L&M Small Craft Coastal Explorations: Campus to Coast 2017: The Land of Make Believe

It is with a mixture of excitement and dread that we sign up for the Campus to Coast each year. Excitement to help keep the tradition of expedition-style canoe racing alive in Michigan. Verlen Kruger lived on the Grand River in Lansing, and inspired many to paddle further than they thought possible. Dread because we have done it three times before, so we know what is in store for us. There will be some suffering, but it is the people that keep us coming back. Everyone who participates in an event like this is so excited and happy to be doing what they love to do.

Week after week, I watched the buds swell and open on our serviceberry tree. When the flowers formed, we would have a date with the Grand River.

We checked the forecast obsessively over the preceding week. Two years before, we faced terrible headwinds on the first day, followed by heavy rain in the evening, then below-freezing temperatures during the night. The forecast looked good. It had rained heavily a few days before, so the river was rising, but still below flood stage. There was no significant rain in the forecast. The low on Friday night was predicted to be 36 F, chilly but still above freezing. Westerly headwinds were predicted for Friday, but not as bad as in 2015.

The Start

We set the alarm for 4:30 AM. We wanted to get as much sleep as possible, so we did not have much time to spare. We were all set-up and ready to go, when Dan Durbin gave the warning for the first wave to start. I realized that I had not taken any pictures of the lineup. I snapped one of Scott Venman, who was racing for the second time, this time with his Dad.

Just as I snapped the photo, Dan blew the horn for the first wave to start. I dropped the camera, grabbed the canoe, and began pushing it across the wet grass. With the camera hanging around my neck, I jumped in and we began pulling past the bushes and stumps through the shallow flood water toward the submerged river bank. For a minute, we were in the lead! The former Southbound Spartans caught up to us in their sleek Savage River four-man canoe. I almost got a good action shot but the camera had bumped about and was in the wrong mode. By the time I cycled the power, they were passed. This team was training for a second attempt to take the downriver Mississippi run world record from Bob Bradford, and would have an amazing battle for first place against Bob and his son Mike in this race.

Dave and Keith were next.

Bob and Mike Bradford were slightly delayed by a busted rudder, but were soon putting the heat on the Mississippi Challenge Team.

It was a short course this year, 150 miles. The start was moved from Wonch Park to the Potter Park Zoo because of log jams on the Red Cedar River that could not be cleared because of the high water. This took 7 miles off the course from the previous two years, and 3.5 miles from the original start at The Rock at Farm Lane on Campus.

The first portage at Old Town dam came quickly after only 3.5 miles. We portaged with the Bradfords, Dave and Keith, and Big Dave in his new Wenona solo canoe.

Getting into the groove

The weather was cool and overcast. We enjoyed the high, fast water, averaging 6.5 to 7 miles per hour.

Paddi and Andy passed us pulling hard. Andy had the eye of the tiger. They are friends of ours from the Michigan Canoe Racing Association. We paddled with them through most of the night in our first Au Sable River Canoe Marathon two years ago. We talked to them about this event, and somehow they thought it sounded like fun.

We came into Grand Ledge at 9:30 AM, already 1.5 hours ahead of last year's pace.

Too cold for rock climbers at the ledges.

Sometimes the routine gets a little monotonous and some entertainment is needed. There is a reach of river on the approach to Portland that looks like a horse head on the map. I kept Lauren up to date as we made progress through the various horse body parts.

The serviceberry trees were blooming white among the bare branches of the woods.

The eagle's nest upstream of Portland was gone, but Andy said he saw a new one nearby.

Dan Smith and Luke Rookus cheered us on at the Verlen Kruger Memorial in Portland.

The ponds of Portland and Webber dams were next.

I don't know who designs portages, but they must not be paddlers. In the past, we wheeled the cruiser down a set of wooden stairs at Webber Dam. They had replaced the wooden stairs with some steep, narrow concrete stairs with chainlink fence on both sides. An 18.5' long boat can't do a tight turn with fence on both sides. We lowered it down the steep grass bank on the wheels using our throwing line.

Big Dave waited for us at Wagar Dam, and helped us lift the cruiser over the concrete wall: what a nice guy! Someone had put a scrap of carpet over the concrete wall this year, which made things much easier.

Photo by Cynthia Sweeney

Cindy owns the property and is a big supporter of the race. She and her friends had a nice big fire for the paddlers and a spread of food: BBQ pork wraps, cookies, hot chocolate, coffee, and a variety of bars. Big Dave had left his sub sandwich in the car, so he took in some calories while he could.

We heard that Dave and Keith took some water over the side in the waves below Webber Dam. The dam was releasing a lot of water, and there was a rough patch of waves coming from the side.

We learned that the Mississippi River Challenge team had capsized while attempting to run the gap in the old dam at Wager, while the Bradfords successfully ran the rapids and had taken the lead. The Mississippi team swam to shore, changed into their spare clothes and were off again in 16 minutes, but they were chilled heading into the night.

We launched below Wagar at 4:05 PM. Two years ago, it was already dark at this point. Big Dave pulled himself away from the cookies and campfire to join us. He had paddled with us through most of the night last year.

Photo from Mike Smith

The dam at Lyons had been removed since last year, saving us the long portage through town. We ran the rapids in the deeper chute on river left. There were some waves, but no problem in the Cruiser. Dave was going to portage, but the water was so high that there was a perfectly flat water passage on river right.

Big Dave paddled with us as we ticked off the miles and anticipated the night to come. Big Dave is a mystery man. We see him predictably at one or two paddling events each year. We have never communicated with him or seen him off the water. We always see him in his solo canoe with the pack in the back and a big smile on his face, ready for the long haul. He is one quick paddler!

High water had flooded the banks in places.

We had dinner at a civilized hour of 7PM for once.

There are some fun riverside dwellings along the way, some fancier than others.

This is about to get real

Paddi and Andy caught up to us as the sun was setting. Things were about to get real. Until sunset, it's just a nice, long day on the water. At night, paddlers have to decide whether to camp, or to press on and face the demons of darkness, exhaustion, and hypothermia.

Big Dave paddled ahead to the second designated camp near Ada. We had never stopped there in previous years, but we had forgotten to fill up our drinking water at Wagar. We pulled up to the dock when we saw the lights. The friendly volunteers provided us with a big jug of water. As I was filling our dromedary bag, Lauren spotted Big Dave chatting with someone near a campfire and called out to him. He didn't hear, but we figured he was going to camp as he had in the past, so we pressed on. We later learned that he continued on through the night for the first time. Too bad we missed him.

Wisps of fog rose from the water and shone in the headlight as the cold night air settled in. We were surprised by another boat off to the side in the darkness. It was Earl in the Tsunami kayak. Lauren had talked to him at the start. He and Paddi and Andy disappeared after a while we were not sure if they were ahead or behind. We started to get drowsy. Anticipating a shorter trip than in past years, we did not lay down for full two-hour sleep shifts, but rather made do with some 20 minute nap shifts.

Paddi and Andy caught up again and we paddled together as the river took a big, long loop around Grand Rapids before finally arriving at 6th Street Dam at 2AM.

Dan Durbin checked us in at the portage, and gave us the news on the race. We were in third place, but far behind the leaders. The Bradfords had passed Grand Rapids almost an hour ahead of the Mississippi team. Amazing, that they could put such a gap on a three-man team in a light, fast canoe! We were advised that the rapids below the dam were gnarly, so we took the long portage to cross at Michigan Avenue.

A drunk dude in a suit passed us on the sidewalk, trying to look natural. For some reason, whenever people see us carrying our canoe through city streets, they pretend like they don't see anything unusual. I guess this applies to drunk dudes too.

The hours between midnight and dawn are always the hardest. After the excitement of Grand Rapids passed, the drowsiness began to set in. We took turns with 20 minute naps in the boat while the other paddled and 20 minute intervals of focused paddling. The back side of my body and lower back were very sore. I suggested that we do another hard interval to wake us up, then a few strokes in to the interval I decided to make this video for my internet friends. Lauren found this amusing. Sometimes any excuse not to paddle is appealing.

The first light of dawn is a welcome sight.

The Land of Make Believe

It was morning, but I was still quite drowsy. We were only about ten miles from the finish. Earl caught up in his red kayak. We looked back and saw Paddi and Andy approaching. Some times my competitive spirit is not as strong as it should be. I figured, if we had wanted to win we should have paddled harder during the night. We didn't, so it was only natural that people would be passing us. I mostly just wanted to take another nap. We chatted with Earl for a bit, then he took off. He was excited to be the first solo finisher.

Lauren, on the other hand, thought I should snap out of it. But how? You need to pretend, she said, that there is an imaginary Mark, one that is fresh and strong. You mean like Mr. Rogers and The Land of Make Believe, I said? Ding, ding, ding goes the trolley.... If that's what it takes, she said. How would the imaginary Mark paddle if he were in an MCRA race? I had done that before, so I could imagine what that would be like. On a whim, I decided to demonstrate. I started pulling hard and fast like I would in a race. You mean like this? Yes, exactly, she said. I was surprised to find that it actually didn't feel that bad. In fact, it was making me feel better. I was starting to perk up and the pain in my back was fading.

We were not catching up to Earl, but he was not extending the gap either. After a few miles, we came to the place where there is a significant shortcut through the marsh. The end of the course near Grand Haven is complex, and there are many opportunities to take a wrong turn.

Earl slowed down and was looking around. He pulled out a map. I had waypoints for the route, so I knew what was happening. Rather than paddle toward the cut, and show him where it is, we paddled toward him. Once we caught up with him, we turned toward the cut. Now we were together. We put the hammer down. Once we were in the marsh, there were multiple channels. We aimed toward the wrong one, he got ahead of us. Then, we suddenly turned into the shorter channel, leaving him stranded on the other side of the marsh grass. Unfortunately, he found another passage through the grass and was with us again. Drat! My tricks had failed to put a gap on him.

The remaining four miles to the finish meandered through marshy channels and industrial waterfront in a complex manner. I was not totally sure that I remembered the most direct route. I figured Earl would just follow us until the finish was in sight. He could beat us in a short sprint to the finish. Our only hope was that we could wear him out with an extended sprint to the finish. Besides, it was more of a fun way to pass the time than wallowing in our misery. So, we stayed in the Land of Make Believe and just pretended like we were in an MCRA race and kicked it in to the finish. Past the marshy point, under the blue draw bridge, under the railroad bridge, past the place where you don't turn in, past the tugboats and barges, past the dock that is not the finish, finally, the real finish dock came into view, with people standing and waving. It felt soooo good to stop paddling!

We congratulated Earl on an amazing run. I don't think anyone has finished so well in a sea kayak before. It would be extremely uncomfortable to be confined in a kayak that long, and it would not be possible to catch any naps in the boat. We made it in a few minutes ahead of Earl, but he had started in the second wave, so he had ten minutes on us and still finished in third place.

Earl at the finish, sorry we didn't get a better picture

Team GoFRowe with the defending champs Bob and Mike Bradford (Team Bushwaker)

So many new faces with awesome finishes. It's great to see the love of expedition-style canoe racing spread!

Big Dave did not camp after all, and pressed on through the night for the first time. An impressive performance fueled by only two candy bars and the goodies from Cindy at Wagar Dam.