The Boardman River - Michigan

June 2013
This was our longest day paddle ever!  These three photos show our starting point at Forks State Forest Campground.  It's a beautiful starting point to the Boardman.  The staircase was easy to navigate and the river was relatively shallow, quick and clear.

A view of the river...

 A great blue heron in flight (the dark spot is a smudge on my lens!)

This is one of the bridges for Brown Bridge Road

 Lunch stop...

Entering the former backwaters of the Brown Bridge Dam.  The Brown Bridge Dam was scheduled for removal, and the temporary dam was intended to draw down the pond over twenty days.  Something went awry, and the pond emptied in four to five hours instead.  That happened in October 2012.

 There was widespread coverage in the news, but even if you knew nothing about what happened, floating into this eerie setting you would know something happened.

Huge sandy banks, long stretches of stumps, and a peculiar lack of tree cover.  Our trip was June 2013 - just a year and a half after the event.

According to one official, the water held in the Brown Bridge Pond and Sabin Pond can heat up the water temperature by at 8 degrees.  Warmer water, less oxygen, less trout.  (The interview can be seen here.)

Found all over the newly exposed sand...old world swallowtails

 And this monster of a snapping turtle!  There was another one around the next bend but I couldn't get focused quickly enough.

 Below the former Brown Bridge Dam

 Under the railroad tracks

 The river is quick and there are quite a few low bridges (personal driveways) that could be true obstacles in high water.  This one, created from a rail car bed, was photogenic and quite easy to pass under.  Several bridges were quite tight and left no time for photos.

So now it's time for a confession.  We parked our car at the Shumsky Road Public Access for our take out point.  While dropping off the vehicle, we did a cursory check of the area.  A crossing that looked like a former train bridge, a port-a-potty graciously provided by a Traverse City paddling club, a small but easy access to the river.  Right, let's get moving to our put in.  We paddled for hours through all of the beautiful scenery, wildlife sightings, riverside lunch, the washed out dam, under the bridges...and slipped right by our takeout point.
The river has been moving faster because the impoundment is gone.  Turns out there was supposed to be a sign on that train bridge crossing.  Folks, that was no excuse.  The blame lies squarely on our shoulders.
So we paddled on.  And on.  And on.  We had the conversation about missing our takeout.  We paddled right past two kayakers taking out Beitner Road Bridge.  Of course there's no sign there either, but we gave a jaunty wave and the kayakers lifted a beer in our direction.  And off we went down Beitner Rapids.
As the river pace quickened and the noise from the faster water could be heard, we dropped to kneeling position.  Even as amateurs, we always tie in our lunch cooler & dry bag with extra clothing.  It was exhilarating and definitely got our blood pumping.  Keep in mind this is an Old Town canoe that's sixteen and a half feet long.  Not exactly intended for this type of water.


According to my trusty paddler's bible (Canoeing Michigan Rivers, by Jerry Dennis & Craig Date) there is a foot bridge at the site of the old Keystone Dam.  We pulled out after that particularly fast stretch of water, and looked up at this enormous hillside with a very long set of stairs.  Hmmm...no footbridge (may have been destroyed after the Brown Bridge Dam failed)...and there's no way we're carrying an 85 pound canoe plus gear up that thing.  So back into the water we go, through more fast water.

We ended our trip in the backwaters of Sabin Dam.  Some areas were incredibly shallow (due to the sediment washed downstream), and as the front man I got to read the water patterns and push us into the best channels.  It was so silty & soft, I had a bad feeling if we ran aground we wouldn't walk - we'd sink up to our knees.  Waiting in Sabin Pond was a great surprise - a pair of loons with their two babies.  I snapped a photo and took a short video (shaky, with a dirty lens).  We spotted loons on the lakes at Rifle River Recreation Area years ago, but this was the first time I ever heard a loon's call.

After pulling the canoe up the embankment near Sabin Dam, we assessed what gear to leave behind and how far of a walk we were facing back to our intended take out point.  One dry bag with some extra clothes and the car keys, two bottles of water and a 4.5 mile walk back to Shumsky Road access as our shadows were getting long.  Somewhere along that long walk we realized the trusty dry bag had ripped - oh please oh please let those car keys be in there - they were.  Just another heart pounding moment on this trip.  Just when we were in sight of our car, a friendly neighbor pulled up next to us and asked if we needed any help.  She told us the river had been running faster than years previous, which would account for some misjudgment on our part, and that the sign indicated the Shumsky Road takeout was not hung on the preceding bridge as in previous paddling seasons.

A few "duh" reminders:
- bring a river map and perhaps even a road map
- scout landmarks and other clues to your takeout point instead of relying on signage
- bring a little cash in case you need to bum a ride for a long walk

River notes:
The former Brown Bridge impoundment is wide open with no tree canopy, which could be brutal in the heat of summer.
It's flowing a little faster, so subtract time from what is published in the Michigan river bible.
Definitely would consider running Beitner Rapids again in the canoe, but definitely *not* at the end of an 8 hour day on the river.

Care to share your own story about the Boardman?  Feel free to add a comment below.  Thanks for reading!

Killer whales + kayaker #wildlifeencounters #donttrythisathome

This definitely qualifies as too close for comfort in my opinion! 


This was originally posted on Yahoo! news. The fortunate kayaker was Louis Jobidon, in the waters near Hornby Island, British Columbia.  Kudos to Louis for keeping calm (I would be frozen in fear).

Marquette County speaks French

The first thing that grabbed my attention was the image.  A little fire on the beach, a beautiful sunset, a kayak paddle...  That's where I need to be, I thought to myself.

Love the tagline for Marquette County - "What's your human nature?  Find it here!"  Kudos for the Pure Michigan logo, social media Pintrest, Twitter and Facebook...and even a QR code for your smart phone.  These folks are ON IT!

One little mistake though.  A singular lens.  The plural, two or more lenses.  After checking with my favorite English major and a dictionary, there is no single "lense".  She suggested (tongue in cheek) that perhaps it's a French spelling.  Because she is of French-Canadian descent and grew up in the upper peninsula she can get away with this suggestion.

Perfect portage by Midwest Living

Spotted this promotional photo in Midwest Living, and just had to share.

Paddles anyone?  How about those PFDs?  And that is the widest, best maintained portage trail ever!

Let's give them the benefit of the doubt - this is the long, beautiful path from a parking area to the water.  Without a doubt this is the first of many trips back and forth to the car for the rest of the gear!

Maya Angelou quote; a rainy day paddle

Quote originally printed in the April issue of Midwest Living

If we apply this Maya Angelou quote to those who canoe and kayak...

You can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles a rainy day on a paddling trip.

Despite the idyllic images in our head of that beautiful trout stream, the secluded lake with the sunlight dancing on the water, or the morning mist lifting to reveal the perfect nature scene...it's gonna rain.

Maybe not on your first trip, maybe not on the first day, and if you're lucky maybe without lighting!  Researching the forecasted weather conditions will certainly help you be prepared.  Knowing what to expect with high and low temperatures and the possibility of rain will affect how you dress for your paddling trip and what you pack.

What are the odds of winning on a typical lottery scratch off ticket?  Less than 1% is pretty common.  Yet it's in our nature to start spending the winnings in our head the moment we have that ticket in hand.  If the forecast calls for a 20% chance of rain, that's more likely to happen that winning the lottery - so start thinking about that experience.  (Not as exciting as the lottery winnings, right?)

This paddling crew always brings rain gear.  Our "Frog Togs" are tightly rolled into the carrying sack and smashed into the bottom of a dry bag, buried under our disaster hats, lunch, bug spray, binoculars, etc.  They're not terribly fashionable - in fact when in full rain gear we look like giant Smurfs - but after twenty minutes of rain your sense of fashion is balanced by your sense of comfort!

Aside from your gear, it's attitude that will truly set the tone for your rainy paddle.  Get your mind wrapped around the idea that you may get rained on, and remember to be especially polite to your paddling partners when you're a little uncomfortable.  You can play the "it could be worse" game out loud or in your head.  It could be raining harder.  It could be a tornado.  It could be raining and you tipped your canoe or kayak.  The ultimate worse case scenario?  It could be this very same weather and you're stuck at work!

Paddling a canoe in Safe Haven - try again folks!

Last night I caught the trailer for the new Nicholas Sparks movie #SafeHaven.  It seems to follow the Sparks theme of new romance, water, agonizing decisions and so on.

Buried in the movie trailer was a snippet of the two main characters canoeing.  Kudos for including a paddlesport!  However shouldn't someone on the writing staff or movie crew known (or researched) that when two people are paddling a canoe, both people face forward!?

One could argue that the flatwater environment means very little work for the front seat paddler, especially when every stroke is backwards.  Perhaps there are few obstacles in this flatwater environment - no sunken logs, no tree stumps, etc.  However, it makes for better movie making if the two love interests can look deeply into each others eyes...maybe next time they'll get a rowboat.

You can watch the trailer here... the canoeing sequence begins around 1:21.

Humpback whale with a canoe in Hawaii

Just a little reassurance that this will *never* happen on one of Michigan's rivers or lakes....

 

The type of canoe shown in the video is definitely intended for open waters, and the video is a tad repetitive.  This encounter with wildlife could have gone much worse!

 

Video captures humpback whale 'bump' canoe