I could put it all in my backpack and then put the rain cover on? Or am I being completely stupid? Perhaps garbage bags?”

“Depending on the weather, the pack rain cover may or may not work.

Some out-fitters have these really thick plastic bags to line your pack. (Used mine for several years both canoeing and packing.) Much needed if it's raining, you're floating, and your pack is also floating in the bottom of the canoe. Your rain 'cover' won't protect from the water collecting in the bottom of the canoe.

Once we were on a very tight schedule to meet our pick-up ride, so we were paddling in a heavy rain. Had to head for shore to empty the canoe because the rain was coming down so hard. Plastic liners kept enough dry for the last night.!”

“Dry bags are meant to protect your stuff should it fall in the water... I think. (maybe they are just for protection in the canoe??) Pack covers won't do that. You could wrap stuff in garbage bags in a backpack, but still it's not a dry bag.

Hopefully no one will dump!! And the outfitters won't have them. They are basically set up to get you a canoe, life jacket, paddles; to shuttle you; and to provide a place to camp. Not used to real backpackers who primitive camp.

As I mentioned, I think Wal-Mart has them in their camping area at the super stores. I got a huge one on sale this spring, maybe $20-$25. I'm not sure if they have the big size any more, but they do carry something.

Also think 2-gallon size ziplocks, although I'd trust them less. Earlier this year at Gander Mountain I purchased some heavier duty Glad or Ziplock bags, probably around that size, marketed specifically for keeping things dry -- although not necessarily to the extent of a dry bag.

wow, here I am talking like I am an expert. NOT! MHH, please chip in.......”

“Trash compactor plastic bags sealed with a thick tight rubber band used as a liner inside your backpack works almost as good as a dry bag. I have a spare dry bag for Ruby if you need one. The only things that need to go in the dry bag is your sleeping bag, food and clothing, just the things that you will not want to get wet.

Ruby, if you want to get in 2 to 4 hours of canoeing Friday, you would have to get to my house around 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m.”

“Okay. Thanks, Pros. I'd like to borrow that if I could. And I will see about getting to your house that early. I might be able to if I arrange a few things. I'll get back to you.”

“trekkngirl, trekkngirl, trekkngirl.....
I have 5 packed, 3 big ones and 2 med. I'm sure a couple can be used by you. ;-)

I'll also have some trash compactor plastic bags.
last edited: 5/31/05 8:17:55 AM”

“WHY trash compactor bags? I don't have one... what's the difference between them and regular bags?”

“compactor bags are tough. They are made to have garbage CRUSHED under high pressure in them.

I buy mine at Wally World. You do have to look for them, as they don't sell a lot of them.


last edited: 5/31/05 8:40:01 AM”

“You need to have EVERYTHING waterproof, due to the water that will gather in the bottom of the canoe. Everything will be sitting in a moving pool of water.

Most rental canoes leak a little.”

“I can ups them up to Lizs. BUT, I will want them back ASAP...I have 3 or 4 that I can send up. Lizs. please email me an addy. I can get them out TODAY and ups 2nd day them to you, if you send me an address by lunch time.”

“FYI - Strong winds were experienced at Deep Creek SP near Grinnell, Iowa, frequently during the past two weeks. Gusts were up to around 58 mph and tents were upset. One severe storm warning was issued to the CG, after which the winds subsided. Hope things are better during your trip.

I'm still laughing at those who want to paddle upstream. And this string sure reeks of inexperience. But getting out there is a great way to gain the experience. Have lots of fun.

My daughter arrived safely in Costa Rica Sunday evening. I arrived safely back at GSMNP. In other words, I won't be able to make this trip. Best to you all.
last edited: 5/31/05 10:18:36 AM”