Day 5: Walnut Grove Campground at Lower Huron Metropark to Hull’s Trace Landing at Lake Erie
After our interesting evening at Walnut Grove Campground, I awoke to quiet, still morning. As I lounged in my hammock for a bit longer, I could hear herons calling and fish jumping in the river below the bluff where I camped. It was a great way to start our final push through the final 27 miles of our journey, and after packing up camp, we were eager to be on our way and to meet friends who would be, as they described it, our “honor guard” during the final leg of our trip!
After about an hour of padding, we met up with our old camp friend, Alex, and his biologist husband, Jake at the East Bend Launch at Lower Huron Metropark. How lucky we were to have these gentlemen paddle along with us! As we made our way through the forested bends of the Huron, we reminisced about our days working and living at YMCA Storer Camps and Jake answered our many questions about river health, local species, and human impacts on waterways. We learned so much as we chatted and plodded along on slow and still waters. As we slowly ticked off mile after mile, I wondered how much faster this trip might be with higher water levels and greater water volume. This paddle in August certainly made us work for our miles, and I felt sorry for our companions who had no one but themselves to power their own kayaks!
As we made our way into Willow Metropark, dark storm clouds began to build up and we heard a rumble of thunder or two. We pulled out our phones to check the weather radar, scanned the skies, and decided to pull off for a moment and reevaluate the situation from the Big Bend Launch at Willow Metropark. We knew that we still had about 2 hours to go until our planned break for lunch in Flat Rock, but did not want to get ourselves stuck in an electrical storm on the water, especially since much of the river had high, muddy banks that would make for a tricky pull-off and would force me to get out my tarp to give us some shelter if need be. However, for the second time in our trip, the storms seemed to split around us and move to the west. Perhaps it was an odd weather pattern for us that week or perhaps it was some greater force looking out for us, but whatever it was, we were grateful for it!
The character of the river remained consistent throughout Lower Huron, Willow, and Oakwoods Metropark. The waters were slow, wide, and murky and were surrounded by high, muddy bluffs that alternated between shady woodlands and open, manicured park lands. Along this stretch we continued to spot osprey, herons, waxwings, kingfishers, and other river birds who had become our constant companions during the trip. As the afternoon wore on, we made our way into Flat Rock, the last of the trail towns that we would visit along our journey.
The Flat Rock Dam portage is unique in the sense that one must call ahead to request that an access gate be unlocked for the portage. I had called both a week and a day prior to our portage, and when we arrived, we were pleased to see the gate closed, but unlocked and ready for our passage. The portage was a bit longer, but certainly not as long as the passages over the Ford Lake and French Landing Dams. We hauled our gear across a set of train tracks and made our way to to HuRoc Park, where we had an easy launch from the shore. We paddled a bit further before facing another portage at the Covered Bridge Dam, which was surrounded by a pretty and well-enjoyed city park. After pulling our boats out of the river, I took a quick walk down the road to snag our waiting lunch at Atwater Street Tacos, which we would later eat under the shade of a tree at the park. This was an EXCELLENT choice. My fish tacos were spicy, filling, and exactly what I needed to fuel the final leg of our adventure. While picking up our lunch, I noticed that the business is running a kayak and tube livery for the last stretch of the Huron as well. On a Friday afternoon, business was good, and had plenty of friendly company on the river during the next bit of our paddle.
After lunch, we enjoyed a short stretch of riffles just past the Covered Bridge Dam, and then were back into the slow, murky waters that we had become accustomed to on this stretch of the river. Tubers and kayakers enjoyed the river bends past Flat Rock with us until the crowds finally thinned out at their take-out point, which appeared to be the South Rockwood Boat Ramp just before the river dips beneath I-75.
With the river to ourselves and ominous clouds looming behind us, we tried hard to keep our pace, feeling sorry for poor Alex and Jake in the kayaks behind us. As we grew nearer to Lake Erie, the river widened and slowed even more, so much so that we started to notice flooded yards and docks. This was evidence of the record-high water levels of the Great Lakes this year. From houses falling off bluffs into Lake Michigan to yards and docks turned into marshy messes, the effects of the lakes’ heights can be felt even through stretches of the Huron River!
With each stroke of our paddle, we made our way through a long stretch of privately-owned land. The homes in this stretch of river were far more modest than the towering mansions we had seen on day three of our trip, and many yards were adorned with all manners of docks, a cool tree houses, boats, and evidence that the folks along this stretch of river, as opposed to those in mansions perched on high bluffs, seem to use and enjoy the river more frequently. As our arms began to ache and our hands were going numb, the number of houses increased and low yards were replaced with sea walls. As we made our way during this final stretch, many families were out back enjoying the start to their weekends on an early Friday evening.
Then, we spotted it - the bridge that crosses the river at Hull’s Trace. On the other side of this bridge would be mile 0: The point where the Huron River begins to empty out into Lake Erie. As we whooped and hollered with delight, my heart swelled to see Heather’s family and my husband were waiting and cheering for us at our takeout point. Soon, we were surrounded by family and friends once again, and the end of our journey was near.
As boats were lashed to cars, Heather, myself, and her immediate family gathered at the docks that faced Lake Erie to take part in the final ceremony tied to Heather’s sacred nibi (water) paddle. Heather prayed to the Great Spirit and expressed her thanks for the safe passage, good weather, and growth that we had both experienced through these five days together on the water. At this moment, I was overwhelmed with gratitude. I was grateful for Heather, who was so enthusiastically on board for this adventure ever since I floated the idea on Facebook. I was grateful for her positive attitude, experience, and humor that got us through both the fun and trying moments of our trip. I was grateful for my husband, who has put up with weeks of planning, shuttling us about, watching our young son, and just being an incredibly supportive partner through the entire experience. I was grateful for those who gave us advice, encouragement, and donations for our fundraiser along the way. And more than anything, I was grateful for this beautiful river, which I have come to understand so much more through our adventure.
Highlights
A great day paddling with wonderful friends
Learning about river ecology and human impacts to the river from Jake!
Street tacos in Flatwater
Our finale at Lake Erie
Concerns
The river remains heavily impacted in this stretch. The water is murky, banks are high and muddy, and there are long paddles between good stopping points
Damage to riverfront properties due to Lake Erie’s high water levels
The river gets much more industrialized the closer we got to Lake Erie
Two portages in quick succession in Flat Rock
Thoughts for the Future
The stretches through the metroparks were full of wildlife and would be fun to do again
I would love to come back and paddle around Pointe Mouillee a bit more
No comments:
Post a Comment