Today we enjoyed a lovely paddle on the South Branch of the Au Sable River from Steckert Bridge to Smith Bridge. In attendance were 6 members of the Traverse Area Paddle Club: John Heiam, Lois Goldstein, Tom Lipps, Marlene Puska, Paul and Irene Marcussen.
The river was running fast and high today, with no sand bars to impede our progress downstream. The weather was gorgeous: not too sunny - perfect temperature for unscheduled swimming as Paul found out after following John too closely up to a large snag in the river. So he was unceremoniously ejected from his kayak. Paul was refreshed, but a little chagrined. Alas, no hubris is acceptable on the river.
We enjoyed the new flush of leaves on the trees and birds serenading us all along the way. We heard black capped chickadee, golden crowned kinglet, bluejay, American robin, Rose breasted grosbeak, black & white warbler, song sparrow, red start and the yellow romped warbler. Thanks to the trip leaders John and Lois for scheduling another great river adventure.
Thanks to Irene for the trip report and to Marv for the shuttle service.
Lois and Tom were not that close together. John was using a telephoto and it compresses distances.
Does anyone know the kind of tree is blooming in the photo below?
