I hit the Nipper (Nippersink Creek) for the first time this season. I know the owner of Rustic Harbor, so I was able to drop the boat in there. It is located almost at the end of the creek where it meets the Fox River and Chain of Lakes.
I love hitting the creek. It feels like you are buried in some deep country creek and you are states away from where you started. This section of the creek has more homes than most of it. The trip started in the back of a neighborhood and we traveled upstream, away from the fox.
As you head upstream, you head further from civilization and closer to nature. The homes start thinning out and the birds and trees start taking over. I have only paddled this section once before, but this time I had a little more time to explore.
Just before we reached the rt 12 bridge and entered the nature section of our trip, we found a little gap in the bank. It was just wide enough for the canoe and we could see that it opened up into a little lake. We put some power behind our strokes and headed into the gap, not knowing how deep it was. We found out that it wasn't deep at all. It was deep enough though. Just enough for us to scoot over the mucky bottom and pop into a secluded lake.
Once we were back out on the Creek, we crossed under the rt 12 bridge, and as if to say good bye to the "civilization" portion of our trip, and Entemmans Doughnut semi truck passed over the bridge. It was pretty comical.
We paddled up under the railroad bridge and into the Canoe Base County Park. Here we saw 4 deer just off the bank. They did not hang out there long enough for a picture, so it was kind of a "you had to be there" moment. It was awesome.
The best part of paddling upstream is that you get to crack a beer and coast back. What took us an hour and a half to paddle upstream, only took us 45 minutes to float back.
We enjoyed every last minute of sunlight that day. We made it out on the water by 6.15 and got off the water at about 8.30. It felt like it was a full day on the water and I still wish we had more time. I love these short trips. They are a great way to end the day. They also give you just enough taste to crave the next one.
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