July 1 Upper Manistee
Lois Goldstein | Published on 7/1/2023
Report below.
Participants: Lois & John, Paul & Irene, Pam & Harold, Jacqui, Sara, Jocelyn
within the first hour, we encountered two difficult beaver dams and later there were several that were very easy to navigate.
For the first one, I was in the lead and ended up hauling all 9 boats (with their owners) through a major S-curve. There are no photos because I was up to my waist in the water and pretty much surrounded by foliage. On the next major obstacle, Harold helped everyone choose the best route, which wasn't great, but it was better than slogging through mud and sticks. See photo below.
We started paddling at 10:45, got to lunch just after 2:00. Hungry! Later Harold hit his head on the bottom of a downed tree, and lost his glasses. No one else was on the river except two other kayakers. I'm not sure I ever want to start from C-38 again, since it took so long to get to lunch. But John noticed a place right before the confluence where we could have lunch earlier. Lots of people had saws, but I was the only one who used mine. There were a bunch of people putting in at Cameron Bridge, but they were out of our way. I lost some hangers for the heat shield above my muffler during the shuttle. Thanks to Jacqui who provided shuttle service, and Paul and Irene who took her back.
Photos from Jocelyn
Our "access" on C-38
One of over a dozen beaver dams; all but two presented no problems
Pam threads "the needle"
Harold follows Pam's route
Sara and Irene
Swamp milkweed
This dam required getting out of our boats and pulling them over.
Scouting a route over/through a dam
Perfoliate honeysuckle
Sara picks her way through the brush
A beaver condo development
Fireweed
