May in March!

The unseaonable weather in March feels more like May with highs in the upper 70's!  A group went out on St. Patrick's day and then again the day after. 

Here is Lori Miller's account of the St. Patrick day paddle:

On what started as a foggy morning, 6 people and one blind dog named Daisy Duke put in at A&L. For two of us, this was our first time with the group. At first we did not know what to expect but quickly felt at ease. The river was flowing at a manageable 166 cfs with a gage height of 1.9’. Full sun appeared about half way and made the day very comfortable. We enjoyed a variety of rapids and took a few breaks at some nice resting spots. We had one paddler went in the water, but he quickly surfaced, not sure what happened there. And lucky for us, our guide kept the loppers and chain saw going as needed to keep the path clear. We ended our trek at Coyote Joe’s 4 hours after putting in. Looking forward to the next rip down the MCR.

 

 Daisy Duke!  She's blind but brave!

 A motley crew!

 Jerry showing us how it's done!

 Jerry demonstating the 1st part of the roll!  (the easy part!)

 Jerry initiating the roll, or the swim!

 Richie

A little tight through here when a barge decides to turn sideways! ;)

 

On Sunday March 18th, the same Avon & Livernois to Ryan Road trip was run by several paddlers in two groups.  Two guys launched before our group, we saw them at Rochester Rapid, but never saw them again!  Nancy, Dave and their friend Rob launched with us, but soon got ahead and continued on thier own. 

 

 The rest of us comprised a group of 11 boaters: Dale, John, Rene & Jerry (along with Zoe the beagle) were in canoes, then in kayaks we had Steve, Phil and Dallas riding on 'sit on top' kayaks, Jarrett, Tom, Rob, Richie and myself (Rick) were in whitewater kayaks. 

 

 The skies looked like a thundershower might be coming in, but the day was nice and it warmed up quite a bit, then the sun came out and it really got hot!  Dallas (Steve's younger brother) felt the need to immerse himself in the river for a breathtaking swim just before Area 13.  We surfed a lot at Rochester rapid and didn't stop until Rock Island.  After that we made it down to Yates where I ran the falls, then continued on to Ryan road.  Steve showed us how to stop mid-river/mid-stream up on top of a log!  The trip was about 4 hours long and thanks to our Shuttle Bunny Betsie, all our cars were at the end.  A few of us stopped at the Coachman Inn for a bite and enjoyed the 'specials' ($4 burger or corned beef & swiss, with fries!)  It was a great day on the river and my first outing since the 1st of the year.

 

Shuttle Bunny Betsie (at the far end) of the construction for the new bridge at Avon & Livernois

 The whole gang!  Rob, Phil, Richie, Nancy, Jarrett, Dave, (kneeling) Steve, Dallas, Rick, Dale and Rene

 Tom Tucker blasing through Rochester rapid

Steve Cavanaugh logged on in the middle of the river!

 

Surfing Rochester Rapid

 

Spinning out of control in the 'Vortex of Death'!!

 

Running the Falls at Yates, my point of view!

 

The view from shore of the Yates dam run

 

Hoping we get a few more runs down the Mighty Clinton River before the trip down to TN on April 18th, stay tuned!