[Ben]

Sunday, Oct. 19. A mild (at least by mid-day!) and windy day. Flow rate of about 525 cfs - Waverly. The river alternates between rocky and sandy bottom - a few areas of scraping where it widens out and becomes shallow, and the water was surprisingly clear. The Cedar is quite a bit smaller here than a bit further downstream- by the time it reaches Cedar Falls, the West Fork Cedar and Shell Rock River have both emptied into it, making it a much larger river.....although with the strong south wind we had Sunday, there were stretches we were wishing more a smaller, more sheltered stream to float! There are nice boat ramps in both Waverly and Janesville to access the river. Fishing was fair for smallmouth bass and walleye, although seems to be slowing a bit from earlier this fall, with the colder waters.









I used one of Peter's solo canoes on this trip, and enjoyed the change / trying something new - and easy access to my "stuff", although there were times the wind had me wishing I was back in my kayak!



We stopped at a nice sheltered spot for lunch where we could enjoy the fall colors, and cooked up some soup over a camp stove.

[Gutwrencher]

Looks awesome...and so does the purple people eater hat....and I don't mean Panthers.
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Paddle Plannage(next 20): Beaver Creek 8-4 (Polk County), Rathbun, Middle Raccoon (Coon Rapids), South Raccoon Overnighter (2nd week August)