We ran 30 minutes late deciding by phone & email this morning from 7-7:30AM if the weather would be safe (thunderstorms forecast) for a 25 mile paddle on the Upper Pine for 5+ hrs. Since it was going to be in the 50-60s, we opted to leave my van midway at Lincoln Bridge, as a back-up. Pine River Paddlesports met us at the Dobson Bridge parking lot for the shuttle upstream to Briarpatch, which is where the rain began. The river was above normal, so fast with lots of riffles, for the 4 returnees (Jack, John, Jocelyn & me) & 2 inductees (Henry & Roseanne), as we paddled bundled in raingear in our solo canoes, 2 Wenonah Argosy & 2 Wenonah Sandpiper, and 2 kayaks. We stopped for a snack on a sandbar across from Skookum, then for a picnic lunch at Silver Creek Campground. It was a L-O-N-G day, celebrated at the Mushroom Bar in Mesick in dry clothes afterwards. Congrats to the Epic Upper Pine Marathon crew!
Trip Report & Photos by Trip Leader, Sara Cockrell
Sara, Jack, John, Henry, Jocelyn & Roseanne at Briarpatch (photo by Jocelyn), ready for the rain
river high so fast with lots of riffles
snack under Jocelyn's umbrella
A whole lotta rain coming down! Bailers & sponges were a necessity on today's paddle.
lunch at Silver Creek Campground
finishing a LONG paddle to Dobson Bridge in the fog