Paddle 100 Starts Now!

Yesterday (April 8th, 2011) The ice sufficiently pulled off the lake just far enough to allow for a short paddle.  1.5 miles.  Not much, but a start. That makes only 98.5 miles to go to paddle 100 miles on Devil’s Lake during the 2011 centennial year.  As I’ve mentioned here before The Friends of Devil’s Lake State Park are inviting everyone to join the centennial 100 club!  Participants can earn a FREE Centennial Hiking Shield (while supplies last) by logging 100 miles of hiking, running, skiing, or snowshoeing the trails of Devil’s Lake.  You can also earn cool commemorative wooden nickel by logging 10 miles as part of the Devil’s lake 10 Club Centennial Hike.  You’ll notice paddling wasn’t included actually, but I feel it should have been.  Devil’s Lake offers a “power boat free” environment for paddlers, a rare treat in a popular tourism area and only one of a couple such lakes in all of central Wisconsin. At Devil’s Lake paddlers can spend their time relaxing and taking in the scenery instead of spending the day on alert for loud, fast moving watercraft. Just another reason Devil’s Lake State Park is worth celebrating!  BTW, Devil’s Lake is only about 3.2 miles in circumference.  That means 100 miles means about 32 trips around the lake.  No problem, I think I do about double that every summer season.     If you’d like to get in on the 100 club just click here for your free log book. (Scroll about half way down the page.)

SAFETY NOTE: All boating on Wisconsin lakes this time of year can be dangerous. If you fall into the water without the proper protection hypothermia can set in very quickly, making it impossible to function both mentally and physically. Conditions that seem fairly safe other times of year, could easily take your life. [Click here for a hypothermia chart that shows time in the water, what happens, and how long you're likely to survive in frigid water. ] Experienced people who do go out on the water this time of year generally wear something called a dry suit.  A dry suit is a sort of over-all that keeps the water away from your body allowing you to stay warm and dry inside.  A dry suit gives you better odds of surviving a prolonged “swim”.  If you’d like to learn more click here.

Click here to learn more about safe boating in Wisconsin from the Department of Natural Resources.