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Traverse Area Paddle Club

Remember: all TAPC outings are listed on our event calendar and are color coded using this scheme:

 

Small Inland Lakes   

Great Lakes   

Easy Rivers 

Intermediate Rivers  

Difficult Rivers 
Clean-up Trips 

Out-of-town Trips 

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Trip Reports

August 10 Pine River cleanup, Walker to Elm Flats

Published on 8/10/2016
People: Trip hosts - John & Lois, Jackie, Tracie, Tom A, Marlene, Linda F, Terry M, (non-member) Jim H
 
Assistance by Pine River Paddlesports Center: who provided a cozy shuttle service and supplied us with free loaner boats - a tandem canoe for John & me and sit-on-top kayaks for Tom, Jim, Terry and Linda
 
Finds: Lots of stuff in the first hour or so, just downstream from the Silver Creek Campground, including a huge (4' in diameter) tube from a piece of heavy equipment - which took up an entire large trash bag by itself - only after John used his Norm Fred river knife to cut it into pieces to extract the sand and water.  Otherwise, the usual: old cans - lots of them stabbed off the bottom, plus the usual water bottles, tee shirts, sunscreen, eyeglasses retainers, plastic bags, etc.  John and I hauled in one large red mesh bag that the outfitters give to their rental customers to stash trash.  This one was filled with 7 unopened beverage containers: 2 Miller High Life beers, 2 Sprites, 2 Barq's red crème sodas and one water bottle.  Terry took it all home to serve to her guests.
 
Company: Marlene was in the lead most of the time, playing mother hen to all of us.  Jackie and Tracie took on the job of training our new recruits in the finer points of trash picking - "Swish around the bubbles in the log jams so you can see what else is lurking there".  "You never know when you might find a mother lode".   "Float over it".  "Lean downstream".  "Empty out all the liquid and mud by swishing it sideways in water".  "You don't want to touch that with bare hands".  Both Linda and Terry performed marvelously under the senior womens' tutelage.
 
Meanwhile in the back of the pack, Tom and Jim were picking up the dregs that we had left for them.
 
All the newbies learned the value of a good back ferry, if only to avoid the pair in the tandem canoe as they stabbed their way downstream.  It was really helpful to have scouts in front of us.
 
Totals: 6 full bags - a good day.  It was hot back in TC, but quite pleasant on the river.  At one point we had a little bit of rain, which was not in the forecast or in the trip description, but it didn't affect our mission.
 
A good day!
 
Our team at the put-in
 
This guy wanted to come along, but he wasn't a member of the club
 
Here is the trash we collected by lunchtime
The team at the finish - still smiling.