Early Saturday morning a hardy group of paddlers met at Burger King to join Lois and John on an adventure. After transferring some boats to different cars, we were off to paddle an upper section of the Manistee River. John had found an upstream put-in for us where the river is barely 10 feet wide, twisty, unpopulated and seldom paddled. Fred checked the water temperature there, and we all agreed when he told us it registered 48 degrees that we didn't want to swim. The river quickly became an obstacle course of downed trees, sand bars and river restoration structures to avoid. No one took a nap on this part of the trip.
With the current pushing you along this section passed quickly. When a tributary entered from the left, the river noticeably widened though it still was not over 20 feet across. There were a few places where we had to duck under and push over logs. In a couple of places, we had to get out of the boat and slide it over downed trees. Since Bob and I were paddling a tandem canoe, it was a little harder for us than the solo kayaks and canoes, but no one needed help to get thru.
We had lunch at a lovely treed area about half way down. There we met a few paddlers from the Lansing Oar and Paddle Club who were putting in for a day paddle. They were anxious to know where we put in and to explore the upper section also. After lunch we all continued downstream and passed a few fishermen. No one claimed to be having a good fishing day but everyone agreed it was a beautiful day to be outside enjoying this fantastic weather. Several of us had agreed to pick up any trash we found along the way.
There wasn't much to be found but with "spotters" and "retrievers", we worked as a team and did have a couple of bags at the takeout. The find of the day was the "MUSHROOM", a huge styrofoam mushroom that we guessed was a lawn ornament that had gotten away from its home. It was quite the conversation piece. Jocelyn agreed to haul it to the end and Henry took it home.
Thanks to Lois and John for organizing this great trip with beautiful river scenery. I think everyone had a good time: I know Bob and I did.
Sue Sippey