Cedar River

Recently returned from Marquette, Michigan. Went up with some friends to do some camping, mountain biking, and canoeing. The trip from our homes is rather long, so my friend Don and I stop at Kleinke Park campground about 40 miles past the Wisconsin-Michigan border on Route M35. The campground has many sites right on Lake Michigan. I lucked out and got one this year; Don wasn’t as lucky. The first evening, we usually head out for a paddle on the lake, but the water was way too choppy. So we decided to go up to Cedar River, which flows into Lake Michigan a few more miles north. We unloaded at the Cedar River State Harbor boat ramp. We launched my canoe and his kayak into the wide estuary, then headed upstream. The river has no noticeable current, and paddling upstream was easy. Soon, we passed a long, narrow island on the west side; last year, we came across a pair of otters here. They popped their heads up out of the water numerous times before disappearing for good. This year, no such luck. Don said that he was hoping to see a bear this year, either in the woods or along the river. I said you never know, but I had doubts. On all the trips we have taken to the U.P., we have never even seen signs of bear activity. We did come across a Blue Heron, an Eagle, and a few ducks, but not much else. We continued further up, passing a couple more islands, and I took the west side, while Don took the wider east side. We paddled another mile upriver and decided to head back. It was getting late, and we wanted to get back to camp before dark. Looking back at the island, I thought I saw a couple of figures standing at the end. I wasn’t sure what I was seeing because the figures were backlit; all I saw were black shapes. I got excited thinking that the figures could be bears, maybe Don would get his wish. I told Don about the figure, but he couldn’t see them; he thought I was making it up. As we drew closer, I saw some splashing in the water near the figures, followed by more splashing. Soon, I could see that one of the figures was throwing something into the river. There goes my bear hopes. I finally got close enough to see that a couple of guys had canoeed over to the island, and they were throwing out duck decoys. We said Hi to each other, Don and I continued on. The rest of the paddle back was quiet.

We loaded up our vehicles to head back to camp, but decided to stop at a nearby restaurant for dinner.

Tomorrow morning, we head out for Marquette.