That was…gross

 

Final update: River forecast issued, we’re okay through Sunday and overall levels should stay low enough that weekday overnight trips can continue given the handful of groups going for the handful of sandbars (you guys will get a more detailed email).

Friday morning update: Numbers up north are holding steady which will get us to Sunday morning at least. I’d still like to see the latest River Prediction Center update later this morning but for now, while it’s close to our self-imposed limit, overnight trips should have enough islands to camp on though expect to share the larger ones.  If you’re on a trip this weekend and want to hold off for another weekend due to the continuing uncertainty, that’s fine, just let us know. Will post another update in a few hours once that river prediction has been released for our area.

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Thursday night update: those ‘isolated storms’ turned into a massive slow moving affair that drowned basically the whole Wisconsin River system.  Water levels look to rise up to a foot by Saturday evening which will make camping tight but doable. Beyond that, the river prediction center is calling for another rise in water Sunday night that will put most sandbars under for a few days. I’ll know the timing better on that by Friday afternoon.  For now, we’re still planning for all trips through the weekend as a go but I’ll continue to update tomorrow as this storm shakes out.

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Great weather continues with the extended forecast.  Well, mostly.  Thursday could be wet with isolated storms but those will finally clear out a lot of the excessive humidity just in time for the weekend and the drier weather should stick around well into next week.

Water levels are perfect, hovering around the long term average for this time of year.  Tons of (big) sandbars but not so many you’ll be running aground every 10 minutes (it’ll be more like every 20 minutes – if you don’t know what you’re doing).  

This Friday-Sunday is on track to be a perfect 10 out of 10 weekend, no exaggeration.  Even the sunset mosquitoes haven’t been terrible.  Of course it also coincides with the peak of peak season.  We’re already sold out for the next two weekends so if you’re looking for a boat, you’ll want to check back every day for any cancellations (pro-tip, they tend to happen around 8-10am and 8-10pm).  

If you want real solitude, head out on a weekday (even Sunday-Monday).  As busy as the weekend is, there are maybe 20 people on 25 miles of river on any given weekday.