Sheboygan Marsh

Day 27 (10/16/10)

The Sheboygan Marsh

Today we went to the Sheboygan Marsh for a change of pace. We had been hearing about it since we first got our kayaks. After spending some time on the internet gathering maps we were off to the marsh. When we left home there was very little wind but as we were climbing the observation tower at the marsh we noticed that the wind had definitely picked up. One of the interesting things about the marsh is that it has hundreds of floating cattail bogs and because of the wind they were all parking themselves right in the boat docking area. We found a unique route out through the islands and made our way into what we were told was the main ditch. We chose to not take the channel down to the main lake since the wind was blowing directly from that direction. We skirted the inner edge of the ditch on the way out to avoid the wind as much as possible. It was still pretty bad especially since all the cattails were shedding their cotton and it was as thick as snow at times. Because of the wind we had a somewhat abbreviated visit but we can’t wait to go back next summer. What the area lacks in scenery (the part we were at was all lined with cattails) it makes up for in hidden inlets which are fun to explore. We were told that people do get lost in the march because it is hard to see landmarks so we decided before next summer to laminate a map that we can chart our course as we go. The marsh will definitely warrant a closer look next summer when it is not so windy.

The Tower

Eileen in a Lagoon

Floating Bogs

Summer in Fall

Day 26 (10/9/10)

When it is the second weekend in Oct and approaching eighty degrees you have no choice but to drop everything and go enjoy it. We had wanted to get back to Mauthe Lake all fall so we packed a lunch and our Kayaks and headed west. We made it there by 11:00 and headed straight for the river. We wanted get up river before to many other people got there to scare off the wildlife. Eileen spent quite a while photographing a Blue heron that seemed to like her stirring up the bait fish. The trip up river was excellent. It was so peaceful that you would find yourself closing your eyes and just listening to the sounds. At one point a slight gust of wind blew down some dry leaves and they were amazingly loud as they rattled down through the branches. After coming back down out of the river we stopped and ate our lunch. I did a little fishing and then decided to do some hiking. We had always wanted to hike the trail around the lake and since the colors were much better in the higher areas we went for it. It was one of those days where no matter what you did was wonderful. The pictures speak for themselves.

Heading up river