The Pine at High School Bridge continued to rise after Wed night & Thurs' heavy rains, so by today, it was up from 4 to 8 ft on the guage, from 350 to 1810 cfs. When we arrived at the Dobson put-in, it wasn't the flood stage that changed our group's mind, but the continuous logs floating by, some the size of telephone poles. Since we would not be able to watch BEHIND us for logs charging downstream, while we were watching AHEAD for logjams too, we all agreed that it was not safe to paddle the Pine today. My friends the Gallaghers stopped by while we were assessing the situation, and told how Silver Creek Campground, where they had wanted to camp in their RV, was underwater.
So, since we decided to head to the Manistee instead, we stopped by Peterson Bridge first, where some tandem canoes were getting ready to put-in. Then, we stopped at Low Bridge too, and again, it was underwater, but no logs were floating down, so there must be logjams upstream. Mark from Pine River Paddlesports reported that several canoes & kayaks swamped, aborted, went for swims today, so we made the right choice.
From there, it was a short drive to Red Bridge, where we loaded Ian & Jack's canoes onto my trailer, and their gear & them into my van for the shuttle to Woodpecker Creek, joining Jocelyn & Fred, who had carpooled down with me. As expected, there were no floating logs since there is a dam upstream, and for once, I appreciated a dammed river! We enjoyed a fast 1:45 hr paddle down in the high water, ending too soon, but glad to be on the river on a warm spring afternoon, together with good friends!
Report by Trip Leader, Sara Cockrell & Photo by Jocelyn Trepte
Fred, Jocelyn, Jack, Sara & Ian sitting on Dobson Bridge, overlooking the flooded Pine River
NOTE: I usually would have checked the USGS again, but there was a last minute, late night change in plans, and I had to hook up my trailer at midnight, so forgot this morning. The river was at a historic flooded level not experienced since 2008, and not expected.