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!