Huron River, canoeing with Meetup

Journal
Canoe trip down the Huron River: Huron Meadows to Hudson Mills to Gallup
August 1&2, 2009
Gary Hochgraf

This trip was run through the Michigan Adventure Club, part of Meetup.com.
We are fourteen. Judi, who is recovering from a shoulder injury shares my Minnesota II; Kat and Jens are paddling a Nahani that I borrowed. Paula and Petre are in their orange Coleman, while the rest have rented aluminum canoes from Gallup canoe livery. They are Silvia and Bo, Caryn and Miguel, Mike and Katharina, and Ben and Tina.
We meet at Gallup, park, and collect canoes and gear into two vans, and the Gallup staff drive us north to the put-in at Huron Meadows metropark. We carry our stuff from the parking lot to the river, and we're off! This part of the river is quite nice and scenic, but it soon slows and widens, with private homes along both shores, and motor boats. The wind has picked up and of course its a headwind. As we pass more and more houses, we are joined by more and more boats – mainly pontoon boats, but also smaller motorboats and jetskis. Lunch, courtesy of Kat, is consumed at the rail-trail bridge. The river winds its way onward toward Strawberry Lake, where we have a long open water pull across the lake, into the wind, and with some big waves from all the power boats. We stopped for a break near shore, and Bo got caught by a big wave and fell out. Our first unintentional swim. While resting some of us did an intentional swim.
From here we took a wrong turn, backtracked, and found our way back to the river. Its a nice warm summer saturday, and everybody is out on the water. Lots of party barges, speed boats and jetskis. Lots of noise, waves, and exhaust. Baseline lake is crossed, where there are also sailboats and windsurfers to add to the mix.
By and by we reach the dam at Portage Lake, backtrack to the party store, portage the dam, and we've got the river to ourselves. There's a few houses, but mostly woods, and no motorboats. Its quiet. Its peaceful. Just another hour to camp. Its been a long day of wind and traffic. Not as relaxing as a canoe trip should be.
Hudson Mills canoe camp. Tents go up, and dinner is prepared. On the previous trip we thought it'd be fun to do community cooking. But with the potential for twenty people I had to split it in two for meals. Judi and I are going middle eastern, with humus, babaganoush, pita, tabouli, and a Lebanese stew with rice. Karen and Miguel offer marinated chicken, then ice cream for dessert.
The beer and wine come out, and we sit around the campfire as the day ends.

Morning breaks, and the raccoons have been busy in the night. They've cleaned up any food that was spilled or tossed in the trash can. They also damaged a few bags, and kept a few of us awake. Breakfast is oatmeal by Paula and Petre, with coffee by Katharina.
Jens is making a german stew for lunch, so he and Kat, along with Mike and Katharina head out a bit before the rest of us. And soon we're all on the river. Our first real rapid is at Hudson Mills. A few boats get hung up on the rocks but we're all through safely. This is one of the nicest stretches of the river. Very few houses, lots of forest, clear swift water, fish, birdlife, turtles, and lots of other people out in canoes. We reach Delhi Metropark, and Jens is cooking. But it'll be a while, so its a good time for a nap, a swim, or chatting. Its a good stew, we eat, and return to the river. Delhi rapids is our next obstacle, and while we bump rocks, everyone is through safely. Another set of rapids at Tubbs road (where there is no road) then the river widens and slows as we approach Barton Dam. Everyone pitches in for the portage, and soon all the boats and gear are launched below the dam. About another hour to the dam at Argo, portage again, and the last stretch through Ann Arbor to Gallup. We've been on the water about two hours longer than expected, so we're quite tired when we finally arrive.