BWCA Another mini-trip report Boundary Waters Listening Point - General Discussion
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justpaddlin
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09/24/2019 05:48PM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
I thought I'd try to share my paddle today following missmolly's example.

We live in a small neighborhood near the St Joseph river in SW Michigan and the wonderful farmer at the end of our road lets people from the neighborhood walk through his property.

First we drive to the end of the road and park. It's a dead end road at the end of another dead end road. Then I load up the canoe cart and we have to walk through a small vineyard and then a cornfield to get to the river.

The vineyard is not nearly as pretty as the blueberry fields in missmolly's pics. The Concord grapes will be sold to Welch's and they will be harvested soon and the aroma this time of year is incredible...dreamy.

Once we get to the river Zoey is required to lay down and wait while I unload, otherwise she will eat sticks until she gets sick or look for other naughty things to do while I am distracted. Zoey is a mostly coonhound mutt and coonhounds have some cat-like characteristics which means they are selfish and joyously disobedient. It is so nice to have our own private put-in.

It's not wilderness but it ain't bad. We went less than two miles upstream; I exercised at the YMCA earlier today and did not have the reserve energy for a long paddle today. The current is around 2 mph so it's good exercise driving upstream.


The river level is finally down to near normal levels after two years. There are plenty of signs of the floods from early this year and early last year. Trees on top of trees and all floated into their current location. There were evacuations and coast guard rescues here in 2018.

There are places where Zoey can get out and explore. She likes to pull good sticks out of the river.

Here we are on the way back. Zoey knows that the take-out is around the next bend.

Zoey found a good stick at the take-out. I sometimes look around hoping to find arrowheads but haven't found one yet. There was a Native American settlement on this site and the farmer has found many artifacts.

As we head back through the cornfield Zoey picks up every stick and tries to lure me back to the river to play. She's 9 and has some mobility challenges but you wouldn't know it today. The land is usually planted with soybeans and the corn hides the coyote and deer much better which makes for more startling encounters on occasion.

And here we are in the vineyard again headed back to the car which you can see in the distance. Halfway through the vineyard she saw another dog so I had to put her on the leash so I got a little help as I pulled the canoe and she pulled me.

Having completed another grand slam of Piddle, Poop, Paddle, and go to the Park she's now on the couch snoring.
 
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09/24/2019 07:48PM  
That is great day. I would take that one if I got stuck in the Bill Murray Groundhog Day loop. Nice job on the report and photos. I would have tried some grapes. They look delicious. Makes me want to go to the store and buy some grape juice. Most of the grapes in my area end up as fermented grape juice.
 
jillpine
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09/24/2019 09:11PM  
joyously disobedient - that they are!
Those grapes look delicious! SW MI is just the best for all the delicious fruit. My dad grew up in Dowagiac, and I have many fond memories of visiting my grandma's little rural home as a child. Thanks for sharing!
 
missmolly
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09/25/2019 09:54AM  
A vineyard is as beautiful as any blueberry field. I once did an article about pay-to-use wedding sites and two of them planted vineyards just to provide the best backdrop for the bride and groom. Totally off-topic, but interesting: Another built a European Village for a backdrop and it looked real, with cobblestone streets, overflowing flower boxes, and steep-pitched slate roofs.
 
Selfsuffi
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09/25/2019 10:09AM  
beautiful, so nice to have your own special place to put in and enjoy the peacefulness and tranquility. Thank you for sharing that with us.
 
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