April 2012 Update and Jams in the Park and Indiana Wants Me

The Ryan Road to Van Dyke section of the MCR were open as of March 19th thanks to Dale, Jerry and Tom (Redboat Tom).  The crew has been hard at work getting the river ready for the unclean masses to descend upon, and our friends from Indiana too!  Dale did get down the river on the 21st and cleared out a reoccurring jam.  The weekend of the 24th no paddling took place, weather was on the cool side and Rob C. was the only one who wanted to go. 

Dale made another trip down the river on the 29th and reported no jams on the Ryan to Van Dyke section again.  The trip was on low water, but that would not last long with some bad weather moving in on the 30th.  Dale was on the river again on Friday (the 30th) along with Jerry and (I think) Tom, a cold front came through with some wild weather, it went from rain to wet snow and cold wind pretty quick.  Jerry had fallen into the river and got wet up to the neck while cutting out a jam, they pulled over and built a fire but he never did get warm. 

Jerry got so cold he didn't paddle on Saturday March 31st when we met the guys from Indiana for our 2nd annual paddle.  Mark, Mike, John, Jim, and Steve fom IN came down for a run down the MCR to join Dale, Jarret and I.  We had 3 kayaks and 5 canoes total.  We had already made plans to run Yates to Van Dyke (Heritage Park) earlier in the week due to the unseasonable low water levels. The big storm raised the level up to around 1.45 so we could have made a run from Avon & Livernois, but decided to stick with the plan.  We had a good cool weather run with one spot where it was 'almost' a portage but we managed to pull our boats across the log.  We stopped at the back of Shelby park and used their fire pit to cook up some steak bites, shrimp boil and shish ka-bobs.  While at the park there were 5 younger paddlers who had 3 kayaks and a deflating raft who were running from Yates to Garfiled!  We saw them again at Heritage and the raft had decided wisely to get out and call for a ride.  Somewhere along the way I noticed my Pyranha Burn was taking on water and found a 3" crack in the bottom!  Duct tape saved the day for me, but unfortunately Pyranha will not cover the boat since it is over a year old (18 months) and it has not really been beat on as much as my previous Pyranha's.  At least they sent me some plastic to "weld" into the bottom, also found out West Marine makes an epoxy that will stick to plastic.

Some scouting was done along the Van Dyke to Edison (W of Schoenherr) section within the Dodge Park park in Sterling Heights.  At least 10 jams were observed from shore.  One of these days a bunch of people, more than just our crew, will need to make an effort to clear the river from Pontiac to Lake St. Clair.  Like that will happen soon!  LOL

Here are a few pictures of some of the jams, didn't have a camera with me on the Indiana run, sorry.  Maybe those guys will send some pictures.

These are some of the typical woody debris situations we 'deal with!

Since the water has been low, we have made a few bike trips along the river.  I was pleasantly surprised at the work done on the mt. bike trails in Dodge Park.  So surprised I even tried a 'log jump' and failed!  I thought I separated my shoulder, but luckily it was just sore for  a few days. Dale and I were riding on Good Friday when it happened and today is Easter, it is just getting to where I can raise my arm without too much pain.  I was worried about my paddling season!  (and drinking beer was an effort too!!) ;)  Biking season is upon us, the Skiwi's will start the Cantina rides on April 21st and then again on May 12th.  ( www.skiwiskiclub.com for info check the calendar page)

Rick

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!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

February is Gone!

Well, the month of February flew by without any river trips but lots of decent water!  February is the monthy we typically don't paddle much, but when have we had a February like this?  Did make it up to Caberfae a few times and to Petoskey to ski Boyne Highlands and Mountain, decent skiing all Winter up North, just not around SE MI.  Some friends did get out to various places and were surprised that it was not too bad at Holly, Alpine and Pine Knob. 

Getting ready to head out West with the Skiwi Ski Club to ski Snowmass Colorado.  Could be some great Spring skiing out there, they had 17" in the last week and 5-10" more by this weekend.  (March 3rd)  We head out on Saturday the 3rd and return the following week on the 10th.  Hope to post some pics from the trip, but in the mean time, here are a few pictures and a video from 2005!

January 2012

Water Water Water!  Everywhere! 
Wow, like we have had so much rain in January, but I have not had the chance to paddle any of the high water.  So if you can't paddle what do you do?  Ski and drink beer!

I did get up to Caberfae near Cadillac MI twice this year, once the weekend of Jan. 7th and again the next weekend.  (Sun/Mon Jan. 15/16)  Skiing was good both weekends, but now back to the WATER!  The field and woods out back are really swamped!  Friends were up at Caberfae and Schuss/Shanty Creek this past weekend and all had great snow, but down here it is just WET!  The river has been holding at some good levels all around the 2 foot mark, went up to 2.75 on Monday the 23rd.  The temperatures have been very mild for this time of the year, but soon they say the temperatures will start to drop and the snow will be back.  

Thought we might try and make a run the last weekend of January, but we didn't.  Should have, it got nice later in the day with the sun out and relatively mild temperatures.  Joined Rob to help Dale dig out his basement to put in the weep pipes for drainage in the basement of the 'project house'.  Sunday the 29th brought a couple inches of snow to make it look like Winter again, but now they say it will hit 40 degrees this week and it will all melt! (and run into the river!)


(Caberfae from January weekend trip)

Checking out the overlook with Caberfae Peaks in the background with Bill T and Dale G

I don't often drink Mexican beer, but when I do I drink it with this guy!

Off (Blog) Topic:  Just wanted to put a few notes here about the Motor City Brew Tour I went on with my friend John Z on January 14th.  The trip left from Royal Oak and headed up to Frankenmuth, MI.  First stop was Frankenmuth Brewery where we enjoyed a tour of the entire facility and operation, including the "Beer Cellar" which was part of the original brewry circa 1862.  There was a slight SNAFU with the cooling and dispensing system, so we enjoyed water with our pizza until they opened up some of the bottled beer for us to sample, it was very good!  I was able to get a growler filled with dunkel for Jim E just before the problems began and then got myself a growler of "Batch 69" IPA just as we were leaving when the system came back online! 

 From there we stopped across town at Sullivan's Black Forest Brewery where I got a growler of their Pirate Porter, very good.  Sullivan's brewer 'was sleeping' (or was it "sleeping off" something? LOL!)  so we only had samples there. On the way back to Royal Oak we stopped at The Redwood Lodge (off Hill Road and M-23 exit where it splits off I-75).  We enjoyed a sample pint and others at special 'happy hour' prices.  I skipped the tour here and opted to drink a few beer's with some new friends who John introduced me to and who are also avid MCR Paddlers! We'll definitely be hooking up with this fun group for some paddling and beer drinking!  Back in Royal Oak we finished up the night at the Royal Oak Brewery and ended a great day!

John Z at the "Beer Cellar"

At the Redwood Lodge with John, Curt, Lori, Chris and Jack

On tap at the Frankenmuth Brewery

A "Beer Angel" spotted on the brew tour at Frankenmuth.  (use your imagination, see the halo and white wings?! )

Brewing looks more like a 'science' than an 'art', but we know it's a bit of both!
(notice the "EASY" button, that is the last step in the process!)

Samples at Sullivan's Black Forest Brewery

Me enjoying a beer at the Redwood Lodge

Our tour guides Steve and his lovely wife!

December 2011 and into the New Year

December was a wetter than usual month around here, but there were not as many river trips as you might think.  Here is a river report by Dale on the first trip of the month which took place on Saturday, December 10th:
Hello Late Fall River Enthusiast 11:00PM Sunday
There are no portages required on the A&L to Ryan Road section of the Mighty Clinton River. A blockage at the Vortex of Death was altered enough for a boat to make it through.

A river wide tree crossing the river near the shooting range stimulated a seasoned paddler to use the under the tree method to get by it. In case you are unaware of or forgot, with the under the tree method, one simply runs straight into to it, allow the boat to go broadside against it, waits until the boat fills with enough water to sink, then hang on the tree as long as humanly possible, allowing onlookers ample time to observer the inevitable. Once our seasoned paddler and his boat finished their under the tree maneuver our seasoned paddle did a most excellent boat and self rescue. The therapeutic immersion stimulated our seasoned paddler to paddle at a pace not seen earlier in the day.

We dined on sausage cooked to perfection on an open fire under a bright sun at The Best Beach on the Clinton.
A New Years Day paddle is scheduled. More later
That was the only documented river trip until our New Year Day Paddle Feast, here is a river report of that:
Hello Sports Fans 4:18AM Monday
No portages were required on Sunday's (2.1 level on the Auburn Hill Gage) paddle trip from A&L to Yates.

Their were several close calls, but fourteen paddlers successfully paddled without falling into the river. A fire started before our arrival by our shuttle bunny, was waiting for us at Rock Island. Several folks hiked in and met us. We dined on exquisite cuisine cooked over an open fire and some served on a log.

Unknown to me, prior to yesterday's enlightenment, the Rapid just past the confluence of Paint Creek has a name, it's name is Voodoo Rapid and the large rock in the middle of the river down stream is Voodoo Rock. Although the wind was not brutal at ground level on Rock Island the last six of us to leave the fire heard and obseved three trees crashing down on to the forest floor. Yesterdays paddle trip was the best one this year. More later
Dale

Around the Campfire

The whole group, paddlers and hikers!

The "Stragglers" watching trees fall

The cooking tripod

The New Year paddle trip was one of our best, certainly the most attended so far.  We were trying to remember how many years we have been paddling on the 1st, we are guessing 6 or 7 years for sure.  The river was "right around 2.0", maybe 1.97 or at least that is what I thought the gage was at, in any case it was a decent flow and the surf waves were fun for the kayaks!  We certainly had quite a feast, we had Beef Tenderloin Bites, Lemon Garlic Chicken, Sausages, Ham Roll-Ups, Crab Dip, Shrimp and Beer!  There were 14 paddlers and 8 hikers on the island, quite a party!

The weather started out pretty nice for January 1st, but the temperature was dropping the whole trip and the wind was howling!  We heard and saw several limbs cracking off trees in the woods.   The last of us made it in to the landing at Yates just before dark.  Dale and I stopped at the Coachman Lounge, our favorite after river stop.  Ok, so it's the only one around! LOL! 

Monday morning brought snow and cold weather in the morning, nice that we were able to make it down in as near 'Spring Like' conditions you can get on January 1st!  Happy New Year and See You On The River!

Rick

John Burak, aka  "Unipaddler"

Dale Goolsby aka The Captain (among other things!)

Upstream view from 2nd St. off the bike path using 'pop art' setting

Kak Rapid, or what is left of it.  You can still get pop-ups if you cross under the log and turn sharply around the tree.

Check out the pictures at the bottom.  Here is an update on recent activity on the Mighty Clinton River!

November 2011 was a great month on the Mighty Clinton River with all the rain we had. There were many trips that Dale, "King of the MCR" organized.  River trip dates included (Oct. 30) Nov. 5th, Nov. 11th, Nov. 19th and Nov. 26th. 

I included Oct. 30th because it was Dale's birthday.  We had a nice day on the river and stopped on Rock Island for some fine cusine which inlcuded smoked salmon, shrimp and hickory flavored SPAM!  A couple of the guys decided to check out the theraputic waters of the MCR by imersing themselves in it!  Their comment was that "it took their breath away"!

The trip on the 5th adjusted some of the woody debris and Jim ran the falls successfully.  For the trip on Nov. 11th we took a few newbies and they did great!  I paddled Cindy's 17 foot aluminum canoe with her in the front.  It was a bit hard since the boat had a keel and I have not paddled a canoe tandem for quite a while, also the water was a little on the lower side (at least lower than expected based on the gage reading).  I gave Cindy the 'princess ride' for the most part, but she did great whenever I asked for a particular stroke and we only bumped a few times and she never grabbed the gunnles!  Dale took Mindy in his canoe and she had a good ride that day too.  We didn't stop for food that day, but it was a fun trip down.

I missed the next two runs (Nov. 19 & 26) Dale took Cindy on the 19th and a group of 4 went down on the 26th.  Dale, Rob, Jarret and John B. went down that day, Dale and John held back and had a campfire with some Knob Creek, Rob & Jarret continued down.  It was a beautiful Fall day with above normal temperatures.  Dale and John finished up in the dark but had a great relaxing run down the river.

Now it is December 4th as I write this.  This past week the river hit 3.2 on the Auburn gage, but I had to work, bummer!  It is raining out now and the river is at 2.37, which is a nice level.  If anyone is up for it I may be on the river later today.

That's all for now,
Rick

Me coming through Rochester Rapid Oct. 30th in my Old Town Pack canoe.  (it is a short 12 foot boat and I did take on some water!  LOL!)

Here is one of the woody debris that we typically 'deal' with.

Now you can get through!  (we use the 'free and clear' DNR approved method of clearing jams when we can)

Here we are going around a jam near the Bypass.

Redboat Tom through Rochester Rapid.

Dale's buddy (Gary?) coming through Rochester Rapid.

Jim running Yates Dam

Dale and Cindy enjoying a stop

Mindy and Cindy watching Jarret about to enter Rochester Rapid.  (under Rochester road)

Nov. 5th run from L to R: Jerry Reis, DaleGoolsby, Rob Cooper, Ed Stack and Jim McHale

The picture speaks for itself!  (John Burak by the fire)

Jarret surfing some



Redboat Tom in Rochester Rapid.