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.
White-tail deer hunting season has once again found us making our way into the woods of northern Michigan. Once again the headline to this entry is going to be about the weather. The trip up to our hunting camp was uneventful except for a little mud along the way. The return trip home was yet another story.
The hunt was successful, with both of my sons getting a doe each. I on the other hand saw several deer the day before the opening of the season and then saw nothing else following that day. That was to be just the beginning of my luck.
Then it was time to travel home. This is when the REAL story begins. The weather was just at the freezing mark creating “Black Ice” conditions on many of the roads throughout the state. My oldest son decided to drive his girlfriend home in her truck and leave his pickup to be driven home by my youngest son, who had not experienced the thrill of driving a small pickup on the ice. That was until now. The first bridge he came to sent him into a tailspin with an oncoming car just nearly missing him before he spun uncontrollably into the ditch. My wife saw everything from the rear view mirror in her car.
She leaped from her vehicle to check on my son. She then proceeded to make calls to both my oldest son and myself. We were both ahead of them on our way home at this point. I pulled off the road into a parking lot, dropped the 5th wheel off and headed back to help pull my son out of the ditch.
I arrived at the scene and hooked the tow strap up to the back of my 4×4 pickup. As I was pulling the smaller truck out of the ditch, an oncoming car started to spin out of control coming across the bridge at us. As this occurred, a full sized truck plowed into the side of this small car. This action caused every airbag in the small vehicle to be deployed and then the car hit an embankment along the side of the road. My wife checked on the condition of those involved in the accident as I got my son back on the road. When we found everyone to be alright, I insisted that we had to leave. At this point, we were sitting ducks for the next spinning vehicle to come hurling over the bridge at us.
We headed back to the trailer to hook it back up. This is when my oldest son met up with us. He informed us that he had experienced the same spinning sensation coming across that same bridge earlier in the day.
On the normally 3 hour ride home we saw several accidents along the way, some of them quite bad. We saw lots of vehicles in ditches and a few over-turned vehicles as well. The later it got the more police vehicles we saw trying to slow people down. We got almost home to find that the expressway was closed at the last bridge we had to cross. We were directed through the median to the other side of the expressway and turned back. Traffic was backed up for miles. People were getting off at the first exit they came to and I saw several maps coming out. Most people were totally confused as to what they were going to do now.
Since we were close to home at this point, we knew how to get around the accident. We arrived home nearly 6 hours after we started. We were REALLY glad to be home!
It is that time again. It’s time to gather up food for the long cold Michigan winter. It’s time to go huntin’!
At Deer Camp this year we had a full house. Besides my wife and me, we had both of the boys and their girlfriends… OH and don’t forget Mo (our dog). My dad camped along side of us in his 5th wheel. He was joined by my youngest brother.
For dinner we went to the El-Bo Inn north of Atlanta, Michigan. This place had a 1-pound hamburger that I have to say I was barely able to put away. We were sad to find out that they no longer offer this burger. Even though the the menu and the sign outside both proudly display the text “home of the one-pound burger”. Go figure.
My dad and brother both had successful hunts this year. My father got his first buck in quite some time. He must have decided that he didn’t want anyone taking deer from his hunting spot anymore. As you recall my oldest son, Jason got 2 deer there last year.
As for our group, guess we are going to go hungry this year. It’s going to be a LONG winter!
Labor Day weekend finds us back at Black River for our annual holiday celebration. We were lucky enough to get our favorite site. We had a picnic on a beautiful sunny afternoon with many family members joining us.
Sunday evening as we were sitting around the campfire, we heard sirens and shortly after a huge cloud of smoke drifted through the forest overhead. The smoke continued for several hours and then the stars returned.
We went fishing and caught a few fish, which we cooked up over the campfire. We saw over 30 elk and several deer on our nightly ride through the woods. This is the most peaceful place on earth and one of our very favorite places to camp.
Day Three
Today we decided to issue Jason a new gun to hunt with…..A SQUIRT GUN!
….Good Luck Now, Jason!!!
Day Two
Jason goes out again still a little cocky from yesterday’s hunt and guess what? Well, let’s just say another picture is worth another thousand words. There will be no living with him now!
Jason- Second Day (count ‘em again- NINE POINTS)
Opening Day
We went back to Hunting Camp to try our luck in bagging the big buck. My Dad could not make it to camp this year, so Jason decided to cover his spot for him. I need to set this story up for you. You need to understand that my father has sat in this same spot for several years and always came up short. So I am sure you see where this is going. Well a picture is worth a thousand words.
Jason- Opening Day- in Grandpa’s Spot (count ‘em- NINE POINTS)
