paddling

Birthday Film Festival

If I had decided to have another Patagonia film festival for my birthday this year, below are the films I could have chosen from. This is a follow-up to the 2021 festival (not held in 2022).

Patagonia on YouTube

(account)

WATER—OCEANS, SURFING, RIVERS & PADDLING

FISHING

CLIMBING

RUNNING, HIKING & BACKPACKING

SKIING & BOARDING

CONSERVATION, CLIMATE CHANGE & ACTIVISM

    CYCLING

    LIFESTYLE, CULTURE & OTHER

    No Birthday Film Festival This Year

    I had thought about having a birthday film festival again this year like last year, but in the end I didn’t do anything this year (well, we did later watch Reinventing the Wheel with some friends). Here were the three categories I considered:

    Terrence Malick

    Paddling

    Pedaling

    Kayak Paddles for Kids

    Our little guy is ready for his very own paddle. I consulted with my dad, our expert guide for all things floating. Following are the resources he suggested we review.

    First stop was a paddle review at KayakingKids.com. One of the handy tables there lists proper paddle lengths based on ​a child’s height in reference to three different kayak widths. This was a helpful starting point for choosing between the various paddles on the market; I was looking for 180cm.

    The first gear guide Dad shared–Top 8 Best Kayak Paddle Reviews 2019–included the Carlisle Kids Saber Touring paddle, which is $50 on Amazon.com or on sale for $30 at Walmart.com as of March 2020. This paddle is 190 cm long and weighs 31 ounces. This was a bit longer than we wanted, but it was close enough if we didn’t find any other options. We found the Saber at a number of outlets, so it’s clearly a popular choice.

    The second option we found was the Bending Branches Splash Kids Kayak Paddle, which is $60 at AustinKayak.com. This model comes in two lengths: 180cm or 200cm. Cleopatra and I use Bending Branches paddles that we got from REI, and we like them well enough for basic paddles. Since they have the size we wanted, and we like our BB paddles, this is the direction we’re going with. In an ideal world, more people would have reviewed it for us at Paddling.com.

    AustinKayak.com actually has a number of kayak paddles for bigger kids:

    • Feelfree Camo Kids Angler Paddle ($70, 200cm)
    • Carlisle Magic Mystic Paddle ($80, 220-240cm)
    • Werner Sprite Kids Kayak Paddle ($90, 200cm)
    • Carlisle Magic Plus FG Paddle ($100, 220-250cm)
    • AquaBound Sharkie Kids Kayak Paddle ($110, 200cm)
    • Carlisle Magic Angler ($120, 230-260cm)
    • Bending Branches Twig Kids Canoe Paddle ($60)

    In summary, for small preschoolers, the best two options appear to be:

    • Bending Branches Splash Kids (180cm)
    • Carlisle Kids Saber Touring (190cm)
    Using the Bending Branches Splash Kids paddle on a stretch of the lower St Joseph River.

    Michigan Guidebooks

    Most of us learn about camping and adventure opportunities online, using websites and apps such as Pure Michigan, Michigan DNR, Michigan Watertrails, Michigan Trails, or All Trails. However, guidebooks are not extinct! They remain a convenient source of relevant information even if they become dated almost as soon as they come of the printing press. In this post, I will collect guidebooks we have used (or wanted to use) for a variety of outdoor activities. Over time, I will add more books and provide more detailed descriptions of the books. New editions will inevitably replace some of the books listed below.

    I invite you to share your favorite guidebooks in the comments section below!

    ADVENTURES WITH CHILDREN

    HIKING & BACKPACKING

    CAMPING

    PADDLING

    Learn more here and here.

    Galien River near New Buffalo

    The Galien River Marsh Water Trail is a beautiful stretch of river near New Buffalo, MI (Wikipedia). We’ve used the Red Arrow Highway parking area twice (opposite side of the river from the Google marker here; Map 1), but have not yet used the Glassman Park put-in that is further upstream (Map 2).

    MAP 1: Red Arrow Highway Put-in

    Galien River put-in - RAH

    Map 1: Red Arrow Highway Put-in (yellow) & Galien River County Park (orange).

    Yellow square: Official Red Arrow Highway parking area and put-in (east side of road). This has a vault toilet and room for approximately 15 vehicles.

    In 2018, we were able to paddle either upstream or downstream from here. Heading downstream, boats must soon float under the Red Arrow Highway; however, in 2019 the water level has been too high to get under the highway, making trips down to New Buffalo impossible. The solution is to carry boats to the west side of the bridge, but this area has fast-moving traffic, a steep incline, and lots of poison ivy, so it’s far from ideal (red square).

    Orange square: Just downstream from the Red Arrow Highway bridge, you pass the Galien River County Park (Trip Advisor), with its tower overlook emerging from the trees.

    MAP 2: Glassman Park

    Galien River put-in - Glassman.JPG

    Map 2: Glassman Park put-in area (east of I-94).

    Glassman Park info can be found at Paddling.com and at Harbor Country News. The park is accessed via Kruger Road and then heading north on Glassman Road (Google Maps).

    2018 Trip: Red Arrow Highway to New Buffalo

    In the summer of 2018, we paddled downstream to New Buffalo. We were able to slip under the RAH bridge without incident (middle row of pictures on right). Pictures:

     

    2019 Trip: Red Arrow Highway Up-stream

    In the summer of 2019 we returned but found the water level too high to go under the bridge, so we decided to paddle upstream instead. This is the Red Arrow Highway access area (see also Map 1 above):

     

    And here are a few shots from the trip:

     

    We were taking a leisurely paddle, so we didn’t get all the way up to Glassman Park. But from these two trips, you can see that paddling either direction from the Red Arrow access site is a nice option… if the water level allows it. Now I’d like to return in the fall.

    For more about Michigan paddling, see my other trip reports and this summary page.

    Kayaking the Kalamazoo River

    This season we’ve had some good miles on the lower Paw Paw River, the lower St Joseph River, and the lower Galien River. And this past weekend we had our first experience on the Kalamazoo River.

    Based on the description in Daniel Burton’s A Paddling Guide to the Kalamazoo River Watershed (2015), we decided to put in below Calkin’s Dam, or what Google Maps calls the Allegan Dam River Boat Ramp.

    IMG_5994We had planned to paddle to Pipeline Access (~6.5 miles), but we couldn’t find it when trying to leave the second vehicle (at least nothing that matched the book’s description), so we cut the trip short and left the down-river car at the M89 Access. It was a beautiful fall day, though the water was dirty instead of clear presumably because they’d recently released a lot of water from the dam.

    Next time I’d like to start at the M89 access and paddle all the way to Saugatuck, but we’ll probably end up doing it in sections.

    Here’s a two-minute video of our first paddle on the Kalamazoo:

     For more on Michigan paddling, see my previous blog post here.

    Michigan Paddling

    It rains in Michigan. Said rain drains into streams and then into hundreds of rivers and thousands of lakes. And this means there is an abundance of great paddling across the Mitten State.

    Want to learn about the various watersheds? Check out these resources:

    Michigan has a lot of water trails to paddle:

    Paddling.com has a lot of useful information for planning single- and multi-day trips:

    And of course there are many useful general guidebooks (loosely defined). I’ve put together a document that lists the bodies of water covered by a number of these guidebooks–MI Paddling Guidebooks. The guides:

    And some specific guidebooks:

    And multi-state guidebooks:

    If I feel ambitious later, maybe I’ll add rental outfits, guides, and retail outlets. Maybe. Until then, enjoy #PureMichigan.

    Paddling in Southwest Michigan

    A friend asked me where she could paddle in southwest Michigan. That question meant one thing: I would be writing a blog post. 🙂

    First, here are my three favorite guide books for the state:

    We used these three books to plan trips down the Manistee and Au Sable rivers (six days on each). Some of the information relating to campsites is really dated, so you need to verify details with the relevant DNR office or national forest office (e.g., Huron-Manistee NF).

    I don’t know if the following books are helpful or not:

    When planning for those Manistee and Au Sable trips, I also read trip reports at Paddling.com. You can use the Locations page or the Trip Finder page.

    For additional online resources, check out these sites:

    And check out Third Coast Paddling in Benton Harbor. What other paddling shops do you appreciate? And local shops Wanderlust Outfitters and Third Coast Surf Shop have gear relevant for paddlers as well.

    Paddling Pantheon

    In the Pantheon of paddling greats, Michiganders have to know people like Verlen Kruger (more than 88,000 paddle miles; memorial) and Serge Corbin (18-time winner of the Au Sable River Marathon). As a side note, our family took 6 days to cover the same miles those racers paddle in less than 24 hours.

    This weekend my dad introduced me to another paddler, Canadian Bill Mason. He made a number of films, and my dad shared one of them — Song of the Paddle:

    Bonus:

    |Prepare for Spring

    It’s February. It’s cold and snowy in the northern regions. But spring is coming! That means it’s time to start thinking about kayaking again. Here are some websites with exercises to prepare for paddling: