Journal
Huron River from Belleville Lake to Lake Erie. May 16-17-18, 2008
By Gary Hochgraf
Accompanied by L. D.

Friday
We had planned on starting at French Landing, but with an early start, and only a short distance to go from French Landing to our intended camp, we opted to back up the put-in to the west end of Belleville Lake. This gave us the entire length of Belleville to paddle. There were a few fishermen out, but basically pretty quiet. Winds were gusty, mostly a quartering tailwind. The forecast had been for 30-40% rain, but we enjoyed bright sunshine.

The portage at French Landing dam was littered with fishermen’s refuse-plastic bait tubs, packages of hooks & gear, discarded string, food wrappers etc. The put-in was difficult. There had once been a set of stairs down to the water, but they’re now gone and just a handrail remains to help.

It was nice to be in moving water, with overhanging trees, much less wind, ducks, GBHs, and redbud trees in full bloom contrasting with the forest green and river grey-brown. We took out on a sandbar (mud-bar with zebra mussel shells) for lunch, and after a few hours of paddling passed the youth group camping area in Lower Huron Metropark, and began looking for the canoe camp area. Well, apparently they are one and the same, but we didn’t realize that until we were well past. We took out at a picnic area, got water and had dinner. Then decided to make use of a reasonably secluded spot at the picnic area for the night. We waited ‘till dark to erect the tent, and slept to the sound of the river running by, punctuated by jets from Detroit Metro Airport.


Saturday
A bit of rain fell in the night, but the morning broke bright and sunny. And a good breeze keeps the mosquitoes at bay. Again, the forecast was for overcast with 40% rain. We’ve foraged for a few wild edibles. Garlic mustard went into yesterday’s lunch, redbud flowers are eaten out of hand, wild ginger became tea for breakfast. Good stuff!

On down the river. I was to meet with some other paddling friends at Willow Metropark, who were participating in a Boy Scout camporee, with a thousand or so scouts running around. We arrived just in time, but they had changed the location, and I arrived as they were ending the canoeing demo. So I did a quick demo of poling technique, then we set off again down the river. We wasted a couple of hours there.

We stopped for lunch at another picnic area, and were joined on the river by a family of five, embarking on the river in the maiden voyage of their rubber raft, propelled by an electric motor. They looked like they were enjoying their adventure.

We may be paddling through southeast Michigan, less than an hour’s drive from Detroit, Toledo, and numerous smaller cities, but here on the river, its wild. Most of the river is forested on both sides. Occasionally there’ll be a string of houses, and rarely will there be houses on both sides. Wildlife is abundant. We’ve seen squirrels, raccoon, muskrat, and deer prints in the mud. Birds are everywhere. Geese, mallards, wood duck, cormorant, herring gull, tern, swans, an osprey, an adult and an immature bald eagle, kingfishers, kingbirds, swallows, cardinal, blue jay, chickadee, cedar waxwing, baltimore oriole, red headed woodpecker, downy woodpecker, great blue heron, black crowned night heron, white egret, goldfinch, yellow warbler, other warblers, robin, turkey vulture, various sandpipers, and we’ve heard sand hill cranes.

We found a blank spot on the map within Oakwoods Metropark to set up camp for the second night. Across the river, people walked by occasionally with dogs, but none looked across the river and saw us. And the family in the raft drifted by, but we were invisible just a few feet from shore. More wilds were added to dinner - nettles and wild onion. And we had chocolate cake for dessert.


Sunday
Heavy rain in the night, but again the weathermen were wrong and we enjoyed sunny blue skies all morning long. We stopped at the Oakwoods Nature Center and met a group of people spending the morning painting pictures there. This part of the river is a maze of islands, but the channel is easy to follow. Flatrock dam is our next obstacle. A stiff wind brings us there quickly and threatens to push us too far as we search for the portage route. The map says river right, but we find nothing promising. So we try river left. Here we find a couple working in their garden, and ask directions. He says that maps is 30yrs out of date. Perhaps. But he very generously offers to drive us around the dam to a good put-in spot. Its strangers who help out like this that makes an adventure like ours more fun and less daunting.

From Flatrock, we follow the river (only slightly less wild and more urban now) and take-out for lunch where others have had a campfire on the bank. We’re encountering a few spots of rain this afternoon, but none of them last very long or get us very wet, and the sun returns so we dry quickly. The river widens and slows as we approach the end, but the wind picks up so we continue to make good time. About 3:30pm we arrive at the mouth of the Huron river and look out over Lake Erie. I phone Peter, who drives out to bring us back.

The end