May Day May Day May Day

Hey it's May!  Happy Sinko de Mayo! (Updates Below: Pictures also Added)
I'll have to check my Dale Mail's and see exactly what has been up since last month, but Dale and Jerry, along with Red Boat Tom have been hard at work as usual keeping the channel clear!  Yates to Heritage Park on Van Dyke is pretty much clear and the timing of high water and my schedule has kept me off the river!  The other night (Thursday May 3rd) some pretty strong T-Storms rolled through and the Auburn Hills gage hit around 4.6!  We have not seen that level for quite a while.  As expected there are some new obstructions.  There is a HUGE tree across the river right after Rochester Road.  After you cross under the bridge and make the left and right turns and through the big whirlpool but before you make the sharp right towards 'the scary part' of the river, there is the an old dead tree that is across the whole river, it's almost 3.5 feet in diameter I am sure!  You can actually walk all the way across the river there.  That will be dealt with soon because the portage is not nice.

(Here is the tree across the river with the guys portaging their sea kayaks!)

Dale and I were finishing up a "Cantina Ride" with the Skiwi Ski Club and were trying to locate the jam when we saw 3 guys in sea kayaks coming down!  We warned them of the obstruction and actually found it just as they were coming across it.  The portage is on river right, but a little tight since it is right at the problem spot.  They made it through pretty good and we met them at the 2nd Street take out, they took out at the beginning of the seawall.  We gave these guys some info on this blog and the Skiwi club, we'll probably see them around some time.

I'd of liked to been paddling today, but the bike ride was pretty cool and we had a good time.  Tomorrow is the Royal Oak Brewery 'Mug Club' appreciation event where I get to drink and eat free for 3 hours so that is where I'll be, but Dale is supposed to join Jarret and possibly John B for a run on the river.

I can't find my camera so I do not have any pictures to post today, but I'll check for some  pictures from  the Dale Mails and make another post soon.

Here are the updates with some of the activity on the river since the previous post on April 8th:
Jarret took some friends down on the 15th and someone fell in.  On the 22nd the weather got pretty cold and the water was low, (1.39) so no trips that day.  So here are a couple of old pictures from quite a few years ago but not exactly sure when -

Dale styling in a classic Dagger Encore boat

Ed, Rick, Rob & Red Boat Tom

(these were all taken just past Rochester College at the high bank where there used to be a house at the top)

There was a hike in the Bloomer area on the 22nd with the GM Ski Club.  The next picture is what is thought to be the ruins from the base of an old ski jump built back in 1926. 

Here is a couple of pictures from back in the day when the jump was active:

Here is the link for Bloomer Park info:

http://www.highpointnc.gov/revize/repository/rochesterhills/city_services/uploads/BL_Points_of_Interest.pdf

I'll have to make a post just about Bloomer Park some day, but for now, back to the river reports!

A little woody debris management was also done on a quick trip April 29th.   Notice the Green sign in the background where Jerry is cutting, these are the new signs put up by the local authorities to identify exact postions via GPS coordinates in case you are on the river and need to call for assistance.  I think orange or neon pink would have been a better color choice!  (it's in the 3rd picture, look hard! LOL!)

On May 1st, Outdoor Escort's (Jerry and Rene Reis) took a group of Macomb County Sheriff's down the river to survey the Yates to Heritage Park.  The Deputy's used the Freedom Hawk Kayaks (designed by a guy from MI) to go on this trip.  These kayaks have outriggers built into them that swing out from the back and allow you to stand on the kayak and possibly use them for rescue.

On May 3rd Jerry and Dale once again did some clearing on the Yates to Heritage section and were 'cuttin some cotton' (cottonwood that is!)

That pretty much is what has gone on along the Mighty Clinton River since end of April/beginning of May.  Today a few people are planning to hit the river, but I'll be hitting the Royal Oak Brewery for the annual "Mug Clubber Appreciation Event", I get to eat and drink for three hours free! 

Oh, one last picture of the progress on the bridge work at Avon & Livernois.  They are doing the Avon Road bridge now and as soon as that is finished they will begin on the Livernois Road bridge.  I have heard this bridge will be done around Memorial Day.

Upcoming events will be the June 2nd Paddlepalooza and the June 10th Waterford Section paddle with Lori, Curt and company.  Here are a few pics of them on the "Upper MCR"! :)

See you on the river!