- Joined
- Mar 23, 2015
- Messages
- 114
- Reaction score
- 1
September 4th-6th, 2015.
Type of Trip: Solo
Weather: 80s the first day, comfortable mid 70s with strong winds for the rest.
I opted for doing the main section of the Manistique River, from Germfask, to Manistique. Driving this is about 35 miles, by river it's about 65 miles and according to the Outfitter I used it should take 22 hours of paddling.
Thursday, September 3rd:
I got off work about 4:30pm, and had taken that Friday Off. Wanting to have a easy start on Friday I decided to reserve a campsite at a Campground in Germfask for Thursday Night. This is also the same location I was to begin the journey from as they are right on the river. They closed at 8pm and having packed the day before and only driving from Marquette I felt comfortable enough to stop and get food at my favorite Hot Dog place in Munising, Johnny Dogs. I highly recommend it if you're ever in that area. I got to the Outfitters around 7:45pm. The owner was very cordial and got me set up with firewood and my spot rather quickly. I drank some beer and sat around the fire till I decided to crawl into the tent under a clear sky.
Friday, September 4th:
I woke up around 8:30am. Knowing that the first section of the trip was only supposed to be a 4 hour paddle I decided I wasn't in much of a hurry and took the time to make some breakfast over my stick stove. About 10:30 or so I popped into the Outfitters to see if they wanted to pick me up or drop my truck off in Manistique for the trip. We decided it'd be best to drop my truck off at the end, and I could call them when I was done so they knew I didn't kick the bucket. It's about 30 minutes each way so by the time all that was over with, I was back with my canoe at the outfitters a little after Noon. I was loaded up pushing off the dock by 12:30 and I was on my way...
I decided I'd spend my first night at the Mead Creek State Campground, a DNR run campground just inside the Seney National Wildlife Refuge. The first 4 or 5 hours of the trip are actually within the Seney Boundaries and you are not allowed to camp anywhere else in this stretch. According to the Map given to me by my campground it had shown a 4 hour paddle from their location to Mead Creek Campground. The River isn't narrow in this stretch, but it's not very wide either. It has a lot of turns and quite a few downed trees, but nothing that is difficult to paddle around, and nothing to portage over. Knowing this is a popular paddle for tourists visiting the area I expected to see a couple kayaks or canoes on my way down, but did not. As expected I did see some wildlife, but not as much as I'd expect to see in the Wildlife Refuge. Beavers, Muskrats, Bluejays, Etc. I kept a constant easy paddle and ended up making it to the Campground in 3.5 hours. After exploring the campsites I realized I was alone, and much to my surprise for the Friday Night of Labor Day Weekend, this didn't change. I made a gourmet Mac and Cheese Dinner, spiced up with some peppers, gathered some firewood, had a couple drinks and then turned in early around 10pm.
Saturday, September 5th:
One thing about me is that if I'm by myself, I don't see the point in stopping if I can make good time. I used to drive from the UP of Michigan to Baltimore Maryland in one go without stopping. Since this was a solo paddle for me I decided I'd probably have the same mentality.
Another thing I should note is that about 45 minutes after leaving Mead Creek State Campground you are out of the Seney Wildlife Refuge, which means that you are allowed to camp on either show of the River for essentially the rest of the trip. There are a few cabins here and there, but A LOT of sand bars. To be honest, beyond the sand bars, I didn't see any other kind of established campsite on the edge of the river.
Before I left someone had told me that after Mead, it was a 6 hour paddle to a bridge with plenty of camping opportunities on the shores before and after the bridge. Having woke up at 7:30am and after a quick poptart and granola breakfast I was on the River by 9am. The Outfitter didn't lie about the sandbars. There were huge and long reaching on each side of the river, before and after the bridge. They all looked great. If I was with others I definitely would have stopped and camped on one. But like I said before, being by myself and the fact I made the 6 hour paddle in 5 hours I decided to attempt pushing for good time and to push thru the next 4 hour paddle to Merwin Creek Campground.
The river before the bridge had a good flow to it and I was averaging between 3.5 to 4mph according to my GPS with not much more than a light constant paddle, about an hour or so after the bridge i noticed that not only did the river current slow down with the river widening, but a head wind of about 10-13 mph had developed. This slowed my average speed to 2-3mph. I buckled down and made Merwin Creek in 3.5 hours from the Bridge.
Unlike Mead Creek, Merwin Creek Campground had a crowd. It was a good ol redneck playground. Campers for what seemed as far as I could see and a bunch of tweens riding 4 wheelers, and dirt bikes around between sites. One little crap that couldn't get his dirt bike out of 1st gear even rode right through my campsite. I picked the closest campsite to the launch because 1) it was the closest, but 2) it was also the farthest from everyone else, it also had a fire ring and picnic tables which some of the other sites didn't have. The only downside to my campsite (other than the tweens driving by constantly) was that someone had attempted to burn quite a bit of trash in the fire ring and failed miserably. I did what i could to pick out some of it, but ended up burning the rest out, and made dinner on my stick stove.
Having little to no ice left in my cooler, I decided to finish off the beer and switch over to the Captains for the night... I set up my tent as close to the water as I could and put my food bag on the far side of the campsite. Having just paddled 8.5 hours and being a day ahead i thought I might take Sunday off and just hang around the campsite. Unfortunately the redneck party went on till 1am, and I eventually decided that when the sun came up I'd get back on the river and end my trip a day early..
Sunday, September 6th:
I woke up around 6:30am, and not wasting any time I was on the river by 7am. I ate poptarts and peanut butter crackers between paddles for breakfast. from Merwin Creek Campground to the Take out at Cedar Street in Manistique, where my truck was located, was supposed to be an 8 hour paddle. I could only hope to cut some time off of this.
Leaving early was nice in that there was a little wind and still some cloud cover. The River widened a lot more quickly, and not soon after leaving Merwin I reached where the West Branch of the Manistique Runs into the Main Branch. Giving the river a much needed boost in current. This also increased the amount of sand bars I saw. The 2nd picture I attached was from the Lower Manistique and it even got wider than that, unfortunatley I hit a Head Wind at the end of about 20 mph with 1 to 2 foot rollers and it took everything I had to keep the canoe straight for the last 5 or 6 miles. I ended up paddling 7.5 miles the last day and did the entire trip with a total of 19 hours of paddling. I never saw another boat on the water except at Merwin Creek Campground, which is really the other place I saw anyone else at all.
Overall, I saw more wildlife outside the Seney Wildlife Refuge than I saw in it. I came up on Multiple Beavers, Muskrats, Martins, Bald Eagles, Ducks, Loons, snapping turtles, painted turtles, snakes, you name it.
It was a good trip, and now that I've done it, I can't wait to go back with friends and do it in the 4 to 5 days it should take to do that section of the river, or better yet, the Fox and Manistique Rivers together.
Cheers.
Type of Trip: Solo
Weather: 80s the first day, comfortable mid 70s with strong winds for the rest.
I opted for doing the main section of the Manistique River, from Germfask, to Manistique. Driving this is about 35 miles, by river it's about 65 miles and according to the Outfitter I used it should take 22 hours of paddling.
Thursday, September 3rd:
I got off work about 4:30pm, and had taken that Friday Off. Wanting to have a easy start on Friday I decided to reserve a campsite at a Campground in Germfask for Thursday Night. This is also the same location I was to begin the journey from as they are right on the river. They closed at 8pm and having packed the day before and only driving from Marquette I felt comfortable enough to stop and get food at my favorite Hot Dog place in Munising, Johnny Dogs. I highly recommend it if you're ever in that area. I got to the Outfitters around 7:45pm. The owner was very cordial and got me set up with firewood and my spot rather quickly. I drank some beer and sat around the fire till I decided to crawl into the tent under a clear sky.
Friday, September 4th:
I woke up around 8:30am. Knowing that the first section of the trip was only supposed to be a 4 hour paddle I decided I wasn't in much of a hurry and took the time to make some breakfast over my stick stove. About 10:30 or so I popped into the Outfitters to see if they wanted to pick me up or drop my truck off in Manistique for the trip. We decided it'd be best to drop my truck off at the end, and I could call them when I was done so they knew I didn't kick the bucket. It's about 30 minutes each way so by the time all that was over with, I was back with my canoe at the outfitters a little after Noon. I was loaded up pushing off the dock by 12:30 and I was on my way...
I decided I'd spend my first night at the Mead Creek State Campground, a DNR run campground just inside the Seney National Wildlife Refuge. The first 4 or 5 hours of the trip are actually within the Seney Boundaries and you are not allowed to camp anywhere else in this stretch. According to the Map given to me by my campground it had shown a 4 hour paddle from their location to Mead Creek Campground. The River isn't narrow in this stretch, but it's not very wide either. It has a lot of turns and quite a few downed trees, but nothing that is difficult to paddle around, and nothing to portage over. Knowing this is a popular paddle for tourists visiting the area I expected to see a couple kayaks or canoes on my way down, but did not. As expected I did see some wildlife, but not as much as I'd expect to see in the Wildlife Refuge. Beavers, Muskrats, Bluejays, Etc. I kept a constant easy paddle and ended up making it to the Campground in 3.5 hours. After exploring the campsites I realized I was alone, and much to my surprise for the Friday Night of Labor Day Weekend, this didn't change. I made a gourmet Mac and Cheese Dinner, spiced up with some peppers, gathered some firewood, had a couple drinks and then turned in early around 10pm.
Saturday, September 5th:
One thing about me is that if I'm by myself, I don't see the point in stopping if I can make good time. I used to drive from the UP of Michigan to Baltimore Maryland in one go without stopping. Since this was a solo paddle for me I decided I'd probably have the same mentality.
Another thing I should note is that about 45 minutes after leaving Mead Creek State Campground you are out of the Seney Wildlife Refuge, which means that you are allowed to camp on either show of the River for essentially the rest of the trip. There are a few cabins here and there, but A LOT of sand bars. To be honest, beyond the sand bars, I didn't see any other kind of established campsite on the edge of the river.
Before I left someone had told me that after Mead, it was a 6 hour paddle to a bridge with plenty of camping opportunities on the shores before and after the bridge. Having woke up at 7:30am and after a quick poptart and granola breakfast I was on the River by 9am. The Outfitter didn't lie about the sandbars. There were huge and long reaching on each side of the river, before and after the bridge. They all looked great. If I was with others I definitely would have stopped and camped on one. But like I said before, being by myself and the fact I made the 6 hour paddle in 5 hours I decided to attempt pushing for good time and to push thru the next 4 hour paddle to Merwin Creek Campground.
The river before the bridge had a good flow to it and I was averaging between 3.5 to 4mph according to my GPS with not much more than a light constant paddle, about an hour or so after the bridge i noticed that not only did the river current slow down with the river widening, but a head wind of about 10-13 mph had developed. This slowed my average speed to 2-3mph. I buckled down and made Merwin Creek in 3.5 hours from the Bridge.
Unlike Mead Creek, Merwin Creek Campground had a crowd. It was a good ol redneck playground. Campers for what seemed as far as I could see and a bunch of tweens riding 4 wheelers, and dirt bikes around between sites. One little crap that couldn't get his dirt bike out of 1st gear even rode right through my campsite. I picked the closest campsite to the launch because 1) it was the closest, but 2) it was also the farthest from everyone else, it also had a fire ring and picnic tables which some of the other sites didn't have. The only downside to my campsite (other than the tweens driving by constantly) was that someone had attempted to burn quite a bit of trash in the fire ring and failed miserably. I did what i could to pick out some of it, but ended up burning the rest out, and made dinner on my stick stove.
Having little to no ice left in my cooler, I decided to finish off the beer and switch over to the Captains for the night... I set up my tent as close to the water as I could and put my food bag on the far side of the campsite. Having just paddled 8.5 hours and being a day ahead i thought I might take Sunday off and just hang around the campsite. Unfortunately the redneck party went on till 1am, and I eventually decided that when the sun came up I'd get back on the river and end my trip a day early..
Sunday, September 6th:
I woke up around 6:30am, and not wasting any time I was on the river by 7am. I ate poptarts and peanut butter crackers between paddles for breakfast. from Merwin Creek Campground to the Take out at Cedar Street in Manistique, where my truck was located, was supposed to be an 8 hour paddle. I could only hope to cut some time off of this.
Leaving early was nice in that there was a little wind and still some cloud cover. The River widened a lot more quickly, and not soon after leaving Merwin I reached where the West Branch of the Manistique Runs into the Main Branch. Giving the river a much needed boost in current. This also increased the amount of sand bars I saw. The 2nd picture I attached was from the Lower Manistique and it even got wider than that, unfortunatley I hit a Head Wind at the end of about 20 mph with 1 to 2 foot rollers and it took everything I had to keep the canoe straight for the last 5 or 6 miles. I ended up paddling 7.5 miles the last day and did the entire trip with a total of 19 hours of paddling. I never saw another boat on the water except at Merwin Creek Campground, which is really the other place I saw anyone else at all.
Overall, I saw more wildlife outside the Seney Wildlife Refuge than I saw in it. I came up on Multiple Beavers, Muskrats, Martins, Bald Eagles, Ducks, Loons, snapping turtles, painted turtles, snakes, you name it.
It was a good trip, and now that I've done it, I can't wait to go back with friends and do it in the 4 to 5 days it should take to do that section of the river, or better yet, the Fox and Manistique Rivers together.
Cheers.
Attachments
Last edited:
