Black Water

And I ain't got no worries

'Cuz I ain't in no hurry

At all. . . . .

- P. Simmons

Well, I did write in a previous post that Wisconsin is scenic. This post is about the canoe trip I took down the Black River from Black River Falls to Irving Landing. It's about 7 miles, and took me about 6 hours of easy paddling. I made the same trip last year, in early September; there were very few differences in the 2 trips. I plan on going from Irving to Melrose on my next time out, eventually canoeing all of the Black from BRF to it's outlet north of La Crosse.

This is a view from the river of the landing (Cormyn Landing) in town, just after put-in.

And the first look downriver. My shoes came off right after this - the skin on top of my feet began peeling about 4 days later. :) One of the things I learned on my first trip was that there are 3 pull-throughs on this section of the river; I like to think ahead now and again. (OK, OK, so I don't like wearing shoes, either.)

Not too far out of town is my parents' farm. About 1/4 mile downstream of that, on the eastern bank, is this sandstone embankment. It runs for about 100 feet before leveling down to the river's edge. From what I have been learning about the geology of the area, this is cambrian-era sandstone; probably what is called the "Mount Simon" formation. Notice the cross-bedding over and underneath the more flat-bedding in the stone. Also of notice are the overhanging layers, cracks, and holes in the outcropping. This stone is very soft and fairly easily crumbles into its constituent sand.

This is an upstream view of Hawk Island, the largest island on this section of the river. It's about 1/2 mile long. The canoe outfitter told me to take the right side flowage, I guess because the left-side run gets pretty shallow. There are also a couple of other smaller sand islands on this section of the river.

This photo shows that right-hand flowage. See the rocks? This is the most difficult part of the entire trip, and includes the first pull-through. That having been said, the whole trip is still pretty easy. This section runs for about 400 yards after the pull-through and is nothing that a few zig-zags can't handle. Basically, the river speeds up from about 2 MPH to 4-5 MPH. It's not anywhere near "whitewater" but a person might get hung up on a rock if they canoe with their head up their ass. :)

This is a shot of Spring Creek's outlet into the river. There are 4 creeks on the west side and 2 on the right that feed the Black on this section of the river. Notice the sandy "bars" on either side of the outflow. The water inflowing the Black from these creeks is noticeably cooler than the rest of the river, which my bare feet can easily notice (aluminum is an excellent conductor of heat).

These last two photos are of a much higher (but shorter, length-wise) embankment near the end of the trip on the west side. Notice the color differences in some of the layers.

About a mile downstream is Irving Landing, my pull-out. It was, like my first trip, a very nice day. I enjoyed both outings very much, and I highly recommend this very easy canoe trip to anybody who likes to dip a paddle in the water and see life from a river instead of through a car window.