15th Annual Hugh Heward Challenge (2014): 50 miles on the Grand River

The Hugh Heward is an annual paddling event, held on the last Saturday of April.

Local historian Jim Woodruff, a.k.a "The Topologist", conceived of re-creating this voyage while researching the journal of Hugh Heward, and conspired with local paddler Verlen Kruger to make the first Hugh Heward Challenge a reality. Here is a description of the event from Jim Woodruff's blog:

"The Hugh Heward Challenge is an annual paddling event commemorating British fur trader Hugh Heward and seven Frenchmen’s 50 mile sprint in two birch bark canoes down the Grand River on April 24, 1790.

One thing I want to make clear is the Hugh Heward 50 miler, though many racers participate, is a re-enactment of an historic journey, not a race. Anyone can participate, and there are shorter segments to paddle for those who don't want the full 50 miles - a Half-Hugh is about 25 miles, and a Quarter Hugh is about 13 miles."

Here are some links describing recent incarnations of the event, which may or may not be permanent: link1, link2.

In 2009, six intrepid paddlers were inspired to re-create the entire historical journey from Detroit to Chicago in the Ultimate Hugh Heward Challenge (see map below). An account of that event can be found on the Kruger Canoes blog. More information on Hugh Heward's original journey, including excerpts from Hugh Heward's journal, can be found on Jim Woodruff's blog.

The route

Last year, the river was just over 3000 cfs, coming down from flood stage.

This year, the river was much lower, at 1250 cfs, below normal level for this time of year.

The Start

The event started at 7 AM at Lion's Park in Dimondale, MI. Dimondale has allowed paddlers to camp in the park the night before.

It is a tradition to have breakfast at Mike's Village Restaurant. Mike makes Paddle Cakes, which are a type of pancake that is specially-formulated for optimal paddling performance. The recipe is obviously a closely-guarded secret, but I was able to detect chocolate chips, raisins, and some type of nuts in there.

 Watertribe paddler Cliff Jumps was there. He paddled the Everglades Challenge with us.

Lauren and Mark put on sunblock. I decided that I would rather get sunburned.

The Bradford clan loaded up their Minnesota Four canoe.

The morning was cool and clear, around 40 F. The Bradfords flew past us as we approached Lansing.

There was talk of making this a casual, social paddle. But, Mark and Sandy were excited to be paddling together in a Cruiser for the first time. As often happens when paddling with Team Kruger, they gradually pulled away, and soon we were on our own.

The river widened and slowed as we approached the first dam in Lansing. A women's crew team was training, with matching hats and pony tails.

 

We saw a familiar boat with an unfamiliar paddler. Ben had loaned his Sea Wind to an MSU student who was inspired by his experience in the recent Campus to Coast event.

The stacks of the Otto E. Eckert Station in Lansing marked the location of the first portage.

We passed the confluence with the Red Cedar River, and were back on the route of the Campus to Coast event, which we had completed two weeks previous.

The second portage was at Turner Park. There was a festival in progress, just as there had been last year. In spite of the festival, the public restrooms were still closed. I am often amazed that public restrooms are almost always locked. Why do they exist?

You have heard of "Where's Waldo?". Now you can play "Where's Lauren?"

 As we dragged the canoe down the wooden stairs, we began to experience a sense of deja vu, as if we had been here two weeks before. We are getting to know these portages well.

I took off my jacket, but soon wondered if I had made a mistake. A cold wind blew. It was often a headwind, but varied with the turns of the river. Winter had not yet completely released it's grip.

As we left Lansing, we passed my great-grandfather's house, where I had fished in the river for bullhead catfish as a boy. Shortly after, we came to Jim Woodruff's house. He had invited paddlers to stop in for a visit. We found Mark and Sandy there.

Jim's deck overlooks the river and a nature preserve on the far side. Through the trees, you can just see the 100-year old cemetery where Verlen Kruger is buried.

Jim told us how you can line up the electric pole with a cherry tree, and it points right to the spot where Verlen is buried. Jim watches over his old friend Verlen.

 

As we came into Grand Ledge, I marveled once again at their fine water tower. It has a classic water tower shape with the conical roof; not one of those modern, curvy, alien-looking things, and a sharp paint job with nice, contrasting colors.

Connie and Tom overtook us in their fast boats, as we approached the portage. It was like "The Charge of the Light Brigade"; Cannons to the left of us, Cannons to the right of us....

We were surprised to see our friend Jack at the Grand Ledge portage. He relieved Lauren from canoe-carrying duty in gallant fashion. He wanted to make things interesting by swapping boats, so I paddled  Sandy's Sea Wind, which he had borrowed, and he took the stern seat of our Cruiser with Lauren in the bow.

I had not paddled a Sea Wind before. It was light and lively compared to the Cruiser. The only problem was that there was no one to paddle and watch out for rocks while I was taking pictures.

Mike S was moving slowly, looking for a paddle he lost at the Grand Ledge portage in the Campus to Coast event two weeks previous. Later that night, by the campfire, he told me the amazing story of his 3000 mile solo paddle from the headwaters of the Missouri River back to Portland, MI: down the Missouri, up the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers, through the Chicago Diversion, along Lake Michigan, and up the Grand River.

Connie kept us entertained with jokes that she used at work on the elementary school kids. "Why did the picture go to jail? It was framed!" There were others, but they pulled away from me; it's hard to take pictures and keep up when you are paddling solo.

 After a few hours, we swapped boats again. Lauren paddled Sandy's Sea Wind, and I was in the bow seat with Jack in the stern.

Before long, we had pulled away from Lauren. We came upon a place that Jack knew from his younger days: Deer Camp Island. Jack suggested that we pull off at the memorial that his friend Ralph had made for his wife Judy, and wait for Lauren to catch up. A sign said, "Please stop and enjoy".

 What a beautiful spot! I had passed by several times, but had never seen it.

We came to the place with the eagle's nest. The nest had been empty two weeks before, but this time the eagle soared overhead. One nice thing about paddling the same reach of river two weeks later was to see the signs of spring: the eagle, Sandhill cranes, swallows, turtles warming on the logs, the forest floor covered with the green of spring wildflowers that were just starting to bloom, green buds on the bare branches.

 Jack took Sandy's Sea Wind, and I returned to my comfortable place in the stern seat of the Cruiser. Jack pulled away and we did not see him for a few hours.

We were getting tired and slowing down. It was getting to be dinner time, and we began to think of the chili dinner at the finish. We decided to paddle mile intervals to pass the time; one mile fast, half mile easy.

After several miles of intervals, we caught up to Jack, having a Spiz break. The GPS was at 49 miles, so I knew that we were approaching the finish at the Verlen Kruger memorial in Portland.

Stacy Smith represented the Verlen Kruger Memorial organization, and gathered everyone around the statue of Verlen Kruger to make a special announcement. Jim Woodruff and Verlen's wife Jenny were seated in places of honor. Stacy announced a new annual award: the Woodruff award, which would be granted to people who have done great service to the paddling community, with special attention given to those who have served behind the scenes.

Stats from the GPS

This year, we took an hour longer to do the Hugh Heward than last year. I felt like we worked harder for it, the water was quite a bit lower than last year.

50.5 miles

9.0 mph max

9hr 7min moving

50 min stopped

5.5 mph moving avg

5.1mph overall avg