Well it's almost here. This Weekend I'm going with my oldest and his scout troop on a short canoe trip. I've been on the Ausable several times and love it up there, yet I've never been on the south branch. This weekend we are going on a stretch they call the Mason Track. This is my first trip out in quite a while and I cant wait. Northern Michigan should still be in full fall color and be a sight to see. I'll put a post about the trip once we're home.
Mason Track of the AuSable
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I'm particularly looking forward to this report, John. Dapper Al & I are thinking of a trip there this summer. Camping out & making day trips. Have to get you and him together on the river again.
What a great trip
Thursday 6:00pm
We meet up at the scout barn to load the canoes, paddles, and PFD's on the trailer. Chuck, Mike, Alex, and I are there for less than an hour.
Saturday 6:30 am
We all meet up at the barn again with our gear and head out. At mondays meeting the boys had a menu planned and one boy volunteered to go shopping for their food. Too bad he wasn't going on the trip. Good thing the adults overpacked for food Not that we wouldn't have eaten it, just more than we needed to eat (our belts thanked us). Lets go!
7:15am
We're on the road. Going canoeing, and its pouring rain. Let's keep our fingers crossed that it's clear north of here.
9:40am
Pulled into PaddleBrave in Rosscommon Michigan. 47 degrees and cloudy. Great, Let's go! We unloaded the boats, and while 2 people spotted cars with Tom from Paddlebrave we set up camp.
11:00am
Time to get on the river. 6 boats, 7 boys, 6 adults. I should introduce you to them. The boys first.
Nick-the vetran scout
Noah-the newly elected leader
Alex- my son
Michael- 1st timer
James- another 1st timer
Keenan- alot of experiance for his age
Ray- the youngest of several boys who've been part of the troop
and the adults
Chuck- our fearless leader
Jon- Noah's Dad, and resident photographer
Mike- a well experienced outdoorsman
Jan- Michael's Mom, and avid long distance runner
Kim- Keenan's Dad, Professor of fisheries and wildlife, an example of applied knowledge
and I make 13.
A bakers dozen who get to go today. And we're off.
The first 45 minutes of the trip is easy paddling, and fairly well populated with houses. Once we got past the 2nd bridge we went the rest of the way without any homes, or sign's of human interfearance. Michael and James were the first to inspect a fish habitat. I havn't seen a report on what they saw but they did get wet. By the time we got there, Nick rolled up his pant legs and went in to help them get their gear and unswamp the boat. Nice job Nick, a real hero of the story! It was time for them to get going again, Michael was back in his boat and Jan tossed the drybag with wet clothes back in his boat. Apparently she has quite an arm because this caused the boat to capsize again. Michael wasn't amused. Good thing Lunch was around the corner.
We took lunch at the ruins of Cliff Durrants castle. William Durrant (a founder of GM) had a son named Cliff who was building a 42 room summer home in the early 1930's. Well just as construction finished, before he moved in on a cold winter evening in February 1931 the place burned to the ground. They never rebuilt the home. The land is left as a ruins. This guy was a real visionary, he had the foresight to build an outhouse, grill, and several picnic tables for future passers by. We spent our time, eating and drying out. By the time we left everyone was feeling better, dryer, and ready to tackle the rest of the river.
We got back on the river and we're having a great time. Alex and I were in a boat together as the river became harder to paddle with more fallen trees to avoid. This stretch had several spots that only had about a 4 foot wide section to get through. We didn't care, it's 47 degrees and we were joking and laughing when I asked him, "Wanna go under the tree or around it?" and of course he said lets limbo in slow motion like the Matrix. So we laid down in the boat and floated under the tree. Only thing is Alex had his paddle in the air and it was caught in the tree... so he left it there. I immediatly started to back paddle to let it float to me when I saw Alex place both hands on one Gunnel and lean to the left to look for his paddle. Well... I was also backpaddling on the left side and well... Next thing I new I was up to my neck in water. Once I stood up the water was only at my knees. I started grabbing the boat and paddles when I noticed Alex High tailing it to the river bank. Kim got his boat to the shore and left Keenan and Ray in the boat and jumped in to help gather stuff. He has knee high waterproof boots so he didn't care about getting wet. He asked if I was ok and before I could answer he said I must be because I was laughing. We had Alex cross the river to us when Mike and Jon pulled up and offered Alex some dry clothes. Now Alex is 95 lbs and is wearing Mike's clothes. Lets get going again.
Our mood is a little more somber, but I'm trying to get him laughing again. He is cold. We go for another half hour or so when the wind picks up. The bow of my boat seems to be riding high and the wind is blowing me back and forth. Just as I was having Alex move to his knees forward farther in the boat when Jon and Mike asked Alex if he wanted to hide with them. Alex went with them and I moved to the center seat. We lost about 20 feet of progress during this transition. Man the wind was strong.
Going solo. Time to make progress. I know Smith Bridge is around the bend... one of these bends anyway. After about 40 minutes of going solo I saw the rest of the troop pulled over at the Mason Chapel. It looked like a nice little chapel that sat on top of a hill. I would have loved to stop and explore, but I didn't want to stop paddling.
Keep pressing on. 10 munutes past the chapel I came across a blue haron eating a fish dinner on the edge of the river. Keep pressing on. The wind is blowing strong, the sun hasn't come out today, and I'm soaked. Keep pressing on. I picked up the pace and suddenly I'm getting warm... actually hot. Hot enough that I unzip my coat to cool off a little.
4:00 pm
Smith Bridge dead ahead! I see the first 3 boats already there so I pull in. Jon comes out to help me tote my boat to the trailer. I look up and here comes the sun. We spent the day on the river and 5 minutes after we pull off the sun decides to show itself.
4:45 pm
Back at camp. Paddlebrave is a great site, it has a gracious host and warm showers! Once I stopped paddling, the cold set in. After a long shower I felt great again.
And were down to 5. Chuck, Kim, Keenan, Alex and I were the only ones to stay and camp out for the night. Everyone else took off to go home.
6:00
Tea Time! After a warm beverage and some one pot chicken stew it was getting dark.
The boys started a great fire where we sat, talked, and had a good time. Keenan showed signs of becoming a great fisherman, his stories were good and he never let the whole truth in the way of a good story.
9:00
Time to turn in. I was beat and ready for a good night sleep.
Sunday 12:00am
I'm freezing, it's got to be time to get up soon. I'll head to the bathroom and check the time, and maybe get some coffee. HOLY COW it's only midnight. I'm not prepaired for 20 degrees. The restroom was heated enough to keep the pipes from freezing so I grabbed a chair and went to sleep. After several time checks I decided 5:30 was time to get in my van and go for a drive. I parked in a grocery store parking lot and took another nap until 7:00 or so. I saw a Shell station, so I went there and grabbed 3 coffees and drove back to the campground. By the time I got back the others were starting to wake up. Chuck and Kim enjoyed the coffee. Breakfast was oatmeal.
9:00
On the road again. Time to go home.
The Mason Wilderness Tract is a great day trip, and I plan on doing it again... sometime warmer.
Thursday 6:00pm
We meet up at the scout barn to load the canoes, paddles, and PFD's on the trailer. Chuck, Mike, Alex, and I are there for less than an hour.
Saturday 6:30 am
We all meet up at the barn again with our gear and head out. At mondays meeting the boys had a menu planned and one boy volunteered to go shopping for their food. Too bad he wasn't going on the trip. Good thing the adults overpacked for food Not that we wouldn't have eaten it, just more than we needed to eat (our belts thanked us). Lets go!
7:15am
We're on the road. Going canoeing, and its pouring rain. Let's keep our fingers crossed that it's clear north of here.
9:40am
Pulled into PaddleBrave in Rosscommon Michigan. 47 degrees and cloudy. Great, Let's go! We unloaded the boats, and while 2 people spotted cars with Tom from Paddlebrave we set up camp.
11:00am
Time to get on the river. 6 boats, 7 boys, 6 adults. I should introduce you to them. The boys first.
Nick-the vetran scout
Noah-the newly elected leader
Alex- my son
Michael- 1st timer
James- another 1st timer
Keenan- alot of experiance for his age
Ray- the youngest of several boys who've been part of the troop
and the adults
Chuck- our fearless leader
Jon- Noah's Dad, and resident photographer
Mike- a well experienced outdoorsman
Jan- Michael's Mom, and avid long distance runner
Kim- Keenan's Dad, Professor of fisheries and wildlife, an example of applied knowledge
and I make 13.
A bakers dozen who get to go today. And we're off.
The first 45 minutes of the trip is easy paddling, and fairly well populated with houses. Once we got past the 2nd bridge we went the rest of the way without any homes, or sign's of human interfearance. Michael and James were the first to inspect a fish habitat. I havn't seen a report on what they saw but they did get wet. By the time we got there, Nick rolled up his pant legs and went in to help them get their gear and unswamp the boat. Nice job Nick, a real hero of the story! It was time for them to get going again, Michael was back in his boat and Jan tossed the drybag with wet clothes back in his boat. Apparently she has quite an arm because this caused the boat to capsize again. Michael wasn't amused. Good thing Lunch was around the corner.
We took lunch at the ruins of Cliff Durrants castle. William Durrant (a founder of GM) had a son named Cliff who was building a 42 room summer home in the early 1930's. Well just as construction finished, before he moved in on a cold winter evening in February 1931 the place burned to the ground. They never rebuilt the home. The land is left as a ruins. This guy was a real visionary, he had the foresight to build an outhouse, grill, and several picnic tables for future passers by. We spent our time, eating and drying out. By the time we left everyone was feeling better, dryer, and ready to tackle the rest of the river.
We got back on the river and we're having a great time. Alex and I were in a boat together as the river became harder to paddle with more fallen trees to avoid. This stretch had several spots that only had about a 4 foot wide section to get through. We didn't care, it's 47 degrees and we were joking and laughing when I asked him, "Wanna go under the tree or around it?" and of course he said lets limbo in slow motion like the Matrix. So we laid down in the boat and floated under the tree. Only thing is Alex had his paddle in the air and it was caught in the tree... so he left it there. I immediatly started to back paddle to let it float to me when I saw Alex place both hands on one Gunnel and lean to the left to look for his paddle. Well... I was also backpaddling on the left side and well... Next thing I new I was up to my neck in water. Once I stood up the water was only at my knees. I started grabbing the boat and paddles when I noticed Alex High tailing it to the river bank. Kim got his boat to the shore and left Keenan and Ray in the boat and jumped in to help gather stuff. He has knee high waterproof boots so he didn't care about getting wet. He asked if I was ok and before I could answer he said I must be because I was laughing. We had Alex cross the river to us when Mike and Jon pulled up and offered Alex some dry clothes. Now Alex is 95 lbs and is wearing Mike's clothes. Lets get going again.
Our mood is a little more somber, but I'm trying to get him laughing again. He is cold. We go for another half hour or so when the wind picks up. The bow of my boat seems to be riding high and the wind is blowing me back and forth. Just as I was having Alex move to his knees forward farther in the boat when Jon and Mike asked Alex if he wanted to hide with them. Alex went with them and I moved to the center seat. We lost about 20 feet of progress during this transition. Man the wind was strong.
Going solo. Time to make progress. I know Smith Bridge is around the bend... one of these bends anyway. After about 40 minutes of going solo I saw the rest of the troop pulled over at the Mason Chapel. It looked like a nice little chapel that sat on top of a hill. I would have loved to stop and explore, but I didn't want to stop paddling.
Keep pressing on. 10 munutes past the chapel I came across a blue haron eating a fish dinner on the edge of the river. Keep pressing on. The wind is blowing strong, the sun hasn't come out today, and I'm soaked. Keep pressing on. I picked up the pace and suddenly I'm getting warm... actually hot. Hot enough that I unzip my coat to cool off a little.
4:00 pm
Smith Bridge dead ahead! I see the first 3 boats already there so I pull in. Jon comes out to help me tote my boat to the trailer. I look up and here comes the sun. We spent the day on the river and 5 minutes after we pull off the sun decides to show itself.
4:45 pm
Back at camp. Paddlebrave is a great site, it has a gracious host and warm showers! Once I stopped paddling, the cold set in. After a long shower I felt great again.
And were down to 5. Chuck, Kim, Keenan, Alex and I were the only ones to stay and camp out for the night. Everyone else took off to go home.
6:00
Tea Time! After a warm beverage and some one pot chicken stew it was getting dark.
The boys started a great fire where we sat, talked, and had a good time. Keenan showed signs of becoming a great fisherman, his stories were good and he never let the whole truth in the way of a good story.
9:00
Time to turn in. I was beat and ready for a good night sleep.
Sunday 12:00am
I'm freezing, it's got to be time to get up soon. I'll head to the bathroom and check the time, and maybe get some coffee. HOLY COW it's only midnight. I'm not prepaired for 20 degrees. The restroom was heated enough to keep the pipes from freezing so I grabbed a chair and went to sleep. After several time checks I decided 5:30 was time to get in my van and go for a drive. I parked in a grocery store parking lot and took another nap until 7:00 or so. I saw a Shell station, so I went there and grabbed 3 coffees and drove back to the campground. By the time I got back the others were starting to wake up. Chuck and Kim enjoyed the coffee. Breakfast was oatmeal.
9:00
On the road again. Time to go home.
The Mason Wilderness Tract is a great day trip, and I plan on doing it again... sometime warmer.
Friend Gator,
What a tale! Those little pardners got ta learn some good lessons....like "be prepared". :wink: Thanks.
regards
bearridge
Shots rang out, as shots are wont to do. Unknown high school student
What a tale! Those little pardners got ta learn some good lessons....like "be prepared". :wink: Thanks.
regards
bearridge
Shots rang out, as shots are wont to do. Unknown high school student
Great report, Gator. Charlie & I are headed up there this Friday evening for the weekend. Wanna go back?
Gator...
Had a trip like that here on the Econ but no one did a personal check on the fish population , not saying we stayed dry.
Pirogue , Andrew and I hit the river. Actually Pirogue meet me at my place and we drove the two vehicles the 3 miles to the bridge in the sunshine to where Andrew already was.
Andrew had parked under the bridge to be in the shade . He already had his boat in the water so now Pirogue and I had to get ours to the water.
The sun is shinning as we pulled in and parked the vehicles , as soon as we started taking the boats off the racks , in the sunshine , it started raining , sunshine and rain at one time , sun glasses and rain coats ... what a combination.
We did the day paddle in the rain and when we arrived at Snow Hill Bridge (some 5 hours later after making several stops to bail the boats out ) and pulled the boats up on the dry ground it stopped raining.
It rained all the time during the trip but never when the boats were on the vehicles and off the water. :lol:
Down here we call the rain liquid sunshine , it did make for a cool paddling trip , no one worked up a sweat or if they did we never knew it. :lol: :lol: :lol:
Chuck.
Had a trip like that here on the Econ but no one did a personal check on the fish population , not saying we stayed dry.
Pirogue , Andrew and I hit the river. Actually Pirogue meet me at my place and we drove the two vehicles the 3 miles to the bridge in the sunshine to where Andrew already was.
Andrew had parked under the bridge to be in the shade . He already had his boat in the water so now Pirogue and I had to get ours to the water.
The sun is shinning as we pulled in and parked the vehicles , as soon as we started taking the boats off the racks , in the sunshine , it started raining , sunshine and rain at one time , sun glasses and rain coats ... what a combination.
We did the day paddle in the rain and when we arrived at Snow Hill Bridge (some 5 hours later after making several stops to bail the boats out ) and pulled the boats up on the dry ground it stopped raining.
It rained all the time during the trip but never when the boats were on the vehicles and off the water. :lol:
Down here we call the rain liquid sunshine , it did make for a cool paddling trip , no one worked up a sweat or if they did we never knew it. :lol: :lol: :lol:
Chuck.
Skarks,
Liquid sunshine can be refreshing on a warm day. Swamping a canoe can be fun. These boys are building charactor, the old iron sharpens iron and pressure makes a diamond thing.
About 2 1/2 years ago they took a day paddle from Manhauke to Hell Michigan. The week before there was huge storms and a 5 hour paddle turned into a 13 hour paddle with 38 portages to get around all the debris. They were miserable, but still talk about that trip with pride.
Liquid sunshine can be refreshing on a warm day. Swamping a canoe can be fun. These boys are building charactor, the old iron sharpens iron and pressure makes a diamond thing.
About 2 1/2 years ago they took a day paddle from Manhauke to Hell Michigan. The week before there was huge storms and a 5 hour paddle turned into a 13 hour paddle with 38 portages to get around all the debris. They were miserable, but still talk about that trip with pride.
Great trip and report. We are all green with envy. Pictures.....we want pictures. You mean, trees turn different colors in the Fall? I nearly forgot about that. Piper