The Namekagon River 
The first evening proves too dangerous to continue.

It’s late in the season. To reach my stretch goal of paddling 1,200 miles I need 75 more. With that in mind, I seek a route along the Namekagon River, considered among the most beautiful in the Upper Midwest.​

With the days much shorter now, I head out to Hayward, Wisconsin, four hours away. I launch late Friday for a three evening and two-day paddle.

After the first evening of paddling in the dark, down a narrow winding river that I’m unfamiliar with, I find myself in predicaments I usually avoid, and my nerves are tested. I bounce off rocks in the shallow water beneath Hayward Dam, repeatedly get snagged under low hanging branches, and run into bog-like islands where I am forced to get into the near-freezing water to free my kayak.

I send a text to Michon, “This river is too dangerous to paddle at night. Need to get off.”

The first night’s forecast is for strong winds, rain, sleet, snow, and below freezing temperatures. They are right.

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 The remaining trip is wide open beauty.

I am thankful for having stopped at REI to purchase a sleeping bag liner, which promises 25 degrees of added warmth. My sleeping bag is rated at 20F and with the combination I am comfortable. But, with the howling winds and pelting rain, there wasn’t much sleep to be had this first night.

I wake up and take in the morning’s view. While snow and a thin layer of ice cover my kayak, I am thrilled to see that the river ahead is wide, scenic, and free of overhanging branches and bog-like islands. The trip looks like it’s going to be all that I had hoped for.
I share the river with a few fly fishermen with their guides, floating lines through the air to softly settle on the surface and drift with the current, and bird hunters showing off their recent harvest of a large goose. For the most part, I have the Namekagon all to myself, and I enjoy it.
I can only imagine the beauty of this river a few weeks earlier in the full color of autumn. It is a beautiful trip all the way. One I highly recommend and hope to soon repeat.