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| Preparing our borrowed pro boat for the 50-mile challenge. |
A Rendezvous in Dimondale
The community of Dimondale sits on the banks of the Grand
River, and graciously offered camping space to Hugh Heward Paddlers the night
before the event. We enjoyed exchanging paddling tips and stories with
Michigan’s best.
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| Jack, “The Hammer” was excited to paddle in a Minnesota 4 with the Bradfords. |
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| The double-zero family portrait. We are borrowing this pro boat for the season. It belongs to Jack (right), and he bought it from Bob (a.k.a. “Grandpa”, in the purple jacket). Bob and Mike (far left) raced this boat as a father-son duo. Jan (blue jacket) couldn’t remember if she’d raced in that canoe, but it seemed possible. |
We enjoyed introducing our friend, Stacey to the company of
long distance expedition canoe racers. She drove all the way from Columbus with
her hairless dog, Chester. She planned to do the 25-mile Half Hugh, which would
be her longest paddle ever in her wooden kayak! There is nothing more fun than
shooting the breeze with people who love Michigan rivers.
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| According to Stacey, Chester was a “good boy” during his 25-mile challenge. |
We started the morning out with an early breakfast at Mike’s
Village Restaurant, where the chef treats Hugh Heward paddlers to
“paddle cakes,” chocolate chip filled goodness. Chef Mike came out of
semi-retirement to have them ready for us at 6:00 am! It’s always a treat when
a community welcomes paddlers.
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| Mike, ready to make paddle cakes. |
A different river every time
Less than one month prior to this event, we were on the very
same Grand River for the Campus to Coast, a 160-mile race from Lansing to Grand Haven. During that
event, water levels rose overnight to give us a boost. Water levels were much
lower this time, and were in fact, lower than the previous two Hugh Heward
events that we participated in. Even for the veteran paddlers, it would be a
long day.
Early on, we passed Tim and Elin, who were paddling the canoe that Tim took
during his first (solo) trip down the Mississippi. This was Elin’s first long
haul, and they were having a good time.
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| Tim and Elin making a great team on the Grand River. |
Because we were pushing it, we didn’t take many pictures
during the event. We did, however, stop to pay homage to the event founder, Jim
Woodruff, and take in his historical displays in his basement.
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| Jim Woodruff’s basement holds a wealth of information on canoes. |
Never saw those rapids before!
Shortly after pushing off from Jim’s yard, there is a
section of quick water ahead of a bridge. We’ve come this way several times
before in high water, and mainly had to watch for log jams. This time, under
low water conditions, we could hear a rapid ahead of us as we approached. In
preparation, we slowed down and ferried over to the island upstream of the rapids
to take it in. It really wasn’t much; just some standing waves in a V. Had we
been in the Cruiser, we wouldn’t have thought twice. We were in the pro boat,
however, and thought thrice. We took it slow, and headed straight down the
channel. Mark put the brakes on to prevent the bow from diving in as we bounced
down the standing waves. At the bottom of the rapid, we saw another pro boat
pulled off to the shore. They shouted to us that we handled those rapids “like
champs.”
The 2nd 25 miles
We took the obligatory picture of the Grand Ledge water
tower, and then, after the Grand Ledge portage, we were half way there.
We managed to paddle some with Cliff, one of the quickest
guys we know. In years past, in the Cruiser, we have seen just glimpses of him.
This year, we kept up with him for a good while, peppering him with questions
about the cancelled 2015 Everglades Challenge.
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| Meeting up with Cliff at the Grand Ledge portage |
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| Almost keeping up with Cliff! |
After a while, it was time to pull off for a “nature break.”
In the Cruiser, we can just keep it moving, but some things are harder in a
cramped, tippy canoe... During our nature break, we found some good nature,
including this wildflower, and a friendly frog.
Although we lost Cliff after the nature break, we found some
good entertainment in trying to come up with a good frog story.
Once upon a time, there
was a bull frog named Jacob. Frogs have biblical names, traditionally. He was a
lazy frog. He enjoyed sleeping in a bit longer than the other frogs. After a
long, cold winter, he was still lying around under the mud, just starting to
blink open his eyes. He started hearing his friends calling, “Bwaaaaap.” They
were always so annoying when he was trying to sleep in in the springtime, with
all their chipper bwapping and hopping around. This time, the “BWAAAAAAAAP” got
louder. He guessed he couldn’t ignore it any longer. It was time to emerge from
the mud. He blinked again, and started crawling, letting out a crabby
“BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAP” on his way. When he got to the surface, he found to his
surprise a giant yellow thing in his way, with giant creatures tramping about
next to it, slipping around in the muddy banks of the Grand River. These giants
were kind of clumsy. He knew he should probably hop into the water and just
swim away, but he just didn’t feel like it. That sounded like a lot of work for
the springtime. So he sat there and watched the giants, hoping they didn’t see
him. But they did, and now he is a famous, story-telling frog on the Internet.
The other frogs are jealous, of course, but that’s how it goes, sometimes.
Further on down the river, we saw the Eagle nest, with one
of the parents sitting watch.
We finally pulled into Portland after a long hard day of
paddling. Dan and Roxanne and the gang were there to greet us and fill us up
with Chili and hot dogs. We spent a little time comparing notes with fellow
paddlers and enjoying the food and company before heading home with Stacey.
Stacey was in for a treat. We had a U-haul trailer rented for the next day to
move our raised bed gardens to our new home. Shoveling dirt is a good way to
work out the kinks after a long day of paddling!
Stats from the GPS:
Trip Odometer: 50.6 miles
Moving Time: 9 hours 17 minutes
Stopped Time: 1 hour 4 minutes
Max Speed: 8.4 mph
Moving Average: 5.5 mph
Overall Average: 4.9 mph
Awesome experience!! Thanks guys for inviting me.
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