Two years ago I canoed down Thunder Bay River for the first time, so I was excited to return and give it a try with my kayak. We started out at the Thunder Bay Canoe & Kayak Livery in Atlanta, Michigan. This time around we arrived with 11 other people. The group consisted of Jason, Becky, Gary, Ted, Dani, Ashley, Sam, Jerry, Ellen, Terri and I. In all we had 7 kayaks and 2 canoes.
The Thunder Bay River was quite narrow and shallow in most spots along the way. Because we launched from a livery, the river was clear of any obstacles. It was the 4th of July weekend so the river was quite busy. I was even attacked by a couple of water cannons thanks to my brother-in-law, Jerry.
The last half hour or so of our trip the river became extremely shallow and rocky. We arrived at the Eichorn Bridge about 3 hours later. This area only has road side parking.
We kayaked the Black River from Clark Bridge to Crocket Bridge near Atlanta, Michigan. At Clark Bridge there is off road parking for a few vehicles. There were four of us that went; Jerry, Ted, Gary and myself.
For the most part the river was somewhat slow and about 15 to 20 feet wide. There were just a few rocks and stumps along the way. Three trees totally blocked the river. Two of them we could get over with a bit of extra speed but that left us with one portage due to the size of the obstacle.
As we floated down the river we spotted an eagle soaring above us and saw raccoons along the river bank. We followed a dozen baby wood ducks and their mother down the river for over an hour. They finally got tired of our company and ducked into a low hanging tree until we passed by them. The ducklings were unable to fly yet so they just flapped their wings as they ran across the surface of the water for as long as we could hear them until they finally disappeared in the opposite direction.
It took us about 3 1/2 hours to reach Crocket Bridge. At the bridge there is plenty of off road parking spots. After loading the vehicles we headed north on S Black River Road then east on Milligan Road to get back to M33.
Our son, Jason and daughter-in-law, Becky called us today and invited us to join them to go kayaking down the Shiawassee River.
We launched from the Ditch Road Bridge near Parshallburg, MI. The water was not very fast with one spot of very mild rapids. A few spots were shallow enough to get hung up on. There are very few obstacles to maneuver around. It was a very relaxing ride down the river. It took us about 2 1/2 hours. We exited the river at the boat launch in Showboat Park located in Chesaning, Michigan.
We returned to the lake to spend some more time on the water in our new kayaks. We get a little better at this each time we put them into the water. We are now experimenting with some new maneuvers we have recently acquired. Things get a whole lot easier when you figure out how to do them correctly.
We put our kayaks into the water for the first time today. The sun has been out all day today, but now the clouds are rolling in. There are only a couple of boats on the lake and the waves are quite calm. We both spent a couple of hours in the water just getting use to our new toys. I can see this is going to be the begining of a whole lot of fun.
We purchased a new Kayak for my wife today. Now I can have company on my trips.
I received a new Kayak as a gift from my family today. I can’t wait to get it wet.
