Ice Paddle on Shiawassee River

Hi All;

It was a great day for a paddle. Good weather and good participants. 7
of us set out at 11:40 from Waterworks Park in Holly. Brian, Tom, Mary,
Pete, Scott, Rodney and myself started on the grand adventure. The
River was high, about an inch from flood stage. Lots of waterfowl,
turkeys and herons were on the river. The poor ducks were starting to
nest and not appreciating the traffic 2 feet away. We found several log
jams, and 2 20"diameter trees in last falls tornado zone in the river.
With some good humor and a few groans we managed to portage or hop all
the obstacle. The 3 railroad tubes posed a challenge for 2 of our crew,
or maybe it was they were too hot and wanted a dip to cool off.
Watching kayakers swimming was interesting and unexpected. Aside from a
challenging stretch the river was clear with just a little ice around
the edges. The Fenton millpond was something else. The first half mile
was straight into a brisk wind. The second half Mile was still into the
wind but we were pulling our boats and walking on less than perfect
ice. Just the kind of event to make a good story about the day. To top
it off the first snow flakes were coming down just as we finished.

We'll be having a cleanup in April to get ready for the fun paddle and
race in May.

Good paddling;
Doug.