June 17 N Branch of AuSable Non-Cleanup
Sara Cockrell | Published on 6/17/2020
Our paddle leader, Norm Fred, had to cancel his participation at 6:11AM this morning due to an injury, but by 7:03, we forged on with his Annual Clean-up on the N Branch of the AuSable from Lovells to N Downriver Rd. Marv provided our shuttle back to the put-in, and off we went, our group of 7, with Mike R as “sweep”. This section of the river usually has a lot of shallow gravel bars, but at 200 cfs & 3.1 ft gage height, the conditions were great, with some riffles & deeper downstream. We passed a few fishermen, a muskrat, several gosling families, a blue heron, many blue & yellow flag iris, a few marsh marigold & 2 beaver dams. All made it under the low bridge, though one barely, with a last-minute save. In all of the years I've paddled this section, I have never noticed all of the tamaracks, which would be so golden in the fall. What a great day on the river with TAPC friends!
Trip report by Sara Cockrell, photos by Sara & Jocelyn Trepte
Fishermen near Lovells put-in, photo by Jocelyn
Yellow & blue flag irises, photo by Jocelyn
Pumping water out of kayak after wet exit at lunch stop
Birdhouse across from lunch stop, photo by Jocelyn
Physical distancing while paddling
Paddling around many islands on the river
Many gosling families, photo by Jocelyn
Yellow Lady's Slipper, photo by Jocelyn
Jocelyn ducking under low bridge & Mike getting ready to follow, both perfectly executed
Sara Cockrell, Marlene Puska, Peter Melcarek, Mike Rodenberg, Natalie Melcarek, Linnaea Melcarek,
Jocelyn Trepte & shuttle driver, Marv Puska,
posing at N Downriver Rd take-out with very little trash collected from the river
