Mighty Clinton River (MCR) !!: Back on the River!

Wow! It's been a while since I actually paddled the MCR, the gang has been out several times this Summer though. The river has been in pretty good shape this year thanks to Clinton River Canoe & Kayak along with Dale and company helping out! Some of the recent storms have brought down a tree or two along the way though. This past weekend a bunch of us did Avon & Livernois to Ryan Road. The reading on the Auburn gage was 1.6 feet, but it felt lower than that. We encountered several low areas where you scraped a bit and had to push yourself though, but it felt great to be on the river on such a fine afternoon!

Also this past weekend on Saturday, Clinton River Canoe & Kayak held a "Kayaking 101" session/demo out at Bald Mt. State Recreation area at the beach on Lower Trout Lake. There were around 25 or 30 people who showed up and many had never sat in a kayak before! Rene ran the ground show and provided loads of information useful to any newbies interested in kayaking. I took groups of 10 at a time out and demonstrated some strokes such as the forward, back, side draw, scull, and sweep showing them how to get the kayak to go where they wanted to go. I also gave some rolling demo's just to show them what can be done! Everyone did pretty good and no one flipped! I even let someone try out my whitewater boat and they stayed upright too! Check the DNR website and info on Bald Mountain for future "101" free demo's like Mushrooming and Archery to name a few.

Since I have not been paddling much I have also not been posting much. This doesn't mean I'm not out there in spirit and sometimes at events! I did help shuttle friends at the Paddlepalooza event, they all had a great day on the river for the "race". Speaking of race, I'm going to vent or rant a little here since this is 'my' blog. I really wish they would segregate the types of boats for the race. Like 12 foot and under in one class and over in another. The long boats really have an advantage with speed on the river and sit on tops have the advantage when the water is low. There is one guy in particular who has raced for a few years now that uses a 13 foot or so boat and has less than ethical tactics. This year he made it a point to drift out in front of everyone for the start of the race, so we squirted him with a water blaster as he went by at the start! They ought to put the short boats in front of the long boats at the start to give them a chance! Would also make it more interesting. So that's my 2 cents worth on the Paddlepalooza.

Quick river condition update for the A&L to Ryan section. First off, the bridge at Dequindre and Avon is closed to traffic as they begin rebuilding it. Hopefully they will put a turn lane in to help with traffic. So this means you need to take Hamlin Road to the South or for the North take Dequndre to Parkdale to Second St. and back over to Rochester or Livernois to get around it. River wise 3 or so logs were cut out to allow free passage but one large tree down after the Bypass and before Yates Dam has come down from river left to right. A path was cut through the branches on river right to make the portage easier but get over early because there is a gravel bar directly in front and if you are not to the right you can get swept into the jam. A little woody debris management was performed between Yates and Ryan so there should not be any portages there, but as always look ahead and be careful. The take out under Ryan bridge on river left is muddy as usual but 3 12" patio stones were put into the bank to help get up and it does help!

Here are some pictures from the Paddlepalooza and this past weekend.