Canoeing & Kayaking South Central Wisconsin. Timothy Bauer

      Acknowledgments

      THIS AUTHOR IS INDEBTED to friends and strangers alike who have in some humble or humongous way shaped my paddling sensibilities. Innumerable websites, clubs, organizations, outfitters, nonprofits, private campgrounds, tourism bureaus, and local historical societies have contributed to the effort of writing this book.

      Among the individuals to whom I am ever beholden are my soulmates Ken Baun, who first sat me in a kayak back in the summer of 2008 and still teaches me a thing or two, and Jeff Kjos (a.k.a. “Kayak Guru”), who helped cultivate a sense of paddling wanderlust and DYI “bushyaking.” Tim Carlisle helped me foster the concept of this book from its inception, and Rachel Friedman has always been there with a meal, a beer, and a listening ear. There are many other good folks who have championed this book through conversation and encouragement, chief among them Dennis Harrison-Noonan and Maury Smith. Yet no one has supported me more with stupefying optimism and positive reinforcement than David Sandoval, who lives a thousand miles away and has never stepped in either a canoe or kayak.

      I cannot thank loudly enough Barry Kalpinski, the brain, brawn, and beauty behind the website I am proud to partner with and to which I contribute my writing: Miles Paddled (milespaddled.com). I never would have thought of writing a paddling book without first cutting my teeth on his stylistic considerations and then emulating his enthusiasm for sharing a love of paddling with others.

      Finally, this book is dedicated to Sue DeBuhr, without whose saintly patience and unconditional support I never could have researched these trips nor written a manuscript in the first place.

      —Timothy Bauer