Milwaukee has a beautiful River Walk with astonishing sculpture, history, and river access for watercraft small and large. From the Acqua Grylli bronze arch depicting a mythical female figure, sculpted by American Beth Sahagian, to the multiple sculptures of Gertie the Duck. As the story goes, in 1945, war-weary Milwaukee discovered that a duck had nested on the bridge pilings and was caring for eggs. Gertie and her brood evoked a continuing community interest and even a book!

Although power boats ply the Milwaukee River, the kayak access is remarkable, with easy entry from either side of the river. I was also astonished to discover that museums and many businesses were closed on Memorial Day weekend — another glaring difference from tourist-centric Sonoma County, where concealed-carry weapons notices are never found on office doors.

The Hank Aaron State Trail along a railroad right-of-way reclaims the environment and offers access to a beautiful stretch of the Menomonee River for canoes and kayaks.

Leaving Milwaukee was an unexpected challenge. I planned to take the Lake Express Ferry, a 2 1/2 hour ride across Lake Michigan to Muskegon, Michigan. I hoped to rent a car in Muskegon and drive to Detroit for a few days, then on to Chicago. I was dismayed to learn that, not only were there no car rentals available in Muskegon, there were no cars available to rent in Milwaukee! So I took the train to Chicago.

Spent a beautiful Saturday at Lake Hennessey with the Marin Canoe and Kayak club. This is a great winter paddle because this area is too hot in the summer. About an hour drive to the lake and a pleasant eight mile paddle from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. with a pleasant stop for lunch.

Lyz took this photo with her cell phone as we waited for the others.

Lyz has a folding “origami” Oru boat.

This is the path we paddled, about eight miles. The lunch spot, with a porta-potty, is marked in red.

I drove along Silerado Trail to witness the Glass fire burn, and on the way back I took Chiles Pope Valley Rd. I realized that there is still “nowhere” available in this state. The pastures, which are supposed to be emerald green in January, were not because the year has been very dry so far. Not a good omen for this wildfire area.

Deb turner organized a Wednesday outing to Walker Creek which started at the Keys Creek Put-in. Justin joined us to further scout after an outing with Miguel from Marin Canoe and Paddle a few weeks earlier. A cool, 65° day was predicted but it was warm in the parking lot.

There was a 5′ high tide at 12:20 pm, so we put in at 10:30 am and paddled upriver with Justin who would stop and use his lopping shears to remove overhangs. At noon we hiked to the top of a hill with a magnificent overlook of the valley shadowed by the coastal mountains. The sun went behind the clouds and a breeze came up — I regretted leaving my compression shirt in the car. We took a short hike on the valley floor and saw some beautiful owls fly away. My knee-high rubber boots were adequate for the short hike.

The creek is beautiful and lined with a variety of riparian trees: birch, alder, bay, and sycamore. There are many submerged logs, so a 5′ or higher tide is necessary to clear the logs and it was like paddling a slalom in many places. I think my short Kiwi boat would have been a better choice than the 14′ boat. We saw a river otter early in the trip, and as we went farther up, the water becomes very clear. When the sunlight hits the surface you can see the bright green grass growing on the bottom.

On the return trip, we saw some ENORMOUS brown cattle with big horns at the crest of a hill where a subsidiary creek enters. We were all wondering what cattle breed we were seeing. The paddle back took one hour and the outgoing tide was clearly moving, so a shorter boat would have been fine except when transporting tree loppers as both Deb and Justin were. It takes about 45 minutes to drive from Santa Rosa to get to the put-in. This was a sensational day trip when the tides are advantageous! Very beautiful and satisfying, with a real sense of visiting a place rarely seen. I almost didn’t see it — I missed the turnoff to the Petaluma-Tomales Road twice!