The upper Little Manistee is very different from the lower stretches. The upper river twists and turns like the lower stretch, but the current is much slower which gives paddlers time to react. There are also more cottages on this section, but it is still very beautiful. Here is a photo taken from the put-in at Driftwood Valley (a campground that is now closed)
The forest is dominated by large white pines and eagles are often seen. We saw three fly over, but none stopped long enough for me to get a photo. Cardinal flowers were in bloom, and the salmon were running.
Not many people use this section of river, so even on a sunny Saturday in August we only saw one other party on the river. Jocelyn brought Max, and it was fun to watch him check out his surroundings. We passed one party that had two Saint Bernards in their canoes, and the three dogs just looked at each other. I'm not sure they realized that the other was actually the same species.
Narrative and photos by John Heiam