"Gone Paddling" on the Wisconsin

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     On Sunday the 25^th an email was sent from chairman Timm Zumm out to members of FLOW (The Friends of the Lower Wisconsin Riverway). It was a request for some people to greet and spend time showing a young man some of the highlights of the Sauk Prairie area. I can be somewhat of a stick in the mud when it comes to meeting new people, so no immediate response from me. Soon this was followed by several phone calls.

     This young man turned out to be Jesse Hieb, a 30ish-something adventurist. He would be passing through Sauk Prairie maybe today, maybe tomorrow. There were a couple of females involved. If you wonder why they would have some influence over his timing, they were Mother Nature with her choice of weather for the day and the mother river of our state, the Wisconsin River. Jesse is trying to set a new record; he is stand-up paddleboarding the entire length of the Wisconsin River, 430 miles. He had made it to the Merrimac area the afternoon before. Now he needed to portage around the last large obstacle – the Prairie Du Sac Dam (the last dam before the Mississippi River). This ambitious guy is not only paddleboarding but filming the river and its caretakers as he goes. This trip will become a documentary.

      A little background on Jesse:

     When I asked where he was from the response was,“I was born in the United States, then lived in Japan until I was fourteen. Now I live in Milwaukee.” His parents were Lutheran missionaries and

when their children reached the age of fourteen they were sent back to live with relatives to finish their education. So I'm guessing his early life stirred this love of adventure and sharing. 
When the tsunami hit Japan a few years ago, he returned to coordinate aid programs and help out where he could.

       This was condensed from his web page:

    “Jesse brings over 8 years of experience having worked on over 140 short films. He has assisted with the development of online communities and social media content. Jesse knows how to create content that captures attention and converts viewers into supporters. Working in tourism, film, and nonprofits, he has always had a passion for helping people tell their story through visual media.”

    This short afternoon it was our turn to give Jesse some idea of what the area had to offer. He had experienced the Prairie Du Sac dam, and Timm had taken him to “The Tripp Museum” to get a sense of the history of area and its ties to the Wisconsin River. Then Kay Roherty and I joined them at Ferry Bluff. Kay is a long time member and past president of The Ferry Bluff Eagle Council. I guess I was there to fill in the blanks. Because of timing we stopped at Cactus Bluff (rather than continuing on to Ferry Bluff), which gives one majestic view of the river valley. 

Timm, Bowie the river dog and I took Jesse down to a lower level that had been gouged out by the river at the end the Ice Age. 

     When we returned, a couple from the Milwaukee area and their niece had joined Kay. Their niece was visiting from the south and wanted to see something special that southern Wisconsin had to offer. The husband had paddled this area of the Lower Wisconsin River a few times, and they both had been here camping so they agreed that this was a great place to bring her. Their conversion was focused on the bald eagle that Kay had spotted when we first arrived. When asked if she had seen eagles where she lived the niece replied, “I don't think we have them in our area but the school mascot is an eagle.” Something we have in common. I have shared my adventures and the beauty of Cactus/Ferry Bluff many times before so I won't go into that now.

    Jesse plans to make a documentary of this experience on the river and the people he met along the way. His hopes are that this documentary can become a fund raiser for groups working to restore or preserve the beauty of the entire length of the Wisconsin River. 

    

       As we parted ways with Jesse, Mother Nature thanked him for stopping by with one of her wondrous rainbows. Jesse had never seen a full rainbow before.

     

       He completed the whole trip down the river on Saturday, September 30^th.

        If you have interest in helping Jesse to get this documentary completed check this link .

 https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/post-production-of-gone-paddling-water-community#/