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Traverse Area Paddle Club

Remember: all TAPC outings are listed on our event calendar and are color coded using this scheme:

 

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Trip Reports

Sept. 10 Pine River cleanup, Peterson to Low

Published on 9/10/2010
People: Lois, Bob, Karen, Mariah, Angie, Judy and Fred

John couldn't make it since he was still nursing a sore back from doing rescues on Labor Day, so Lois & Bob joined forces in the rental canoe, so graciously loaned to us by the wonderful crew at Pine River Paddlesports Center.  Everyone else used kayaks.  PRPC also provided us with a free shuttle service.  In addition, we are grateful to the rangers (particularly Hojo and Judy) at the Huron-Manistee National Forest, for providing the watercraft and vehicle permits for our five Pine River cleanups this summer.

Here we are at the start: a bit cool, but sunshine all day and no wind.  Notice that Karen, Mariah and Judy are rarin' to go!



Quotes of the day:
This bag of trash is up to my boobs.
I smell like a wino.
Watch out, you have a stick between your legs!

The oddest thing we saw was a large deer blind (maybe 3'x3'x6') that had been tossed down the river bank by a nearby landowner (actually by the folks that are leasing his property) - it was way too big for us to pick up, and if they don't retrieve it this fall, then it will have to be cut up and hauled out in pieces next summer.  I'm not quite sure why the perpetrators are not being held responsible for the disposal.  I need to ask the rangers about that.

I learned that it is really hard to get photos when you are involved in a river cleanup, especially if the group is small and you have a lot of stuff to pick up.  I now have much more respect for the folks who usually take pictures on these expeditions.  I even forgot to get a shot of the 4 Subarus - obviously the official car of the TAPC (Mariah even brought hers from Boulder CO).  I had a camera with me, but never could take the time to get it out just when I needed it.  For example, when we went in to pick up a throw pillow, I felt badly that I had to dislodge the cutest little green and brown frog who thought it was his personal perch.  By the way, you have no idea how much a waterlogged mud-covered pillow weighs!  I stomped on it for a while, but it still weighed a ton, and smelled awful!

Bob was amazing as he climbed up steep banks and into dicey log jams, but he picked up gobs of stuff that was hidden in the depths.  We didn't use the spear that day.  By the time we could see cans on the river bottom, we were pretty tired, and the spear was buried under several big bags of trash in our "garbage barge".  Six hours is a long time to be constantly turning your boat around and going after trash.  It was really helpful to have our companions point it out before we got there.

We ended up with 8 large heavy bags of trash, a bit disappointing since we had cleaned this section on July 30, though not with so many experienced paddlers.  It has been a hot summer, so there were lots of beer cans and water bottles, plus a wide assortment of shoes.  My favorite was the hot pink flipflop with the big flower on top.  We found a driver's license (Bob called the guy later, only to find that he had already replaced it), a canoe paddle (which we will give to the fine folks at PRPC), a tiger print beach towel, fresh chewing tobacco (complete with directions - "Enjoy for up to 30 minutes, no spitting required"), and a lot of cold fresh beers.  Too bad that M&M were out of town - all the beer got tossed out, even the "Fat Tire" one.  Here we are at the end, tired but still smiling! (Photo by Angie)



Our next Pine River trip will be just to look at the scenery.  Oh - "Pinball Rapids" is no more - we barely noticed when we passed through it.

I would like to thank all the people who have helped with these cleanups this summer; we simply could not do this without you, and the river is SO much better than it was several years ago.  Most folks who just travel down the river never see any trash, and we can thank all the river cleaners for that!

Written by Lois
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