August is just the best – Wisconsin Canoe Company

Wednesday evening update: Everything still on track and looking great.

And on a side note, for anyone heading out Saturday, our favorite taco masters (Erin and Jeremy at Enos Farms) are taking pre-orders for 11:30am-3pm drive-thru pick up in Spring Green. These are on par with the best tacos Amy and I have had anywhere in the world – I honestly don’t know how they do it. Since the Shitty Barn shows have been cancelled for 2020 and that was the easiest place to find these tacos, it’s worth jumping on this event for a 2020 taco fix. Orders due by Friday

[This is not a sponsored post, I just really love their tacos and general approach to local, sustainable food]

The updates practically write themselves since the weather is predominantly great and so are the water levels. As of now the 10 day forecast is pretty much sunny and pleasant every single day. Headwinds are definitely more typical this time of year, and sure enough, 10mph winds out of the south every day peaking in the early afternoon (get most of your paddling done in the morning or early evening to make life easier and keep more weight towards the front of the boat to stay pointed down river).

Water levels are at their annual lows (more or less) so tons of sandbars out there. The caveat to this is ongoing maintenance on the Prairie Du Sac dam. The dam is required to keep the reservoir level (Lake Wisconsin) within +-3″ by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission so, in order to do the maintenance on the spillways, water is released overnight to get a couple inches of cushion so it can be held back during the day to let work happen. This means we’re seeing swings of 6-12″ in water levels every day or two which can be awkwardly timed to arrive in the middle of the night depending on how far downstream you are from the dam. Long story short, pull your boats up! Stake ’em down, tie ’em to a tent, etc. Our conditions page has the hourly flow rate data coming out of this dam so if you’re nervous while you’re out there, check that page to see what to expect.

-Ryan