Our trip began at Dobson following morning thundershowers which cleared up before we started our paddle. Mark, owner of Pine River Paddlesports Center, volunteered to provide us with a pre-shuttle back from Low Bridge (our take-out) to our put-in at Dobson. Mark is appreciative and supportive of the river cleanups that are done throughout the year by the Traverse Area Paddle Club. And, we appreciate his efforts to keep the river clear of log jams and safe for paddlers.
Since this was a Monday, with early morning thundershowers, we had the river to ourselves except for one friendly kayaker that met up with us at our Peterson Bridge lunch spot. The first hour had us paddling in warm and foggy conditions. At a gauge height of 4.2 and a flow of 270 cfs (Hoxeyville), we reached our lunch spot at Peterson Bridge in just 1.5 hours. The sun appeared and dried some wet shorts caused by the fun standing waves experienced just above Peterson Bridge (always fun).
The attached pictures, taken by John Heiam, captured our afternoon adventure. About one hour past Peterson Bridge, Kathy spotted a black bear submerged in the river a short distance in front of her. Her surprised scream had the bear retreating to land before the rest of the group had a chance to see him.
Additional wildlife spotted were two muskrats, kingfishers, heron, an owl, woodpecker, mergansers and painted turtle. The trip ended at Low Bridge 4.5 hours after our start. Participants, Tracie, Doug B, Tom A, John H, Kathy and Dorelle greatly appreciate our trip leader Lois for procuring permits, shuttle service and arranging this trip.
Trip Report submitted by Dorelle Ackermann
This is what the river looked like when we started.
After lunch we were in sun!
Another downed tree for Mark and Jake.
