I have not paddled the Chippewa but am also interested in doing it. At least once a year I ride the Red Cedar bike trail from Menomonie to the confluence of the Red Cedar and Chippewa rivers. This is a spectacular spot with an enormous trestle spanning the junction of the two rivers and huge sand beaches in all directions. It is a great place to have a picnic after a ride. It is a fun place to swim and cool off. It would be a good place to camp but it might be really buggy around sundown as I assume most river campsites are. I just bought an old town pack canoe last week for just this sort of tripping.
Jon