Old Stage Road to Casey Road
☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆



Date:
May 20, 2012

Technical:
Gauge (Cooksville): 4.94 | Dis.: 117 | Flow: 105

Put In:
Old Stage Road bridge, Cooksville, Wisconsin
Take Out:
Casey Road bridge

Time: Put in at 11:15p. Out at 2:15p.
Total Time: 3h
Miles Paddled: 6.75

What we liked:
We paddled our favorite little creek to officially kick off the 2012 season. And it was very much like our last paddle due to almost identical flow rates. It's a relatively clean creek (save for an occasional bloated racoon lying in the water) that meanders it's way through canopy and farmland with plenty of islands and tiny sandbars to get out and relax on. It's rocky at times, sandy at others and the swift current makes for a great day-paddle.

On our way we had another encounter with a deer that we startled while coming around a bend. We also saw cranes, some crazy-looking turkey-like thing and also some carp. The carp surprised us since the water was so low and we had never seen carp in these waters before.

The Badfish was plenty busy with lots of friendly canoe and kayakers enjoying the beautiful weather. Amongst the friendly small talk, we were given a botany lesson from a couple guys at the take-out. They pointed out all the invasive wild parsnip and informed us of the unpleasant rash you will get from contact with the leaves (when the sun hits the leaves, they release the toxin. However, the root is the edible part and is perfectly safe). They both seemed to have extensive first-hand knowledge of the "rath of the rash".

What we didn't like:
The wonderful Leedle Mill Road bridge is gone. It's been replaced by a new state-of-the-art (and rather ho-hum in comparison) bridge. At first glance, the construction didn't seem to affect the drop below the bridge but the current isn't quite the same as it once was.

If we did this trip again:
The Badfish is a favorite of ours and a must-do every year, if not a few times. Old Stage road to Casey road is the best paddle on the Badfish. We'll definitely paddle this in higher water whenever possible and Spring to early Summer is always the best time to paddle it before the weeds take over.

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Related Information
Badfish Creek I: Route 138 to Murwin County Park
Badfish Creek II: Old Stage Road to Highway 59
Badfish Creek III: Old Stage Road to Casey Road
Badfish Creek IV: Old Stone Road to Casey Road
Miles Paddled Video: Badfish Creek II
Video: Wisconsin Paddles: Badfish Creek
Article: Collecting MadVideos: Paddling the Badfish Creek
Good People: Friends of Badfish Creek Watershed


Map:


View Badfish Creek in a larger map


Photo Gallery:


A very muddy put-in at Old Stage Road.


New GoPro rig on deck.




The new Leedle Mill Road bridge.




The drop is less exciting after construction.






Skull island.






Watch out for the wild parsnip at the take-out on Casey Road.


What's a maiden voyage without a PBR?


We're split between Thule and Yakima but I loved this decal addition spotted at the take-out.

Another fantastic Canoecopia comes to an end which unofficially kicks off the 2012 paddling season (well, that and the ridiculously fantastic weather). And after a great weekend, we're even more excited and inspired to hit the water.



If you're a regular to Canoecopia, you wouldn't have been surprised by a whole lot. It was very much the same experience with a few surprises here and there. It did feel like the layout was a lot better this year and that boats and boat companies were once again the star while the ancillary vendors were grouped together in less random order than in years past.

If you're in the market for a boat, rack, paddle or other big-ticket item, the show makes a lot of financial sense to take advantage of the 15% discount. On smaller ticket items and gear, the discount is harder to justify as the only reason to go to the show. Especially when you consider that REI's big Spring sale starts in a month and offer their annual 20% spring sale discount (and you can buy practically anything at REI that you can at Canoecopia).

In fact, the cost of weekend wristbands + parking might make it a questionable experience year-in and year-out, if it weren't for the wonderful camaraderie and great selection of speakers and demos (of which there were plenty this year).

Our favorite presentation hands-down was Morrall River Films. We were really looking forward to their first presentation at Canoecopia and they didn't disappoint. Served up with a bit of humor, they cut together some minute-long vignettes of some of their favorite paddles in Wisconsin as well as a beautiful longer format piece about a few Northern Wisconsin paddles that kept within the framework of their paddling DVD guides (which we highly recommend).

As far as gear goes, it was a nice surprise to see some tents on display this year. Canoeing and kayaking go hand-in-hand with camping and has generally been an underserved side of the story at the show (well, except for the presentations about camp cooking, packing, etc.). MSR had some great lightweight tents on-hand (which were quite handsome we might add).

It was also great to see Northwater, Granite Gear and MSR have a slightly bigger presence for gear junkies. We really dug the Outdoor Research booth, despite having a very small footprint, they had some excellent gear on hand as well as a display showcasing once-sister-brand, ExPed who have some really smart and slick-looking gear. And of course, a big shout-out to Badger Paddles for another fine (and friendly) booth showcasing their beautiful craftsmanship.

But nestled in the Southwest corner of Alliant was the real show stopper. The SylvanSport "the Go" camping trailer was on full display (and quite popular). It really is a thing of beauty. They definitely made an impression at the show.

One expectation we had heading into the show was that there would be more stand up paddling vendors with the current popularity of the sport but there were only a couple paddle board/paddle vendors dedicated to it.

Our one huge disappointment was the absence of GoPro who was listed as one of the exhibitors in the guide. We were looking forward to playing with the GoPro II (and possibly leaving with one as well) but we'll just have to grab one locally. Also, it wouldn't be a review of Canoecopia if we didn't make it known that we'd love to see GSI Outdoors attend.

So we didn't leave with any big-ticket items (although there is a Astral PFD that's haunting me. They might make the best looking PFDs on the water) but what we did walk away with was a ton of great info to inspire the season in front of us and a desire to get on the water as soon as possible. It really was a great weekend. Paddling people are the best kind of people.




Fantastic display at the MSR/Sealine/Thermarest/Platypus booth.




This dog treks it to Canoecopia every year.


Mark Morrall prior to getting a Canoecopia wave started.


The SylvanSport "the Go".

The big event begins in only three days! Here are the 3 things we're most looking forward to at Canoecopia this year.



1. Wilderness Systems
Because we're huge fans, of course.

2. Morrall River Films
We're also big fans of the paddling films by Mark and Merri of Morral River Films and we can't wait to hear them speak outside of our DVD players.
Saturday: 2:30 Superior
Sunday: 10:30 BWCA

3. GoPro
This little camera has made inroads to nearly every retailer in town but it's great to see GoPro make it to Canoecopia this year. Hopefully, it'll also make its way onto my kayak soon (And full-disclosure, we're gunning for a sponsorship).

Paddling Northern Wisconsin and Paddling Southern Wisconsin by Mike Svob are both back in print and in stock through Big Earth Publishing. The recently hard-to-find books have been going for some rather outrageous prices but it shouldn't be long before they make there way to amazon, bn.com or on the shelves of Rutabaga. In the meantime, you can order directly through Big Earth Publishing for the $22.95 retail price. If you don't already own it, it's the must-own resource for canoeing or kayaking Wisconsin.

We mentioned back in September that this was the planned timing of the 3rd edition but we don't have any further info on what additions have been made.

Paddling Northern Wisconsin
Paperback: 978-1-931599-86-3
Retail: $22.95

Paddling Southern Wisconsin
Paperback # 978-1-931599-77-1
Retail: $22.95

One more video for the calendar year. Here's the Crawfish River trip from September. It was a rather uneventful paddle, but it was a day on the water nonetheless.


Crawfish River
Milford to Jefferson
September 16, 2011