A Romantic Weekend for Two in the Turtle Flambeau

Ams went off to Girl Scout Camp. With a weekend to do anything our hearts desired, my husband and I took our first ever canoe trip in the Turtle Flambeau Flowage. As the day drew near, the weather forecast worsened. With two days of thunderstorms in the forecast, we headed up to the Turtle Flambeau Flowage not entirely sure what might happen.






The fact is, if we were on a longer trip and bad weather came, it would just be. So we drove up to the Turtle Flambeau and were delighted to find it was not raining when we were putting in. In fact, we paddled under overcast skies, and when we got near camp the sun came out.

We set up camp fairly quickly, then cooked a spaghetti meal from ground beef and spaghetti we had dehydrated. We also toasted some garlic bread. Chore time went by quickly and we found ourselves relaxing and feeling free, when a motor boat showed up near camp and some fellows fished near our site for quite some time, watching us in camp. It is funny how in such a large area, others wouldn't prefer to spread out a bit, versus being right in our hip pocket. But that said, they have the right to be there.

The frog that ate the ant - he doesn't look too happy with me.

Later in the day a storm let loose, at times very windy with rain driven sideways. We didn't see boaters for the remainder of the day. In the evening when the storm passed, we did see loons, ducks, and a deer nibbling on a tree. We also watched a frog eat an ant. If you want to check out the wildlife we saw, take a look at our trip video below.

Video of our Trip

We went to bed expecting forecasted thunderstorms that never arrived, and slept soundly. In the morning, we heard loons calling and fish jumping before sunrise. I had some oatmeal with nuts and dehydrated fruit and enjoyed watching the ducks and loons. Watching a family of 6 otters playing in the water tickled me. I wished our daughter could share the moment with me. I watched them for about 10 minutes, until a motorboat came along and scared the otters away.

Rain on the pines.

Of the entire flowage, the boaters decided to fish just offshore from our campsite and made a couple of circles around the small island we were camped on. I made some bacon and toasted bagels and started to clean up camp. At last I heard the boaters start the motor. When I could no longer hear their motor, I assumed they were gone and I went to the open air toilet to at last enjoy a relaxing private moment. Suddenly, I heard a stranger's voice just behind me. I realized they had not gone off at all, but were there just behind me fishing and watching me do my business.

Lesson learned, if you are seeking solitude, you will not find it in the Turtle Flambeau. It is not a quiet place for canoes, it is water shared with motorboats. Other than that, it was a wonderful weekend with my husband, and I was sad for it to end so soon.

That's all for now. Let's get outdoors and keep our wild places wild!

Dawn in the Turtle Flambeau Flowage

Map to out little island campsite.

Update: added map.