Back to nature

They've been coming back every year for 33 years.

Back in the mid-1970s a group of men, mostly out of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, decided to organize a weekend trip down the Kickapoo River. Starting out, the trip was pretty primitive. While some still prefer camping outside as opposed to camping at a hotel, the group's taste buds have certainly evolved. The men feasted on morel omelets, swordfish, red curry chicken, Philippine barbeque chicken, Polish kielbasa from Chicago, venison bologna from Steve's Country Market in Genoa and venison steaks.

Steve Farkas, who owns a small industrial lighting company and is from La Crosse, has been a part of this male-only canoeing expedition for 25 years. Actually it's more of a floating tradition down the Kickapoo.

"There's no paddling permitted," Steve said. "Well, we can push off if we get really stuck."

And according to Colin Winchell, who works for Drifty's Canoe Rental in Ontario, getting stuck is a common occurrence, especially when people paddle with three adults to one canoe, which in turn weighs it down. Ideally people should be two to a canoe.

"If I'm one of three in a canoe with all adults, even with all my knowledge (of the river) and steering, I'd get stuck, too," Winchell said.

Winchell said the best way is to push the canoe directly backwards, but people have also gotten out to actually pull the canoe into the deeper end of the channel.

"That's kind of fun, too," Winchell said. "You can get out and get wet."

For Farkas and the other 24 men in his group, the draw for this yearly pilgrimage is not only about having two days of uninterrupted good fun — their rule is "no kids, no cats, no women" — but it's also the river itself.

"Most of the time during our lives we've always got somewhere to go, something to do and something we've got to get to, but by the second day on the Kickapoo (River) we've figured out that there's really no place we have to go, or anything we have to do or anything holding us down," Steve said. "All we're doing is hanging with our buddies and being completely relaxed."

Or some do it because of a sibling. A brother first corralled Sanford “Snort” Kolinek to come along for the annual river reunion back in 1982.

But nobody had to twist Snort’s arm to come the next year. Sanford’s only missed the trip twice since then — OK, once. One year he was on his honeymoon, and the other…

“One year I got admitted to Mayo Clinic on a Friday night and (the doctors) kept me overnight for observation and then we drove from Rochester to (Ontario),” he said.

But the guys that year didn’t forget about old Snort. There, saving Sanford’s spot in the canoe, was “Virtual Snort.”

“They had an effigy of me stapled to a board,” Sanford said, laughing.

Tony Kelbel, the owner of Drifty's Canoe Rentals, started serving Farkas' group when he bought the business back in 1994. The crew, who used a different canoeing outfit before Kelbel, became the first customers Tony put in the water as the new proprietor.

"They're a great bunch of guys," Kelbel said.

Susan McCurdy, who owns Crooked River Canoes, Cabins and Camps Resort in Readstown, with her husband, Warren, agrees that canoeing — and canoeing on the Kickapoo — allows people a chance to take a well-deserved break from their busy lives.

"A lot of people need to get away, they're so hectic, and canoeing is very quiet," McCurdy said. "It's the difference between a motorcycle and a car. You're in the moment. There's serenity down the river. There's no honking cars or loud music or anything. People have lost touch with that and that's why they canoe."

A couples’ experience

Sara Vondrachek and Dan Gray of Milwaukee both work for the Urban Ecology Center, an urban nature center, in Milwaukee. In their jobs, the couple has taken many youth groups canoeing on the Milwaukee River.

So, it's not surprising that this active couple chose to take five days to canoe along the Kickapoo River from Ontario all the to Wyalusing State Park in Prairie du Chien.

It was Dan and Sara's first time canoeing the Kickapoo and McCurdy helped the couple realize their vacation and make their first experience on the river a memorable one.

"(Canoeing) is just a nice, quiet reflective activity and you get to see a lot of beautiful things along the way that you wouldn't be able to see from a car and you can kind of get into those primitive areas and kind of get into the middle of things, where other people can't get to unless they're on the water," Sara said.

McCurdy dropped the two off at a landing in Ontario and picked up the canoeing couple a day later at Andrew's Landing in La Farge on Saturday, June 9. McCurdy then drove them back to Readstown, bypassing the logjams on the river, and Dan and Sara were able to get back on the Kickapoo. In those two days, McCurdy put more than 150 miles on her van.

Seeing the varied wildlife along the Kickapoo is also a special treat for a lot of canoers. Vondrachek and her boyfriend saw 45 different species of birds and three owls between Ontario and La Farge.

"I just feel very at peace (on the water) and there are just moments, where you just say 'Ahh, that's beautiful,'" Sara said.

Canoeing preferences

Both Drifty's in Ontario and Crooked River in Readstown offer a variety of different trips along the Kickapoo.

"I have people that do short day trips, all the way to three-day trips," McCurdy said.

Like Mike Donnell of Merrimac and Jack Davis of Baraboo, who drove to Crooked River to take the five-and-a-half-hour canoe trip from Readstown to Gays Mills, Saturday, June 9. The pair planned to make stops for fishing along the way, so that made it seven hours.

"Any day that's spent on the water is a good day," Donnell said.

McCurdy's canoes and kayaks are priced according to the specific trip and all include life jackets, adult- and child-size, cushions for the kids and shuttle service.

For shorter trips along the Kickapoo, Crooked River offers one and half hour to five-and-a-half-hour trips that range in price from $15 for a canoe and kayak to $38 for canoe and $33 for a kayak.

One-, two- or three-day trips from Readstown to Gays Mills to Steuben to Wauzeka is $45 for a canoe and $40 for a kayak. Crooked River Canoes also offers custom trips like for the couple from Milwaukee. Camping is available in village parks along the river. A lazy day trip, where hours, not miles are added, is $7 extra to the base price of the hourly trips.

For those not interested in canoeing or kayaking, McCurdy also has inner tubing for three-and-a-half hours down the Kickapoo for $10 or float along the stream by the resort, which is free to guests staying on site or $3 for visitors.

"There are just so many different ways you can put these together," McCurdy said. "It's kind of neat."

When McCurdy bought the canoe business 10 years ago, she had 16 canoes. Today, Crooked River Canoes has 49 canoes and six single and two double kayaks. Crooked River has also adapted to the meet the needs of its customers. McCurdy has seven cabins, one a duplex, which has a capacity to sleep 50 people. There are also has spaces for tents and 10 RV sites with water and electricity and a group site that can hold 30 people.

Coming up this summer, McCurdy plans to build a 20-unit motel and a cheese outlet and coffee shop with drive-thru coffee, including gourmet coffees. This will be located on Hwy. 61 and just off the junction of Hwy. 14. McCurdy plans to call it Kickapoo Crossroads.

"We grow in response with what people ask, just like any other business would," McCurdy said.

Comparatively, Drifty's, which is open mid-April through the fall, charges $25 per canoe, per weekday and $30 for Saturday or Sunday and holidays. Short trips on the Kickapoo start at two hours from the Drifty's landing at Bridge 1 to a five-hour and 45-minute trip to Bridge 12.

Kelbel strongly encourages reservations for Saturday and Sunday because of the heavier river traffic. With 200 canoes and 20 kayaks, Drifty's can accommodate small or large groups.

For an eight-hour, two-day trip to bridge 14 or 11- to12-hour two-day trip to bridge 20, Drifty's charges $60. All trips include the canoe, paddles, life jackets and a shuttle.

During the weekends, Drifty's has a bus that runs every 10 minutes to pick people up at the designated landings. During the week, someone from Drifty's will personally pick you up at your stop.

Kelbel said the latest a canoe or kayak is launched is 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. is the latest the shuttle will pick up canoers or kayakers from the river.

"It's a good beginning river, but we do have a lot of experienced canoers that come to enjoy it, too," Kelbel said. "It's nice, too, even if you're an avid, hard-core canoer, it's nice to come and float down the river."

Ice cream—Yeah!

Many people have discovered that a perfect ending to any canoe trip includes a frothy root beer float.

So, if you've gone for a short two-hour jaunt or a daylong paddle down the Kickapoo, Kelbel and Winchell both suggest checking out the Paddle Inn next to Drifty's.

According to Winchell, many satisfied canoers responding with "Dude, ice cream - yeah!" and have capped off their canoe or kayaking trips with an ice cream treat there.

"I think it's an awesome way to do it," Winchell said.

CANOE OUTFITTERS

There are several canoe liveries operating on the Kickapoo River. Some of those include:

- Crooked River Canoes at 608-629-5624 or visit its website www.crooked riverresort.com

- Drifty's Canoe Rental and the Kickapoo Paddle Inn at 608-337-4288 or 608-337-4726 or at www.driftyscanoe rental.net

- Others listed online are Mr. Duck’s Canoe Rental of Ontario which has a site at ww.mrduckscanoerental.com and Titanic Canoe Rental listed online at www.titanic canoerental.com

- One not listed online is Fred Flasher’s Canoe Camping Trips in Wilton which can be reached at 608-435-6802.