Day 225 07/18/2010
 
Day 225
Start: 6:15 AM - Russell Island - Pointe aux Chenes, MI
Finish 2:15 PM - Marysville, MI
Time: 8:00 hours
Daily dist: 17 miles
Total dist: 4200+
Companions: Randy and Joel Orchard
Weather: Partly cloudy with highs in the 980’s wind out of the SW at 10+ mph.
Notes: Less mileage than recent days but all upstream on the St. Clair River.
So far, 4000+ miles into this trip, one thing I’ve amazingly been able to avoid was mosquitoes. It was too cold for them in the famously buggy Everglades and apparently they just weren’t out (or I’ve been lucky) ever since. Lucky, that was, until this morning. It wouldn’t have taken a genius to guess that my camp site would hold a few bugs. After all, I had to push down waste high grass in order to create a flat spot in the only bit of land I could find that would be certain to be above the flood plane if it rained. For those that don’t know around here- tall grass and water = bugs.

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High grass in camp. There is a boat in there somewhere.
I knew I could be in for it but, exhausted after a long hot day of paddling, with few options, (in fact grateful for finding the spot suggested by my friend Randy who had seen it when he paddled through here before) I didn’t really have much choice when I set up camp last night. Thankfully last night they weren’t bad at all and I thought I had dodged the bullet again. However, this morning was a different story altogether. The sound of condensing dew dripping inside my tent was the first thing to wake me. After that it was the high pitched squealing drone of the hundreds of mosquitoes that had flown in under the rain fly and were searching for some port of entry through the now seemingly (too) thin layer of mesh that protected me from the buzzing hordes. Just enough bugs were out last night to cause me to dig my bug suit out of the front of the kayak and put it on for the first time since Georgia. Thankfully the suit was in the tent with me so I could put it on an maintain some measure of protection from the hungry swarm when I came time to break camp. Breakfast was less than restful as I chewed my cherry flavored Pop Tarts listening to the unrelenting chorus of tiny squealing voices. After rolling up my bedding, sleeping mat, and anything else I could think of, it was time to emerge from the protection of the tent into the frenzied cloud of flying stingers.

To say I broke camp and loaded the kayak in a hurry would be an understatement. In fact I did it so fast I don’t even remember half the process. I do remember that the bug suit was the last thing I tucked into the front hatch before I threw on my spray skirt and PFD and jumped into the kayak and pushed off shore into the relative releif of open air over the river. As I paddled (quite briskly trying to outrun the mosquitoes) past fishermen anchored in their boats off shore, I apologized for dragging the swarm off shore with me. For a half mile the strongest flyers hovered in the wind eddy behind me and the very smartest ones walked around on the deck of my boat staying out of the wind all together. As I went I swatted and splashed the little blood suckers leaving a trail of mini carcasses stuck to my boat or floating in the water behind me. Even at the very end of the day I was still finding dead mosquitoes in the inner recesses of my life jacket.

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The welcoming crew in Marysville, MI
Despite the lively start the rest of my day was fantastic. Paddling upstream against the waters of lakes Superior, Michigan, and Huron as they tried to reach Lake Erie to the south via the St. Clair river was as challenging as I expected. My average speed was cut almost in half as I worked my way north yet I was still making progress and enjoying the scenery so it was a pleasant morning. At 11:00 AM I reached the town of St. Clair and the St. Clair marina where Randy Orchard and his son Joel were preparing to join me for the last five miles upstream to Marysville.

We launched after I had a chance to take a short break and soon were back on the main river where we discovered that the wind had come up and it had gotten a bit bouncier than it had been just a few minutes before. Randy had rarely been in water like that before but did just fine for the entire two and a half hour run to the north. Nineteen year old Joel made it look easy and left his father and I in the dust as he easily zoomed way out ahead and was quickly becoming nothing more visible than paddle flashes on the horizon.

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Rush hour for kayaks
When we landed on the public beach in Marysville (no permits required…Detroit take note) a small group of Randy’s friends and passers by gathered to shake my hand and congratulate me on the trip. Randy his wife Teresa, and I returned to Randy’s house where I hung my tent out to dry and enjoyed an awesome dinner with his family. Later we were visited by Randy’s friend (and canoeing buddy) Steve and enjoyed a pleasant evening of sharing stories of paddling adventures, which included a tale of when Steve met Verlen Kruger who is one of my paddlesport heroes and part of my inspiration for doing this trip.

 


Comments

Steven Krause

07/19/2010 7:20:01 am

The Detroit News, eh? All the more reason I think you can get a national book contract out of this expedition. And as for the mosquitoes, they seemed slow to get started here, too, but they have gotten pretty thick in spots. Fortunately, they don't much like my blood. They should still be here for you when you reach the Wisconsin River.

 

Randy Orchard

07/19/2010 7:22:09 am

Jake; It was a pleasure to meet you, and paddle with you albeit for a shorter time than I would have liked, and no we do not require a permit to land on our beach here in Marysville. Thumbs down for Detroits attitude eh? We did in fact have a great visit and supper w/dessert, which Jake will attest to was worth the wait. We actually froze some of it and sent it along today for a mid-day treat, I am sure Jake will appreciate in a few hours. Jake launched from Marysville beach at 7:30 am and is headed upsteam again, he should be in Lk Huron proper by about 10:00am, and be out of the current=easy paddling. Paddle On Jake, we hope to meet again. Randy and Teresa

 

Randy Orchard

07/19/2010 10:27:58 am

I was able to watch Jake paddle up under the Blue Water Bridges, He was fine while in the eddy on the CA side, but when he crossed the eddy line and hit the main current and a 20 knot north wind down from the lake it appeared he was having a gruesome slog upstream paddling almost in place but he made in into the lake. You go boy!!

 



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