One thing I've quickly learned this spring is to take the warm days as we get them because they've been in short supply since about the third week of April.
It wouldn't surprise me if May on average doesn't end up cooler than April.
Unfortunately, I think the morel season went south with the weather. A little over a week ago the season was off to a fast start with many blacks being found in the Mesick area, but over the last week morels have become a lot scarcer.
The rain Wednesday will hopefully help because we should be getting towards the last of the species -- the thick, meaty white and yellow morels. The good news is that you don't have to find as many to make a good meal. For my taste they are the best of the morels, but then I've never tasted any of the woodland delicacies that I didn't like.
Tuesday was one of those rare warm spring days, and I took full advantage of it with a paddle on the Pine River earlier in the day, a mountain bike ride with my labs early evening, and concluded the day -- as night fell -- making the rounds with Bob Carstens* counting frogs at 10 different locations for Michigan's annual frog survey. That will be another column.
The Pine River is truly a great paddling river. It's arguably speaking the gem of Lower Michigan rivers for paddling and also has a healthy trout population that attracts a fair number of fishers. For paddlers, the attraction is fast water, numerous light rapids and bountiful scenery with few cabins. It's almost like paddling through a wilderness at times. There's long stretches where you see no sign of civilization.
Eight of us had agreed earlier the week before to set the day aside for a paddle and lucked out on the weather as temperatures hit 71 degrees by the time we got off the water at 4 p.m. The leaves were just popping out on the trees, and the light green background was a real treat. It felt and looked like spring.
It was also about the last day that you could paddle the Pine without acquiring a U.S. Forest Service permit first. Between today 15 and Sept. 10 you have to obtain a permit from a Forest Service Ranger Station -- Cadillac, Manistee and Baldwin -- for the day that you wish to paddle the river. Most of the time permits are still available a few days before, but on busy summer weekends they can sell out. The watercraft permits are $2, and you also need a $3 parking pass to park at Manistee National Forest Service access parking lots along the river. Envelopes for the parking passes are available at the access.
The purpose of the permit system is to limit the number of watercraft on any given day during the paddling season. Thirty years ago this summer -- July and August 1978 -- over 2,000 canoes per week were counted on the river, which is way too many for the good of the river corridor and its users. The conflicts must have been many between watercraft and between anglers and watercraft. The new system allows no more than 80 watercraft per day midweek and 100 on the weekends, which is much more reasonable. Rangers do constantly monitor the river and parking lots along the river looking for violators and fines are stiff.
Our group chose to paddle the section of river -- about 16 miles -- between Lincoln Bridge and Peterson Bridge, which is the M-37 bridge. Total float time is normally around six to seven hours, but we did it in a little over five hours with a half-hour stop for lunch at Dobson Bridge.
The river was trucking along at a good pace, but you could see looking at the lines along the banks that the water level had been a foot-and-a-half higher recently, which would make it a really fast and more difficult float. The river was fairly clear of obstacles, but there were still downed trees and logjams that you had to work around. And, the swift current, which is always trying to push you into the obstacles, doesn't make it easy. Couple this with the Class I rapids that you encounter, and it's not a river suitable for novice paddlers.
Below Elm Flats the flow of the river increases slightly and bends and switchbacks become a little tighter requiring more draw strokes and backstrokes to negotiate. As you approach Dobson Bridge light riffles and rapids become more predominate. Many of the rapids as you approach Peterson will be rated Class I and, with bushel-sized boulders and larger, can prove a moderate challenge. If you don't remain vigilant they can prove mischievous.
Our group had an error free day on the Pine, but the standing waves were big enough in the rapids below Dobson that I took a couple of good lapfuls of water blasting through them. It was a bit of a shock, but felt refreshing right afterwards. On this warm, sunny day I dried quickly.
For those with some basic paddling skills and knowledge of the sport the Pine is a fun, invigorating outing, and the unspoiled, wilderness-like setting that covers most of the river corridor makes it that much more appealing. That's why the permit system is in effect to keep it unspoiled for all of us. It's a river I always look forward to paddling.
Clearing the Record
Because of an error by the freelance writer, Robert Carstens name was misspelled.
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