August 27 Betsie - Homestead Dam to Smith Bridge
Lois Goldstein | Published on 8/27/2022
Today Glenn & I carpooled, and on the way to Homestead Dam, we were cruising along US-31 minding our own business. A few miles past Interlochen Corners, we saw a pickup truck about four cars in front of us. It was pulling a large travel trailer, which was fishtailing - BIG TIME - across the highway, . Everyone slowed down a lot, and then the entire thing went across the highway, the trailer flipped over on its side and the truck came to rest - right side up - in the opposing lane. Assuming there were no passengers inside the trailer, we figured that nobody was hurt, though it did cause everyone nearby to slow way down. I had never seen something like that happen in front of me. We called 911 to report the accident, and apparently we were not the first ones to contact the authorities. And exciting beginning to the day! We did arrive early at the put-in.
The group consisted of 9 paddlers, including two new people: sisters Carolyn and Laura, plus Glenn and me, Marlene (thanks, Marv for the shuttle service!), Paul & Irene, Linda P and Sue - whose hubby Gerald showed up with a PFD for Marlene - what a guy! It was a gorgeous day weather-wise, and we shared the river with quite a few salmon fishermen. They were all polite when we passed by, and even helped Sue with her quest to clean the river.
About 40 minutes into the trip to Smith Bridge (River Road East), I was in the lead and encountered a downed tree just below the surface - it completely spanned the river. In my solo canoe, I tired one pass over, but didn't choose the exact right spot, so I hovered a bit, then backed off to ferry back upstream to make another attempt to get over. In the meantime, the troops behind me all eddied out, while Glenn went ahead to scout out the situation. He determined that the only safe way to traverse the log was to assist everyone in getting over. And so he pushed his own canoe over, tied it up and then into the water he went, up to his waist.
All the plastic kayaks went through first, and most had help from Glenn. "Lean back as you approach it exactly HERE, and paddle hard. Then throw your weight forward at the crest". Next came the Duralite kayaks, and I went last in my fiberglass canoe. He was definitely the hero of the day!
We visited the site of the old mill dam, and spotted both turtles and a cool bald eagle soaring overhead. I chose to make the trip fairly short, mostly because we had a few folks who were tired from yesterday's cleanup, or were injured, or who might be hungry. So we finished up before noon, with a few remarking, "Oh, we're done already?" I always consider that to be better than having people asking, "When is this gonna be over?"
Six of us heading to Beulah afterwards to get sandwiches at L'Chayim Deli, and we sat at a picnic table in the park near Crystal Lake to have lunch. A lovely day!
Photos by Irene and Linda P
Homestead Dam, just upstream of the put-in
Our group getting ready to launch: Lois, Marlene and Glenn
Carolyn & Laura Schwab, on their first TAPC outing
Irene and Marlene
Glenn
Paul
Old mill site
Glenn getting ready to help folks over the log blocking the river.
