When 10 AM rolled around off US-131 on the Big Manistee, it was grey and rainy. We'd see the sun later that day, but you never would have guessed it from the sky that morning. John H. and Lois G. with their new trailer helped Paul B. spot his truck at the take-out before some of us had even arrived, and I for one was thankful not to have to dwell in the rain. New to our number was Brian Jones - Tracie’s brother, a great addition to our modest group consisting of John H., Lois G., Jocelyn T., Mariah W., Tracie L., and Paul B.
The Big Manistee is Big - which makes it a great river for learning. Mariah was learning to solo canoe with a paddle on the order of 6" too long, and Brian was learning to kayak on a river with a kayak probably a lot more than 6" too short, and certainly 6" too wide. But we both made it look good (if I do say so myself). Jocelyn, perhaps in a nod to our amateurism, was so beckoned by the sight of trash in the river that she managed to pick up an entire garbage bag's worth of clutter in her solo canoe by trip's end. And treasure of treasures! At the lunch spot she found a cell phone and in one log jam she found a camera - a WATERPROOF camera! It's unclear whether a thorough drying will render said camera functional, but it IS clear that Mariah wanted its battery. NOW. Ironically Mariah had taken her camera sans battery that morning, and would you believe that her camera, and the rescued camera used the same battery? Such a 'coincidence' can only be interpreted as a clear sign that some outside force wants her to have that battery . . . . but we'll let the matter rest . . . for now.
By lunch time the sun had begun to play peek-a-boo with the clouds, giving us intermittent sunshine the rest of the afternoon, and shedding some light on the few trees with turning leaves. We saw little wildlife during this trip, but towards then end we chased a great blue heron around a few bends, and we heard the moo-ing of cows (they thankfully didn't grace us with their presence).
When we got the boats up from the takeout, with a now blue sky, Lois proclaimed "Well it's a lot nicer to start wet than end wet!" Thinking that Lois was referring to an accident at her launch, where by her kayak tilted a bit too much, leaving her seat in an inch of water, I promptly replied "But aren't you both?!?" - Only to discover that she was referring to the weather.
It's always a party on the river!
Mariah
