There is nothing quite like a warm shower and a bed after a day of rain in a canoe! This weekend was my Wenonah Wee Lassie (a “new to me” canoe)’s first river trip. My friends and I met at Tippy Dam campground Friday night with plans to paddle Saturday, dispersed camp along the river, and finish up at Rainbow Bend on Sunday, about a 17-mile paddle in total. The forecast was clear until Sunday afternoon, and we were looking forward to a great weekend!
We stayed at site 1 at Tippy Dam campground, which had a filtered view of the dam pond. After setting up my tent, I relaxed and read in my hammock until the rest of the group arrived. After Doreen arrived, we started a fire so that I could roast a bratwurst for dinner, and Joe and Ashley arrived shortly after. We enjoyed a pleasant evening around the fire. I discovered that I had left my electronics bag at home, but the full moon was bright enough that a headlamp wasn’t necessary, and I also had a small flashlight in my peanut butter jar turned survival kit that I had recently outfitted to bring in my boat. (Thank you, Paddle Antrim instructors, for that tip!) After a lot of book talk (“Calamity Club” and “I Cheerfully Refuse” are two of the titles I recall discussing) and many updates on each others’ lives, we went to bed, with plans for a relatively lazy morning to follow.
That night, the full sturgeon moon cast shadows on the forest floor, and the stars were bright. I normally do not love car camping, but this was a nice experience. While the campground had a quite a few sites full, it was still relatively quiet. In the morning, we had a fire, chatted while we drank our coffee and packed up camp, and eventually left to drop boats at the launch at Tippy Dam, and stage cars at Rainbow Bend. It was about 11 when we got onto the water. Joe had checked the forecast, and noted that some rain was now forecast for later in the afternoon, but nothing serious.
I had taken the Wee Lassie out on Lake Charlevoix a few times, and on a multi-day trip to the Sylvania Wilderness in July, but hadn’t tried her on a river yet. I was loath to load her up with gear and take her on a stretch of river I’d never paddled before, but after watching a few videos regarding that stretch of the Manistee, I decided it was probably a gentle enough testing ground. I’m still getting used to the tippier feel of a canoe, compared to a kayak, and my attempts to carry out wet exits and entries, to avoid dragging the hull over things that will damage it are often graceless and wetter than they should be. This boat has a seat on the floor of the boat–you paddle it like a kayak, so your center of gravity is very low when it comes time to leave the boat. I’ve learned that getting in and out in knee-deep water is just about perfect. However, in a river, by the time you’re in knee-deep water, the current can be pretty stiff, and sometimes, those conditions don’t exist–it goes from shallow to drop off.
We wove our way through the fisherman at the edge of the river, or standing out in the stream, and began to head downriver. Almost immediately, we began seeing turtles lined up on logs, even though it was rather cloudy. From silver dollar to dinner plate sizes, we saw at least 100 turtles on the trip. A variety of ducks were out, and we heard the irritated chirp of belted kingfishers often, and got to see a few diving into the river. We spotted several bald eagles perched in trees and soaring in the sky, and several great blue herons, standing stealthily along the shore. It was just beautiful; the river reflecting the green forest and gray sky. The river was calm enough that we could group together and chat as we floated along, steering to avoid obstacles, but taking a pretty leisurely approach, otherwise. Other than the fisherman, we didn’t see anyone else. “Maybe they looked at the forecast,” Joe joked when I commented that we hadn’t seen any other paddlers.
We stopped at High Bridge launch to eat lunch and check the forecast again. Joe’s dog, Perra, was glad to have the chance to stretch her legs. As my radar app struggled to load an update, I glimpsed of a giant blob of green spread out over Lake Michigan, signifying a whole lot of rain. We discussed paddling up to Blacksmith Bayou to wait it out, but it looked like it would take hours to pass. “I’d rather paddle in the rain than set up camp in the rain,” I said. One of the forecasts someone brought up showed a possible break in the rain around 5, and we thought if we could set up camp during that window, we’d be OK. We paddled on to Blacksmith Bayou, stopped briefly to check the weather again and check in with everyone regarding our plans. It had begun to rain by this point, and we discussed camping there but decided to move on. My Gaia app noted a campsite between Bear Creek and Rainbow Bend, so we aimed to reach that destination, or stop somewhere nearby if a good looking camping area presented itself.
As we paddled on, jokes about “Type 2 Fun” began to emerge. It was warm enough that it was still a nice paddle, though. It was just a gentle rain, a tiny bit of wind on occasion, and we were still seeing cool birds and turtles, so I was content. We encountered quite a few fishing boats on the river, and they were all courteous about slowing down while they passed us, which was much appreciated. It was nice to see littles with their dad and grandpa out on some of these boats– families outside recreating together makes me happy.
The rain continued, and as we passed the Bear Creek access point, we began to look in earnest for the campsite noted on my Gaia app. We also began to discuss just completing the whole paddle this afternoon to avoid a night of camping in the rain, which appeared to be a sure thing at this point. The terrain was marshy–lots of lowlands and cattails, and I wondered about the odds of finding a decent dispersed camping location that was on public lands. I checked my app regularly to know when we were getting close to the campsite. In the vicinity, I noted some old docks along the shore, and a fair amount of open, grassy space. A small white shed bore a “Private Property” sign. Doreen headed a little closer to shore, while I called, “That’s not it–the sign says “Private Property.” She veered back to the group, and I checked my app, which showed that we had just passed the campsite. I don’t know if this was a campground that had gone out of business or something, but it didn’t look welcoming. “You know how this turns out in the horror movies,” Ashley joked. So we continued on. By that point, we were only a mile or so from Rainbow Bend, and we made the decision to head for the launch and call it a day.
After loading up gear and boats and retrieving my car, we headed to the Clam Lake Beer Company in Cadillac for a well-deserved warm meal. I texted my husband to let him know to leave the light on for me, and drank a few cups of coffee with dinner to gear up for the drive back to Charlevoix. By midnight, I was home, showered, and crawling into bed, listening to the rain continue to patter outside.
Exploring Michigan and other cool places 