The day began in a rather odd way. We had a ranger from Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore meet us to help with the shuttle. She was very efficient, and took off with 3 of the four drivers 1/2 hour before the scheduled departure time. Nobody noticed that the trip leader was not around when they left. I was rigging my boat, figuring that I had 1/2 hour to spare. When I walked back up to the parking lot, there were NO other cars around! Fortunately, the takeout is only a five minute drive, but I still had to change shoes. Luckily, they noticed my absence and waited until I arrived. We were on the river before my original shuttle time! By the end of the trip, at 2 PM, we hadn't lost anyone else.
The group at the start: Harold, Jim, Linda, Margie, Gerald, Lois, Sue and Pam
The volunteer coordinator from SBDNL had told us that there would be a lot of stuff to pick up, but we were pleasantly surprised in that we found only two big bags. We had several TAPC members who had never done river cleanups before, and they all turned out to be awesome trash-pickers! Some learned how to do back ferries for the first time, and everyone got lots of practice going in all directions.
Highlights included:
Harold and Jim using a unique team approach to pick up a glass beer bottle (one grabber on the neck and the other on the body)
Pam being surprised by a giant salmon hitting her boat just as she was reaching for a beer can
Sue dropping her grabber stick and Harold stripping to the waist to head into the water to retrieve it
Linda retrieving more stuff than almost anyone else on her first trip with the club
Margie not allowing one beer can to escape her grasp
Gerald serving as garbage barge for the rest of the group when their bags got too full.
This is my last river cleanup of the season, and it was lots of fun. Special thanks to all who have helped time and time again. It takes a village.....
Narrative by Lois, photos by Harold Lassers and Jim Breit
Halfway down the river - getting us all to face the same way was only slightly easier than herding cats
One big bag by the time we got to the Fish Weir (another large one by the end)
Jim was on a search for both trash and wildlife; these are his great blue heron shots
Harold captured a cormorant (with his camera)