We went kayaking again on the Stillwater river south of Stryker. We drove in on a State forest road and parked near the river just south of the Point Of Rocks restaurant along Hwy. 93.
The current is pretty lazy through here, so it was pretty easy to paddle upstream. The river winds through willow flats, twisting and turning. It's a haven for beaver, muskrat, and mink. We also seen tracks of deer, moose, and we saw bear scat on the bank in one place.
The scenery was pretty cool as we row, row rowed our boats gently up the stream!
There were a few beaver dams that had been breached by spring run-off. Most weren't hard to paddle up through but this one gave us a run for the money. It took each of us two tried to get through. The current was fast coming toward us and there was no room on either side to paddle. The branches of the dam were slick and hard to reach and get a hold of, to pull ourselves through.
On our second tries we hit it hard and fast and got far enough up into it that we could reach ahead with our paddles and force the kayaks up and over.
We paddled upstream for 3 hours. Here, the stream narrows with willows growing in on each side. The water was quite deep here, probably 8' or so. Up past here we landed our kayaks against a gravelly bank and had a snack/picnic lunch before turning around and floating back down the river.
Now we're on the way back down. Most of the time we just floated, using the paddle to steer as needed.
We stopped to fish in some of the deep pools on bends in the river.
Sometimes the sun was out and we felt warm. Sometimes the sun went behind clouds for several minutes and we got kind of chilly.
It was a fun float back down. It took 3 hours to get back to where we launched, what with stopping to fish and sometimes just enjoying drifting lazily on the current.
There was a low foot bridge behind Point Of Rocks restaurant.
Steven shows his skills at doing the limbo!
It's harder than it looks. Your concept of balance is changed when you're laying back like that in a tippy kayak.
Steven made it through and now it's my turn. It was easier going under it downstream than it was going under it while fighing our way upstream! The car was only about another half mile. We had been on the water for 6 hours and we were pretty chilled by the time we got out. We loaded up the kayaks, went home and had hot chocolate and dinner!
We went kayaking again on the Stillwater river south of Stryker. We drove in on a State forest road and parked near the river just south of the Point Of Rocks restaurant along Hwy. 93.
The current is pretty lazy through here, so it was pretty easy to paddle upstream. The river winds through willow flats, twisting and turning. It's a haven for beaver, muskrat, and mink. We also seen tracks of deer, moose, and we saw bear scat on the bank in one place.
The scenery was pretty cool as we row, row rowed our boats gently up the stream!
There were a few beaver dams that had been breached by spring run-off. Most weren't hard to paddle up through but this one gave us a run for the money. It took each of us two tried to get through. The current was fast coming toward us and there was no room on either side to paddle. The branches of the dam were slick and hard to reach and get a hold of, to pull ourselves through.
On our second tries we hit it hard and fast and got far enough up into it that we could reach ahead with our paddles and force the kayaks up and over.
We paddled upstream for 3 hours. Here, the stream narrows with willows growing in on each side. The water was quite deep here, probably 8' or so. Up past here we landed our kayaks against a gravelly bank and had a snack/picnic lunch before turning around and floating back down the river.
Now we're on the way back down. Most of the time we just floated, using the paddle to steer as needed.
We stopped to fish in some of the deep pools on bends in the river.
Sometimes the sun was out and we felt warm. Sometimes the sun went behind clouds for several minutes and we got kind of chilly.
It was a fun float back down. It took 3 hours to get back to where we launched, what with stopping to fish and sometimes just enjoying drifting lazily on the current.
There was a low foot bridge behind Point Of Rocks restaurant.
Steven shows his skills at doing the limbo!
It's harder than it looks. Your concept of balance is changed when you're laying back like that in a tippy kayak.
Steven made it through and now it's my turn. It was easier going under it downstream than it was going under it while fighing our way upstream! The car was only about another half mile. We had been on the water for 6 hours and we were pretty chilled by the time we got out. We loaded up the kayaks, went home and had hot chocolate and dinner!
No comments:
Post a Comment