Trip Reports

Saturday was a great day for a trip down the upper upper Manistee. We started from John’s anding and took out at the 612 bridge.

The weather was quite cooperative and waited to rain until after we got off the river. Harold built a shelter out of their wooden Wee Lassie boats for Pam to wait under while John and Lois took Harold and me to get our cars at the put in. Sara, Mike and Jocelyn were their own shuttle group.

The river was in its usual state of tight twisty turns, low logs to duck under and beaver dams to jump.

We spotted several beaver condos; one even had a slide from their roof straight into the river. We had no issues with any of the beaver dams - everyone of us easily slid over and continued on our way.

The only notable event was when Lois got the stern of her canoe stuck under a large dead branch in a tight Z-shape maneuvering area. I was able to dislodge her canoe and she was able to make it through. But this left me in an awkward position, and I could not get turned around.  So the only thing to do was to go through backwards......like bow first isn’t hard enough!  This was accomplished easily thanks to great skills acquired from Lois & John’s instructions with lots of practice over the years.

The boats were split evenly between kayaks & canoes in our group of eight. 

I recommend this trip for experienced paddlers only. Bring saws & safety gear like throw bags & first aid kits.

Tracie
Photos by John & Jocelyn

On the upper reaches


Lois


Jocelyn


Pam & Tracie


John


Sara


Mike


Harold


Indian Paint Brush


Socially spaced


Pam


Lois


Tracie


Harold


Jocelyn


Sara





John


Pam


Harold

Jocelyn learns she is receiving the River Wisdom Award

Jocelyn plotting who she will give it to next year