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Traverse Area Paddle Club

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Trip Reports

June 20 South Branch of the Au Sable River

Published on 6/20/2011

Participants: Leigh Baker, Lois Goldstein,  John Heiam, Tracie Lord,  Karen Mueller,  Linda Pelkey , Fred Swartz,  Judith Swartz , Dean Tobias,  Diane Tobias , John Walton,  Rosario Walton 

Thanks John and Lois for planning, timing and keeping us on track to ensure a fun and safe trip on the South Branch of the Au Sable River.  It was a wonderful trip (from Paddle Brave Campground to Smith Bridge) that ended with twelve happy participants.

From the moment I saw the South Branch last year, I decided it was one of my favorite rivers because of  its strong cinnamon color, super soft water movement, visible rocks at the bottom, and all the beautiful sounds of the  birds.



Thanks to the charm and mild waters of the South Branch, I was able to recuperate from my traumatic experience of the wild and crazy adventures of the Betsie River a couple of weeks ago.  On the Betsie, I practiced complicated maneuvers that included tipping over in a new record short distance, jammed logs, and  acrobatic balancing in the logs - all in the name of kayaking. In the end I survived,  had a great time, and I will do it again.

On the South Branch trip we had the opportunity to enjoy our  lunch at Durant’s Castle, visit the Fisherman’s Chapel and end on a happy note at the Dawson and Stevens Restaurant in Grayling.




I have to declare that we were fully prepared to take any battle with the annoying mosquitoes, thanks to a huge can of mosquito repellent with a 40% DEET (courtesy of a cleanup trip last year). Thanks, John and Lois, for the history lesson about the castle.  I tried to locate the foundation of this huge castle that burned in 1931, but I was not able to find a single rock.

We scrambled out of our kayaks and canoes and walked the steps to the Fisherman’s Chapel, built by George Mason.  As we walked  to the entrance of the chapel, John Heiam explained that at this chapel, some people take the time to navigate the river and re-new their wedding vows (while paddling a divorce boat?) including John and Lois for their 25th anniversary. Wow! This is what I call a romantic and adventurous couple. (Photo of John and Rosario)


We finally reached the end of the South Branch river trip. Everyone made it without any wild adventures to talk about and ready to help with the loading of kayaks, canoes and all sorts of equipment into the vehicles.






Our final destination was the Dawson and Stevens Restaurant where we ordered food, ice cream and listened to some funny stories by John. This is a Coca-Cola lovers’ shop, but we still forgot to order one.

Thanks, John Heiam, for sharing the story of the Full Moon at the bank of the river and the tales of an interesting item found by Norm and Jocelyn with tons of pictures of the said item.

Thanks everyone for participating in the South Branch of the Au Sable river adventure - a fun trip with good company and delicious food.

See you all in the river!

Rosario Walton

An additional report was prepared by Linda Pelkey:
A colorful river trip! Many attended - John, Lois, Fred, Judy,Tracie, Karen, Dean, Diane, Leigh, John, Rosario and Linda. Linda  noticed a lot of wild purple irises along vivid clean green river banks. Lois and Tracie spotted yellow wild irises and there was also a bright orange flower that no one seemed to be able to identify. We kayaked along with multiple bright aqua colored dragonflies which made for a colorful river trip. 
Diane and Karen traded boats. Diane joked that she was going to buy an orange Hurricane kayak like Karen's. We stopped for lunch at the historical site of Durant's castle built in 1931.  Fred performed a successful otter launch in his yellow Dagger. Some paddlers stopped at the open air chapel to stretch their legs. Also thanks to Paddle Brave Canoe and Campground for providing shuttle. Highly recommend this trip.