The last two weekends I, among others, ventured across the state to run the mighty Huron river in Ann Arbor. It was good fun with good people and good students. Beyond that, this post is likely interesting to very few people.
Last weekend Todd, Linda, Dennis, Kathleen, Doug, Josh, Jeff and I went on what was mainly a scouting run for the class this weekend. The river was running at about 550cfs, which is on the low end of medium. Josh got to have his first solo experience in a whitewater boat and discovered just how important edging is. He rolled 4 or 5 times, but no swimming. It was Jeff’s first run with the group, but he seemed competent on the river. For reference, I rolled twice on my first Huron run last year, but I didn’t spend nearly as much time screwing around on the wave as Josh.
At 550cfs, the Huron is pretty low. There was an OK wave at the trestle, Zeeb was a little rocky in places and Delhi was good, but not too pushy.
The initial plan was for Doug, Jeff, Josh and I to re-shuttle and try out Tubbs rapids. Josh and I were getting cold enough standing around at the takeout that we nixed our participation in that venture. We did drive down the see the rapids and it looks reasonable. Short, but stretching across the entire river. Doug and Jeff hiked the bit up to them and gave them a try. Initial review were positive both for a play spot and a good practice spot.
This weekend Todd, Linda, Denis, Kathleen, Jeff and I returned with the three students from the river class. All the students did quite well. There was one swim, but it was handled very calmly and apparently was not too big a deterrent to the sport. I think both Kate and Jennifer were talking about acquiring their own boats by the end. Dan, being Dennis’ brother, has that front covered for the moment.
The river was running around 440cfs, which is low. The wave at trestle was minimal, but very easy to get onto and surf. Most of the time there I spent entertaining myself practicing bow enders and the start of cartwheels. Since this used the eddy to the side of the wave, it had the added advantage that I didn’t have to wait for others to be done surfing to have my fun. At this level, Zeeb was very rocky and not really worth hanging around at. Delhi was more difficult because of the random rocks, but also easier to navigate due to the low water.
Jeff and I considered going to Tubbs again, but Jeff was borrowing a boat and had to return it at the end of the main section. I suspect if I am to do Tubbs, it will have to be a time when we plan on it ahead of time and shuttle there from the very start.
As aside note, we also discovered that parking on Huron River Drive and carrying kayaks over the bridge doesn’t really save you much time.
