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Playspot WI Class II

Shift Keys ("SK")

American Whitewater 43.0595, -87.8940

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Gauge Conditions

Milwaukee River at Milwaukee, WI Upstream Primary

Runnable: 120.0 – 9,999.0 CFS

Intermediate flow. Perhaps ideal flows for beginner-to-intermediate boaters (full run or PnP at EPL, UPk, TD or North Ave). (See description for details.)

Data from American Whitewater & USGS

Photo

Photo courtesy of American Whitewater

Description

Shifting more toward center-river (below Carriage Return), a few wider wave/troughs often form (generally at levels 800-1600 cfs). Some of them tend to surge, cresting and flattening out (at least at some flows), which can make them difficult to catch and ride. If your timing is right, they make a great challenge to see how long you can ride a constantly-changing wave!

And, I will confess these may be bending and stretching the analogy just a bit. On the typewriter/keyboard, the "Shift" keys are positioned at lower-left and lower-right, while these waves form pretty much dead-center-river. However, I liked keeping with the 'special-function' keys rather than naming them "V", "B", or "N" waves (after the letter-keys more lower-center on the keyboard, especially since "N-Wave" has been the chosen name for a playspot up in Neenah, at a pipe-outflow/bypass at the dam forming Lake Winnebago.)