Onion River Exploration Project: September 2025

Floating on Clouds

Just about every time we kayak up the Milwaukee River at Mauthe Lake on our way back down the river we always meet somebody who inevitably asks, “how far did you make it?” We always laugh because how do you answer that? There are no road signs or mile markers. Beyond that the banks are pretty much all the same and although there are a few landmarks it is questionable if they would know what we were talking about. I realize that the reason some ask is that it gets quite weedy as you get further upstream and they want to know if it is passable. That being said, they should be asking “what did you see?” The river is full of surprises and that is what has kept us going back for over thirteen years. Today was a perfect example. We started out watching an Egret fishing along the shore who didn’t seem to mind. It was a beautiful day with little wind and a sky full of fluffy white clouds. It was a perfect day to mosey upstream. Occasionally we find little inlet streams that with a little work you can make your way up stream. Today we found a new one that had opened up. Although shallow we were able to go probably a half mile upstream until we got to the source which was a shallow pool with burbling springs lining the bottom. We have found these pools before but are always fascinated by the little percolating springs. Unfortunately we hadn’t brought our underwater cameras so had to settle for capturing them with phones. We were amazed by how many of the plants and trees were changing color. After our adventure in the inlet we did continue a little further up the river but decided we should probably head back. Being the middle of the day we didn’t see a lot of wildlife except birds of all types. It was then that we met the only other person on the river coming upstream. “How far did you make it?”