Upper Iowa River
The Upper Iowa River is a tributary of the Mississippi River located in the northeast corner of Iowa. This weekend we canoed the most picturesque portion, bordering rolling hills and shear limestone cliffs, from Bluffton to Decorah, Iowa.
There’s a wonderful campground just outside of Decorah called, Pulpit Rock Campground. We arrived late Thursday night. Once our tents were assembled, we cracked-a-cold-one and proceeded to sit around the fire-pit swapping stories and conversing about the news.
We didn’t have any firewood so, I placed my Coleman LED lantern in the middle of the fire-ring, which gives-off a yellow glow when set to low. As the cold night air began to take over and the conversation grew wearisome, I quickly scooted off to bed.
May 15, 2009
A 50-percent chance of getting wet
It was my turn to cook breakfast. I had Salmon patties with mixed fruit prepared. We used Craig’s old rusty, but trusty, Coleman gas stove to reheat the patties. The smell of white gas on my hands while cooking at the picnic table, brought back nostalgic images of my father.
We eventually got on the river. The landing was washed out from last year’s spring flood. Like a regatta, we pushed-off for Decorah. Well, some of us did! Craig’s canoe sat vicariously on a rock and overturned sending Craig head-first into the water. He quickly changed into dry clothes.
No sooner did we start paddling, our canoe turned sideways against the strong current and pulled us into a tree laying across the river. We took on water but never capsized. Behind us, Tom and Josh did the same thing and found themselves cutting through the middle of the tree. We pulled ashore and emptied our canoes.
Back on the river — the rain did come and so did the wind! We slipped on our rain gear and continued paddling. The rain clouds would break periodically — just in time for a shore lunch. We ate our lunch, as we stood on a recently formed sandbar.
Last spring strong floods created many new obstacles. The shoreline was overturned with sand and small chunks of limestone. I started looking for agates. As I sifted through the quarry of limestone and shale I notice — what looked to be a fossilized sea shell. I found three more fossils consisting of shells and coral.
Shown above: These fossils are reminders of an ancient ocean found along the Upper Iowa River in Decorah, Iowa.
When I got back home I Googled, “Iowa Fossiles” and located a Web site that featured similar images — dating them back 400-million years!
For the experienced canoeist and avid rock collector, I recommend this trip to anyone. I’m sure I’ll be back soon.
FML Outdoors.com 
Great photos Scott! Sounds like a good trip.
Scott great pictures and articles. I’ll be back for more.
Your readers in Iowa and Illinois may be interested in short trip down the last leg of the Iowa. They’ll find a brief description and link in my blog. Just click on the bird.