When Jack, Judy, Fred, Jocelyn, John and I first launched on the Sturgeon in Wolverine, I thought to myself, "This isn't nearly as tricky as it used to be". Hah! Just as I was feeling so smug, and enjoying a conversation with Judy, she mentioned that we would have to suspend our discussion because she needed to concentrate on the river. About 20 minutes later, we completed our thoughts, and never really had time to go into depth about the meaning of life for the rest of the day.
The Sturgeon has been cleared of the winter's downed trees, but it is still really twisty, with numerous funky eddies that are waiting to turn you around and spit you out. If you're lucky, you won't get slammed into a remnant of a tree. I did get around at least three tight corners paddling my boat backwards. John & I learned to do that with a tandem canoe in 1979, when we attended whitewater school. So while I don't mind practicing that particular skill, I would still prefer to head into a turn with the bow of my boat first. A trip down the Sturgeon is a fun outing only if you can make quick maneuvers with your boat. There were also a couple of spots that have been minimally cleared, and I was lucky that my face didn't get scratched with the errant small branches that remained in the slots I chose through the fallen trees.
We had no mishaps, and of course, Fred and Jocelyn picked up lots of trash, including three paddles, each of which weighed more than all of our paddles combined. Oh, the weather couldn't have been more perfect: bright blue skies, highs in the 70's, and we saw only one other party on the river. Two women were paddling an inflatable "ducky". They bounced off the obstacles, but didn't panic (or yell at each other), and remained upright until they passed us by at our takeout point.
All in all, a delightful day on the river!
Report by Lois
Photos by John