Hoosierdood
Grandmaster
We recently went on an overnight canoe trip up in Grayling MI on the beautiful Au Sable river. If you have never been, I highly recommend it. Took my wife and 2 boys (age 18 & 19) who have never been canoeing. We packed everything we needed for a 2 day trip, including tents, sleeping bags, food, etc.
So we started out the first day in Grayling at Borchers Canoe & Kayak rentals. Super friendly people there. They gave us some tips for navigating the river and helped us pack the canoes. They even complemented me on my packing skills, as they commented about how some people bring everything but the bathroom sink. We set out on our trip and made it about 15 minutes before my wife tipped the canoe by grabbing an overhanging branch.
Well, with that out of the way, it can only get better. The river is mostly shallow and flowing at a nice slow pace, and very clear. Probably wasn’t the best river to take my inexperienced boys since it has some really tight turns and fallen trees on both sides. Their name calling skills were impressive, even reaching the point of semi-professional at times. I gave them a quick crash course in steering the canoe, and their colorful language improved greatly, to the point that I even heard laughter.
We made it 20 miles the first day in about 6.5 hours and stopped at a little primitive camp that is only accessible by canoe. Set up camp, got a fire going and relaxed the rest of the night. The next morning we packed up camp and we’re on the river by 9:30. The first leg of the trip was winding and took more skill in steering the canoe. The second leg, the river opened up and didn’t flow as fast so there was a lot more paddling. We ended up doing 16 miles the second day in about 5 hours, for a total of 36 miles.
As we got back to our car and loaded up, the skies opened up and started to downpour, so we are thankful that we ended when we did. Overall, a memorable trip that was definitely worth it. Everybody slept in the car on the way home because we were all exhausted. I even had to pull over at a rest stop and take a 30 minute Power Nap. Next time we may just go do a day trip, but the overnight trip was definitely something I won’t forget.
So we started out the first day in Grayling at Borchers Canoe & Kayak rentals. Super friendly people there. They gave us some tips for navigating the river and helped us pack the canoes. They even complemented me on my packing skills, as they commented about how some people bring everything but the bathroom sink. We set out on our trip and made it about 15 minutes before my wife tipped the canoe by grabbing an overhanging branch.
Well, with that out of the way, it can only get better. The river is mostly shallow and flowing at a nice slow pace, and very clear. Probably wasn’t the best river to take my inexperienced boys since it has some really tight turns and fallen trees on both sides. Their name calling skills were impressive, even reaching the point of semi-professional at times. I gave them a quick crash course in steering the canoe, and their colorful language improved greatly, to the point that I even heard laughter.
We made it 20 miles the first day in about 6.5 hours and stopped at a little primitive camp that is only accessible by canoe. Set up camp, got a fire going and relaxed the rest of the night. The next morning we packed up camp and we’re on the river by 9:30. The first leg of the trip was winding and took more skill in steering the canoe. The second leg, the river opened up and didn’t flow as fast so there was a lot more paddling. We ended up doing 16 miles the second day in about 5 hours, for a total of 36 miles.
As we got back to our car and loaded up, the skies opened up and started to downpour, so we are thankful that we ended when we did. Overall, a memorable trip that was definitely worth it. Everybody slept in the car on the way home because we were all exhausted. I even had to pull over at a rest stop and take a 30 minute Power Nap. Next time we may just go do a day trip, but the overnight trip was definitely something I won’t forget.
