Kayaking the Fall Salmon Run on the Platte

The Platte River is one of my favorite places up here to kayak. The water is beautiful, and the surroundings are perfectly soothing. We put in at the national park area right off of M-22, near Riverside Canoe Trips. If you take the road directly to the mouth of river, it’s about 2.25 miles, but the Platte winds and bends a fair amount, so I’m sure it’s a bit more. I hadn’t paddled those waters since April, when my sister visited, but for the rest of my companions it had been since last August. Because the water is so clear and calm, it is also a favorite place for tourists, so we leave them to it in the summer and enjoy it virtually on our own during the off-season.

The journey

Torch Lake Time!

Tony and I took a brief kayak trip tonight on Torch Lake to break in our new paddles. The good news is that they are much lighter than the old ones and seem more effective. The bad news is that summer is winding down.

How to have a good time Up North

Well, for starters, try to have an aunt and uncle who like to take you on adventures and encourage you to do things that might otherwise scare you. And then, do those things with said aunt and uncle. Anyone you love will do, in a pinch

Paddling Power Island

Power Island is a ~200 acre speck of land about seven miles up the west arm of Grand Traverse Bay. I’ve taken many pictures from afar, from the top of the Old Mission Peninsula, and last year we took a boat ride out with my brother and his family. You might think that with all our kayaking outings, we’d have stopped by the island by now, but getting there requires an open-water crossing – something we’re not keen to do outside the summer or on windy days.

Gone Fishing

After work this afternoon Tony and I strapped the kayaks on top of the little GTI, grabbed the dry bag, and drove up to Elk Rapids. With a pretentious mobile device (my loving yet appropriate moniker for “smart phone”) in hand, we located the ship wreck we had previously failed to find.