On July 7, 2010 a team of 7 intrepid paddlers successfully conducted a descent of the raging torrents of the Betsie River from Grass Lake Dam to the Thompsonville Dam. The team had no trouble finding our put in, thanks to an average of about 2 GPS units per person, the trained abilities of the drivers to tell the difference between signs with pictures of canoes on them and trees, excellent written directions and following the other cars with boats. Winches, tow chains, and axes were not needed to traverse the infamous Reynolds Road.
The team withstood nasty bouts of sunshine, grueling swim breaks, and a lunch that was rushed through in only one hour. A popular activity of the day was to place artistic etchings in the bottoms of the boats. The team discovered that the water levels were ideal for using the abundant gravel bars for this purpose. Although we all thought this to be a wonderful artistic endeavor, the river gods grew weary of it and began to grumble their annoyance. When we failed to heed their warning, the river gods chose to add a bit more water to the river. This author selected a most excellent tree to shelter from the outpouring of love from above, but the tree grew tired of this duty and began to leak. Apparently the others made the same observation so we proceeded down river through the rain for another twenty minutes. The rain let up and the sunshine prevailed as we continued our trek.
The trip completed without successfully locating Thompsonville Dam, it having been removed some years ago. Dam! I was sure there was a lake here someplace! I gotta paddle these rivers more often and keep an eye on things! Special thanks to John and Lois for another marvelous outing. Our complete complement was Tracie Lord, Jocelyn Trepte, Deena Barshney, John Heiam, Lois Goldstein, Pam and Harold Lassers.
Written by Harold
Addendum by Pam:
Wildlife sightings included a bald eagle, a night heron, a green water snake perched on a branch mid-river, deer, turtles climbing up a log, and tons of dragonflies and butterflies. We also saw giant clumps of iris and eight foot tall cat-tails. We had a delightful shuttle by the manager of Betsie Valley Canoes and Campground, which provides a much better takeout spot than the elusive Thompsonville Dam!
