Upper Iowa River

I left home around 12:30 to meet up with Pete, Ashley, and Tony. We were headed for a weekend kayaking trip to the northeast corner of Iowa. While driving, everyone must have been getting anxious. We agreed to throw out my 36 mile itinerary in favor of a 53 mile trip. Thanks to my handy Upper Iowa River guidebook, we weren't guessing how long it would take us each day.

When we dropped into the river on Friday night around 8:30p, it was raining. We donned our rain jackets, headlamps, and began to paddle. Less than two miles down river, there is a set of rapids that take several quick turns around rocks & a fallen tree. I was out front, got swept into the current backwards, and just managed to paddle away from the fallen tree. Ashley wasn't so lucky. She was swept into the tree, and her kayak became wedged against the tree (unable to move because of the current). I hear her yell 'help!' - her kayak was beginning to fill up with water. Tony & I beached our kayaks and helped Ashley dump the water out of her kayak and retrieve her tent that was floating down the river.

The plan was to paddle 11 miles the first night. We finished that goal, but we were miserable by 11:30pm when we arrived at the camping spot. We quickly setup our tents in the rain, crawled inside, and slept like the dead. I didn't take any photos on Friday night, I was too cold, wet, and tired to care...


I'm happy to report that the remainder of the weekend was great. The weather was a bit cold, but we found a giant patch of sand for Saturday night's camp.

In addition to paddling the 53 miles, we had the chance to see a bunch of eagles. I wasn't keeping track, but I'd wager that we say 10 - 15 bald eagles and 15 - 20 golden eagles.