Vortex of Death Opened!

Wow, what a weekend!  The water has been holding over 2 on the Auburn Hills gage all week and it looks like it will continue for a while.  I had plans for Saturday afternoon, but Dale & Co. were planning for a 10am launch so I did an early run and caught a shuttle back to the top when they were setting up their trip.  I do not recommend solo runs, but sometimes you have to.  There were only 2 problems, one at the By Pass, a tree was leaning in from river right and you had to limbo through some weird current to get under.  The other spot was the Vortex of Death!

I put in near the Veteran Memorial gazebo on the SE corner of Avon & Livernois at 8am.  The put in area is not so great anymore because you used to be able to cross the walking bridge and get down to a grassy slope and slide into the river.  Now that area is blocked off by walls and there is a bunch of rocks.  I jumped down from the seawall onto a bit of grassy land, but there is not a lot of room and there are rocks there too but I managed to get launched without falling in! 

The trip from there down to Area 13 was fast, I probably did it in 13 minutes as the name implies!  After that I made my way to Rochester Rapid and the surfing was really nice again.  Once you get in there you can stay pretty easy.  I asked a guy on the bank what time it was and it was only 8:30am so I was on track for a 10am meeting at Yates.  Next was Paint Creek confluence and then Voodoo Rapid.  VD rapid was very nice and you could almost take a nap in there while surfing!  Voodoo Rock was just right for a boof move but I didn't get a spin off it.  From there I sped down through Kak and on to Rock Island where I stopped and had a coffee.  Since I didn't have a watch with me I wasn't sure what time it was, so knowing I still had to face the VofD portage, I high tailed it down the river.

The VofD has been a problem for years now and we have been able to keep a channel open on river right, but that puts you right into the middle of the actual vortex when it is there.  Lately logs have been accumulating on the right and making it unpassable in lower water. The right side portage is muddy and involves going up a slight hill and way around back to the water to put in. The river left portage involves getting out at a very precaious spot.  The bank drops off steeply and water is pushing you as you try to exit your boat, not so bad in a canoe when you just step out but quite a challenge in a kayak!   

Once through the VofD portage I was quickly down to the portage at Yates falls.  The gage reading was around 2.4 that morning and the falls still looked pretty nasty so since I was solo, I portaged around.  I guess I'm glad I was solo since I wouldn't want to do the falls anyways! 

Jerry and Dale were at Yates and I got my ride back to the top (A&L).  These guys were joined by Phil and his dog, they launced around 10:30am and were off to do quite a job on the Vortex of Death!

Below is Dale's river report, these guys deserve kudo's for all the work they put in this day.  I wish I could have made the run with them to help, but as I said I had other plans.

Hello Fellow Paddlers 8:43AM SundayTheir are no mandatory portages on the A&L to Yates Park section of the Mighty Clinton River, as of 7:30PM Saturday.
Two troublesome woody debris accumulations were addressed Saturday during our nine hour descent. The majority of our woody debris management took place at the Vortex of Death. A fourteen foot canoe can now go though the former blockage sideways, the annoying portage is unnecessary, at least till it plugs up again.
Our crew, Jerry, Phil and myself, met Dave T, with his chain saw in hand, at the Vortex where we used the wench, Molly, to pull ashore large logs. Two private boats stopped and helped briefly. After five and a half hours work, two swims and two cut fingers it was open again. The most significant piece of woody debris and the last to be adjusted, was a large stump with a portion of the trunk. After all the debris around it was removed it and it was unsuccessfully wenched in, but successfully loosened, Jerry and Kert climbed on it and rocked it and got it moving, both falling into swift water after it spun. The stump was last seen about a quarter mile down stream from the Vortex.More later
Dale
Now for some pictures

Avon & Livernois from near the Veteran Memorial gazebo, notice that corner where there used to be a grassy slope for putting in, not any more.  You can see the drain pipe on river right, it is still good for a seal launch if the water is up into the pipe, I think there is a big rock down there.

 

Panoramic view of A&L

 

View from Rock Island

View of Rock Island

Surfing under the old remnants of the RR bridge just after Yates Falls

The guys loading up to attack the Vortex of Death.  They too Molly the winch along for this trip!

Dingle Head

Jerry cutting the problem at the By Pass

Phil and his dog

Looking downstream into the Vortex of Death jam.  Notice the trees in the background for reference in the next shot that will show the jam cleared!

All clear!

Some of the logs taken out with Molly the Winch or is it Wench? ;)

 

 

 

 

MCR 2.2

It was sort of uneventful yesterday.
Let's see 

Dale, Tom T., John B., Jarret and Rick met for shuttle at 11am and set up a trip from Avon & Livernois to Ryan. Some other paddlers opted to start later and do the Paint Creek when it got warmer but we have not heard any details of that trip. The weather waffled between cloudy and cold to periods of sun with some warmth. The water was cold and moving good with a gage reading of 2.2 when we launched. Our first stop was just after the high banks where the house used to be, a tree was across the whole river. Dale made one critical cut to open the whole span up and we were on our way. Rochester Rapid

had some great surfing and now with the boat launch just after that there is a good opportunity to "park n play" by taking out there and carrying back to Diversion Street, will have to try that some time.

We quickly made our way down to Rock Island but opted not to stop, in fact we didn't stop until the mandatory portage at the Vortex of Death. We portaged on river left because the right side is muddy and you have to go up a hill and a lot further down river to put back in. The left side portage was "squishy" but there is a path of sorts that we cut through on our previous trips. This take out is a bit difficult because of the steep and deep bank, but the put in and path to it are a lot easier than river right. Shortly after that we had to portage around Yates falls, they didn't look too nice to run!

There were no other mandatory portages or woody debris management sites for the rest of the trip. We stopped at Camp Island and made a fire. Dale had a natural Swedish fire log - a hollow log that he saturated with wax and we doused with kerosene. This log was placed vertical on top of some kindling wood and we quickly had a nice warm fire. We were all impressed at how good this log worked and had a discussion on how to make logs like this from whole logs, we'll see what we come up with.

From the island we quickly arrived at Ryan road and ended our trip. Not too much excitement on this trip, but as usual it was a good trip and the fire was the highlight of the day.

 

Here are some pictures from yesterday's paddle trip.

 

At the "Ancient Ruins" by Kak rapid

A little in boat woody debris management

John B after the Falls

Vortex of Death as viewed from the river left portage

Camp Island with the Swedish Fire Log

Jarrett

Dale

Tom T.

 

 

 

 

April Showers

Well we've had a lot of rain this month.  Last weekend we paddled on Friday and Sunday.  Friday April 14th the river was "up", around 2.4 and a good ride.  We went from Avon & Livernois to Yates.  Dale in his canoe and Tom T. in his kayak joined me for a fast run.  We met a guy named Ken who was checking out our boats and we may see him on the river some time.  There were no portages, but only because the water was high enough to run over anything and we were able to pull over some logs at the Vortex of Death.  The Vortex will be needing some woody debris management, thought is to open up the left side where the river used to run and let everything collect in the Vortex.

We were busy on Saturday, not sure if anyone made it out, but we did have another trip on Sunday the 14th.  Dale, Richey, Tom T., John B, Jarret and I made the trip from A&L to Ryan.  We met Jeanee H. at the put in and she may join us on a future trip.  Several spots along the way were woody debris managed, including some around Area 13 and the stretch just before the high banks where the house used to be.  There was some good surfing in Rochester Rapid.  The new landing under Rochester road is nice but could have used some rocks to block upstream to give cover when trying to get in or out of your kayak!   The Falls at Yates were nasty looking, I had my creek boat and perhaps it "could" have made it over without incident, but I was not feeling up to finding out so I portaged around! 

Just around the bend after Avon road we ran into Ruth and chatted with her for a few. An Oakland County Sherriff asked Dale if he had a life jacket with him, he did.  The officer also asked if we could bring a canoe across from the other side that some canoeists decided to leave there as they hiked back around, all wet and cold!  We got the boat back across without incident. 

Further down the river we had a spot that is always a problem being a problem.  River right was managed with the Stihl chainsaw and then Dale also opened up the middle a little by cutting on a log that spanned to river left.  A short distance down from there we came around the corner where there was another canoe in trouble!  This one was up against a log jam and there was a tree jammed into the bow handle and the deck.  Dale had to cut the limb to free it up and it took all of us quite some time to get it free.  Two fishermen told us the owners had started hiking toward the end, but we never did find them.  We have the canoe and will see if we can get it back to them.  We stopped on the bank and made a fire to warm our hands and bodies up a bit.  It was actually getting pretty nice out, considering there was some snow like precipitation coming down earlier on the trip.  The rest of the trip to Ryan was pretty much open, one spot I recall required a little bit of speed to get over a log.

As I am composing this post tonight the TV20 news just showed the river at Heritage Park on Van Dyke, it was going over the canoe landing, all you could see were the rails!  The river is supposed to crest tonight and we have a trip planned for tomorrow, but it will be a cold one since the high will only be 46 degrees tomorrow!

So far it sounds like we will only have a few seasoned paddlers tomorrow, so it should be fun.  The plan is for an A&L to Ryan run.

Here are some pictures from the last couple of trips.

Ken checking out the boats at the put in behind the Dr. Offices at A&L

Bloomer Bridge with some new wood.

Dale pushing through the Vortex of Death, river left route.

Yates Falls at 2.4'!!!  We did not run it!

Tom, myself and Dale at the put in.

The crew on Sunday: John B, me, Richey, Jarret and Dale

An old log from 2005!

Richey at the high bank where the house used to be at the top

Richey

Jarret

Dale

The new launch under Rochester Road.  Nice but could have used some rocks upstream to block the current!  Kind of hard to take out in a kayak for sure.

At Diamond Splitter (you can see it between the kayak and Dale)  We cleared up the bank a little for future stops.

Kak Rapid, there was a tree going horizontal between the left bank and the tree in the river but we took it out.  Might be able to play here some.

Cutting the problem spot, middle channel.

Here we are getting the canoe off the jam.

Warming up by the fire!

 

See you on the river!