SKIWI Ski Club Paddle Trip

We had just about a perfect day for the Skiwi Ski Club paddle trip yesterday (Saturday June 22, 2013)  The river had been hovering around 2.0 the past week and then it looks like an adjustment was made to the dams by the Oakland County Drain Commission (OCDC) and the level was at 1.79 when we put in - which is a great level.  We ended up with 20 paddlers in 4 canoes(3 solo canoes) and the rest in kayaks.  Nine paddlers rented boats from Clinton River Canoe & Kayak, the rest were private boaters. 

I had my Wenonah Vagabond 14 solo canoe already loaded on the Jeep so after getting up a little early it was just a matter of loading up the coolers & supplies and throwing them in the Jeep.  Amazing how much stuff you need to take to provide lunch for 20 people!  Getting it all in the Jeep was not the issue, we would be taking it all down the river with us so Dale and I would need to carry it all in our boats.  We ended up putting my cooler with my personal beverages in John Z's canoe, that proved to be a slight error early on, thirst is a terrible thing on the river (when you are surrounded by water!)  I did have some soda in the cooler in my boat so when I caught up with John I grabbed a few other beverages!

On the straight away after Yates Cathy from DTE decided to see if the waters of the Mighty Clinton River really are therapeutic, she seemed to enjoy the cool dip she took since it was pretty hot out!  Cathy must also be a member of the Sierra Club as she grabbed onto a tree jutting out from river right to help her exit her boat.  She did fine the rest of the trip and never had another problem. 

We all stopped at one point to regroup on the side of the river before we reached Ryan road.  The plan was to find a nice beach before Ryan and stop for lunch, but we were looking for one that also had a bit of shade and none like that were available so we went past Ryan to the corner just before the pavilion where we found a nice spot big enough for all of us to pull over for lunch.  We dined on Subway subs which the girls at the 21 & Van Dyke Utica Subway (Pam and Jessica) made sure each sub was delicious and even had our name written on the wrapper for easy distribution!  There was potato salad, coleslaw, pasta salad, chips, pop, juice, water and cookies too! 

The river has been groomed and manicured thanks to Jerry and Dale of Clinton River Canoe & Kayak (check out their link on the main page) so it was a great trip from the perspective of not having any portages.  The bugs were not too bad and as the day went on the clouds opened up for some nice hot sunny weather.  I was talking to a few of the paddlers and we were commenting on how the Mighty Clinton River is as good as some of the great ones in the Northern Lower of MI, like the Pine or Little Manistee, etc.  Once you are down on the river you do not see too much of the civilized world and with the foliage all around it can even be quite peaceful with the birds singing in the trees!

I believe everyone on this trip had been in a kayak before, so that helped.  Linda P. had gone out with Dale the week before to prepare for the trip and she did very well, she is looking for a kayak now!  Lee B. paddled with John Z. in a Coleman 15 canoe and I witnessed a few tense moments in some of the corners but they made it through fine, which is good because they were carrying my personal cooler with the rest of my supplies! Tim & Gary had never done the MCR either and were impressed with such a nice river so close to home, their buddy Mario also did great kayaking and had a fine day.  Other paddlers included Brian & Kristine, Mike & Cathy, Jenny, Nancy(who is also interested in getting a kayak now), Lee & David, Lori & Curt, Bill, Rob & Debby.  Debby paddled her Old Town Prospector 119, a 11'9" solo boat, all the way down with her single blade paddle!  She did great and maneuvered right past a few sticky spots with ease!

When we finished up at Heritage park on Van Dyke I had my 13' Hurricane Tampico XL that Brian wanted to check out because he is interested in buying it.  Brian paddled it downstream a little then back upstream around the corner and back to the landing.  He did good and looks good in the boat!  Everyone packed up and started leaving, I got caught in one of the (very) isolated thundershowers!  There was lightening and thunder and huge drops of rain coming down like cats & dogs for around 15 minutes.  I jumped in Dale's van and waited out the storm a bit, then went over to the restroom and changed into some dry clothes before heading home myself.

It was a great day on the river!

I'll probably have to update this posting later after some people send me a few pictures, but I will put a few of mine here for now. 

The Launch

 

Dale

Rick

The Group at the Lunch Spot

Rob, Debby & Jenny

Mike, David & Lee

Linda P., Nancy, Curt, Bill, Brian & Kristine

Notice the spike from the isolated thundershowers!

 

 

 

Jenny

Lunch on the river!

A few of the paddlers heading down

Traffic!

I like the way the tree branch framed this shot

Paddlers through the trees

Curt & Lori

and Kermit!

The psychedelic bridge towards the end before Utica

My view, the Vagabond was fully loaded!

Adjusted Levels & Ready for Saturday!

Looks like the OCDC may have made an adjustment to the lake levels and affected the Auburn Hills gage.  The river has been running over 2.0 for quite a while now but has taken an unnatural dip since yesterday and is now at 1.77, which is a good level for paddling.  I was hoping the level would drop below 2.0 because the Skiwi Ski Club has a paddle trip this Saturday on the Yates to Van Dyke section of the river.  If you are interested in joining us, check the "Current Events" page on the Skiwi site (www.skiwiskiclub.com)  This trip will include your boat rental, PFD, shuttle and lunch on the river.  Kayaks will be $35 and canoes will be $25/person, 2 to a canoe.  If you have your own boat the price will be $15/person to cover lunch and shuttle.  Also if bringing your own boat, you MUST have a PFD for the trip and drop your boat off prior to meeting at Heritage Park on Van Dyke at 10am for the shuttle.  Please do follow the link on the flyer and send an email so we can get you signed up and take your submarine sandwich order for lunch.  Weather prediction is for 90 degrees and a chance of isolated thundershowers, so equip appropriately. 

Thanks to Jerry of Clinton River Canoe & Kayak along with Dale who have this section of the river groomed and manicured, this should be a great time on the Mighty Clinton River!  We will provide sub's for lunch along with chips and side salads, soda pop, juice packs and water.  If you would like to bring your own adult beverage you may do so but please do not use styrafoam coolers, they have no place on any river because if you lose them they break up and get all over the river in tiny pieces!

Gage reading at 1.77 feet, looks like the Oakland County Drain Commission has adjusted

 

 

Sad News

The Clinton river has lost a good friend this week, Oliver Dixon died while kayaking last Thursday night. 

Although Oliver was not one of our regular paddling buddies, I remember meeting Oliver at one of the past Paddlepalooza races, I think it was 2012, he was a nice guy.  Oliver was making a solo run Thursday night on the Ryan to Van Dyke section getting ready for both the Paddlepalooza and Utica Mid-River race that were this past weekend.  We did not learn he was missing until Saturday, he was recovered Sunday night.

Please keep Oliver's family in your thoughts and prayers.

I know we've probably all made solo runs before and tell ourselves we'll be fine, but the reality is there is safety in numbers, especially out on the river, in the bush or wherever else you may go.  I always tell everyone to wear your PFD/Lifevest, it is useless in the boat when you are in the water.  We all try to carry throw ropes with us and have used them.  Get a good waterproof case, like an Otter Box, for your cell phone - you never know when you have to call 911 and for $35 you can get a waterproof case for your phone at places like REI or Bass Pro Shops.  Please be safe.

Oliver Dixon III

Hopping Down the MCR!

Wow, what a day on the Mighty Clinton River! 

I got up early and checked the gage, it was running at 2.23 so I thought the Paddlepalooza was going to get cancelled.  By 7am we were making plans to run the Auburn Hills section and since we had not seen any notice the race was cancelled we figured it might just be running. (note to Paddlepalooza organizers, put out notifications the race is still on when it is questionable!)  We barely made it to the park at Squirrel & Auburn, registered and ran a quick shuttle.  Got back for the start of the race with only minutes to spare.

The race started shotgun style and we were off!  I was able to get into the 3rd place slot from the get go, but with 2 long sea kayak boats in front of me and another on my tail, I soon dropped back into 4th place.  First and Second place had boats in the 15 foot range followed by a 2 person Otter kayak paddled by one guy (Bob) that boat is heavy and wide, I thought I might be able to catch him at some point but only caught glimpses of the leaders as the race wore on.  I was paddling a 13 foot Hurricane Tampico XL (like the current 140) and it was a good choice of boats for this high water run.  The race was really back in the pack among the 12-13 foot boats, I had a guy on my tail pushing me most of the way down the river.

We came around a bend to see a kayak hung up in a log jam on river right and another guy on river left out of his boat, it was the 1st and 2nd place paddlers!  No one was injured or drowning and since this was a race, we slowed down and then passed them by to continue with the race.  Eventually the guy on the bank was back in his boat and caught up with me.  By the time we hit Avon & Livernois, just before the end of the race the guy in 4th place banged into me and pulled himself past me, yes he grabbed my boat and shoved me back!  Not nice, I should have whacked him!  Oh well, it was probably more important to him to be 3rd.

After I took out I went back to the finish line and watched a bunch of the kayaks and the canoes finish up.  The first place tandem canoe team came across the finish line and hit a stump in the water and dumped!  (see pictures below)  We all went over to the Rivercrest banquet hall for hot dogs while the raffles and awards were passed out.  They had some nice raffle prizes, I won a dry bag.  The trophies were nice looking too.

After the race Dale and I followed a worker from Rochester Hills into a sub division to look for a lost boat that was hung up on a log. We made our way into the back of a park (River Woods?) and to the spot the boat was last seen, but it was gone!  Now we know where this place is and it will be a stop spot when we do the Auburn section of the MCR.

That same day there was to be a race further downriver in Utica from Ryan to Van Dyke/Heritage Park so we shuttled Dale's van down to Van Dyke and headed up with the plan to paddle down to Yates and be there by 3pm to meet a group of people and get them launched.  By the time we ran the shuttle it looked like it would be tight to be to Yates by 3pm, so we opted to go directly there and relax and enjoy a few beverages while we waited.  I had hoped they would be there a little early so we could launch and get down to Ryan for the race, but they did not show up until closer to 4pm.  This group had 23 kayaks, a group of friends out paddling for the day to celebrate a 19th birthday.  The group had the parents of the birthday girl and a few other adults and the rest were in the 19 year range or around there.  Many if not all of this group had never paddled before!  We knew there was going to be some excitement on the river but had no idea how much!

By the time the group turned the corner away from Yates Cider Mill, several were already partaking in therapeutic swims in the healing waters of the Mighty Clinton River!  Later, after the run, Dale and I were reviewing the day and decided the problem was many of these paddlers were hugging the banks for a false sense of security and then running into snags and trees on the bank.  Many of these paddlers must have been members of the Sierra Club or similar organizations as they found the need to hug the trees as their kayaks went into them and you know what the result of that is!  Oh, you don't, well if you grab a tree or overhanging branch while in a boat traveling down the river at the speed of the current it will immediately push you down into the water!  This was how every one of the swims on this straight stretch occurred early on. 

I tried to grab a boat and turn it upside to float it and promptly flipped!  I missed my first roll, set up and made the second roll but since I am not used to the boat I was in, the roll continued and I flipped right over the other side!  I made my next roll and lost my hat but quickly retrieved it.  I was not sure what to do about all the carnage floating down the river.  I got a few boats over into some eddy's and also a few paddles, then paddled ahead and got out of my boat so I could snag some boats as they floated by.  A few of the kids were able to pull over by me and I helped them to get their boats emptied out, but we had no paddles!  Eventually one guy went down without a paddle but we got a stick to him later and then Phil & Stephanie dropped off a couple paddles. 

When I got down to the spot near the end of Holland Ponds where the river makes a right hand 90 degree turn that is usually a problem spot, most of the group was pulled out on the jam/sandbar.  As I approached this area I tried to get a paddle to the guy with the stick but he was already into the swift water going into the log jam above this sandbar, I yelled for him to lean to his "right" but then had to tell him to lean to "his other right"!  He leaned left and was quickly experiencing the feeling of being liberated from his kayak!

We took a small break on the sandbar.  A girl named Rachel and her friends were already there helping the group (Thanks!) so we got everyone regrouped and launched again back down the river, we needed to get to Ryan road because at this point on the river there is little if any trail on river left.  Not too far past there as we came around Rock Island II, a guy (Eric) was hanging onto the tree in the water on river right.  He had lost his paddle and his glasses and was using a stick, but the stick was not enough of a tool to get him through this corner.  I used my throw rope to give him a tow and get him onto Rock Island II.  I told him his best bet was to try and work his way back up river until he could find the better trail and head back to Yates, but as it turned out without his glasses he could not make much progress.  Rachel and company came by and let him use their cell phone, later Jerry paddled down to him and got him to Ryan.

I paddled along with Eric's wife, she was doing pretty good and got through a few tense spots.  When we came around the corner at the last hard spot where you can see Ryan Road, several people were on the bank.  Eventually we got them all down to Ryan.  Eric's wife decided to continue on to Heritage/Van Dyke because some of the kids had gone on down.  Samantha and a few guys went down too and eventually had to rescue a few other people.  By the end everyone made it out alive.

Dale and I decided (wisely) to pull out at Ryan, we were physically beat!  Jerry dropped us off at Yates where my Jeep was and Dale took Phil's truck down to Heritage then picked up his van and met me back at Coyote Joe's on Ryan.  We sat on the bank and enjoyed a few beverages when Jerry & Eric paddled up.  We shuttled them back to Heritage then Dale and I stopped at Al's Hideout on Van Dyke and Utica, I had never been there before, we had some burgers and then went home.

Now for the bad news.  When we were at Heritage earlier in the day, the police were telling us that a guy had locked his bike to the fence and then went up to Ryan to run the river solo on Thursday night, he never got off the river.  With the high levels this week, he may still be under a log jam.  My heart goes out to the family and I hope everyone understands it is not safe to paddle alone, especially in high water, remember the river was very high on Thursday night.

So things were definitely hopping on the river all day long yesterday, it was another exciting day on the Mighty Clinton River!

Here is the photographic evidence of the day, enjoy!

Rick awaiting the start

And we're off!

Had to brace at the start of the race! 

Lori & Curt coming through a tricky spot on the Paddlepalooza race

Kayaker finishing up the race

The first place tandem canoe team

First place tandem canoe team not paying attention!

First place tandem canoe team doing a little swimming!

The result of their swim!

They made it out ok

Lori & Curt at the finish line!  (they took 2nd place!)

Yeah!  They missed the stump!

The short bus

Clinton River Canoe & Kayak

Secret weapon stealth boat!  Wrapped in Tyvek and Duct Tape, hey it worked!

3rd, 1st and 2nd place kayakers (Richard, Bob and Steve)

2nd, 1st & 3rd place tandem canoe teams

Jenny!

The launch into the abyss! 

Stopped on the sandbar

Dale throwing a rope to Rachel

In good spirits in spite of the day!

Rachel

Eric's wife

Phil and Stephanie on rescue patrol

After Work 2.8 and Great!

Once again there were predictions of some severe weather and a flood watch was in effect for SE MI last night.  Doug had asked if we were going to hit the river and I told him I'd play it by ear and check the gage in the morning.  Well the gage was over 4 feet this morning and my boat was already loaded, so the plan was to do Avon & Livernois to Yates after work.  As I left the D I hit heavy traffic on Northbound I-75 just past I-94 and soon learned there was a 3 car accident at Caniff!  That put me over a half hour behind, but Jarrett and Dale were joining us so by the time I arrived at A&L the shuttle was run and we were ready to hit the river!  As we geared up 4 guys pulled up with kayaks and no PFD's!  We warned them about attempting the river at this level and also that the police will issue tickets if you don't have a life vest with you.  They took our advice and headed out to get some PFD's.  After that Jarrett's neighbor and 3 of his friends pulled up with only 1 PFD among them, oh well!  We launched closer to 5:30pm and were on our way while trying to keep an eye on Jarrett's friends.  By the time we hit the bike bridge, they already had a swimmer!  One of the guys was a bit too heavy for his kayak and decided (wisely) to hike back to the truck and wait it out.  Some time before or around Rochester another guy swam and lost his paddle, so he decided to pull out.

As we approached Diversion street the 4 guys who went to get PFD's were launching.  Then as we went through Rochester Road rapid a bicycle police patrolman was on the bank watching us.  The wave was too washed out for surfing and as I went around the corner I saw a kayak at the launch site and a swimmer in the water!  Good thing these guys were all wearing PFD's, between the possibility of a ticket and a swim, it was a good choice!  Before we got to the Scary Corridor another one of their party swam, we think they pulled out since later we came across a couple paddlers who started in Auburn Hills and never saw those guys.

The river was pushy and the level started out at 2.83 and ended up around 2.6 by the time we finished.  Doug did very well for his first high water run.  Hopefully the water will get down below 2.0 for Saturday's rescheduled Paddlepalooza race!  We did see another party of guys on the river who are planning to be at the Paddlepalooza and were also interested in the race going on further downriver on the MCR around 3pm the same day (June 15th).  http://www.utica-events.com/# is the link for the Utica Riverwalk Festival.  Predictions on the weather sound like it could be a good weekend for paddling, stay tuned for more on that!  So you could paddle the palooza in the morning from Squirrel & Auburn to Avon & Livernois, then just paddle down to Ryan for the heck of it and race from there down to Van Dyke after that!  There is some discussion of this going on.

Well it's getting late and I gotta get to bed, so here are a few pictures from today's trip, enjoy!

Dale at the put in, in his Mohawk XL13 also sporting a helmet!

Dale on his way

Rock Island campfire area is getting overgrown!

Rock Island

One of the passerby's we saw while standing on Rock Island

Jarrett's neighbor, paddling Jarrett's old boat!

Another passerby

Looking back at the Vortex of Death after making it through!  (this is pretty much wide open!)

Looking downstream from the last photo

Another quick view back up at the Vortex of Death

Yates Falls, notice the huge boils!  There seemed to be 18" difference between the crease and the top of the boil!!

See you on the river!

Nice sunset for the ride home!