THE HIATUS ENDS THIS MONTH. On April 22nd Kate and I will be continuing the Statue <> Arch Expedition. It is a four day paddle. Anyone is welcome to join us. If interested leave a message in the comments section at the end of the post.
Most of the time the kayak moves you, sometimes you have to move the kayak. I wish it never was the case but it is necessary at times. At times you obey the law, you must do it, other times, when you do it you are breaking the law. I’m talking about portaging.
Back in 2012 in order to finish runyaking from Flint River to Niagara Falls I had to portage Swiftee the last two miles. The river was chained and barricaded to keep braver or crazier paddlers than myself from getting any closer to the falls.
Approaching the falls with Swiftee in tow the Niagara Parks Police halted me. An officer said, “Sir, we have some concerns.” I explained my endeavor and that I had received prior permission to portage the two miles to the falls. She got on her radio and with her authoritative voice asked, “Do you know of any man having permission to Por-taj to the falls?”
Por-taj? hmmm clearly I wasn’t in Michigan anymore, Ǻ?
I imagine all Canadians use the more French pronunciation as oppose to my midwestern port-tij. Either way, I’m surprised at number of times people have asked me what it means. There will be no explanation here.
In the rules of runyaking (that I make up) the distance portaged is included in the yak, and not the run. Presently 2,096 miles have been yaked and 65 miles of that have been by portaging! That’s 3%, and according to the rules of runyaking (that I make up) no sort of wheels, nor can a person facilitate in the portage. So 65 miles, that is quite the distance to be carrying or dragging a kayak. Thankfully, it wasn’t the first 65 miles, say Flint to Bay City. That would have been too big a hurdle too consider.
The biggest hurdle (and I had no idea how big it would be) was paddling AuSable River against the current. The paddle distance from Oscoda to Grayling is 120 miles and 31% (37.1 miles) had to be portaged. Much of the time the current was just too strong to paddle. Had someone told me beforehand I’d be portaging that far, I would never have attempted it.
The longest DAY of portaging, started east of Mio, MI, and was 11.2 miles . There was no paddling at all that day. I broke the runyak (or should I say runportage?) distance into two parts, with a lunch break in between, for including the 10.75 mile run, it would be a 21.85 runyak.
Once reaching Grayling, MI by runyaking 83 miles, and runportaging 37 miles, the portaging was not over yet. I still had a 6.7 miles portage on state highway M72 from the AuSable River crossing, to the Manistee River crossing. The two rivers could have been avoided by runyaking around the Straits of Mackinac. And, that was the original plan. But, that would have taken an least an extra year, for it would have added over 150 miles of paddling to the expedition.
While portaging on roads, there always seems be a stranger in a pick-up truck that would stop. The stranger would want to help me out, by putting the kayak in their bed and transporting me. Rather than give the long story about my quest, and the rules of runyaking (that I make up), I learned to just thank them and say, “No, I’m on a mission.” No more words are ever needed, whether they understand, or think I’m crazy, they say “okay,” and are on their way.
When portaging solo, and no wheels allowed, there are two options, drag or carry. After that longest portage day to Mio, MI, I only drag on sand or grass. I gave up dragging on gravel or pavement after DAY 142, for after 11.2 miles of dragging, I discovered a hole in the hull.
You may have noticed that in photos and video above, the kayak is not Swiftee? It is another kayak named Green Snake. I wish I could say all 213 DAYs were with Swiftee, but, there was a 23 DAY period Swiftee was not used.
The reason all goes back to capsizing in Lake Huron on DAY 127, May 20, 2018, at Point AuGres. When it happen I swore to four other paddlers who were with me that day, I QUIT! The expedition was over. I’d had enough.
One month later, June 20th, after some soul searching, and a new plan of action, I was back at Point AuGres and launching into Lake Huron. Part of the new plan was to use a longer and less tippy kayak than Swiftee. The other part was staying off the Great Lakes as much as possible. That is when the original planned route, was changed to the white route in the map below.
When portaging from the AuSable to the Manistee, I used Swiftee. Knowing dragging is a bad option, and that I’d be carrying, it made more sense to use Swiftee, the lighter of the two kayaks. (Yes, sometimes I will do things the easier way.) Since DAY 157, the start of the 2020 runyak season, Swiftee and I have been a solid couple once again.
The most recent portage was not that long ago on DAY 209, during a storm on Upper Lake Peoria (a wide spot in the Illinois River). While waiting out the storm I made a 0.2 mile portage to avoid waves at a point where we had set up camp to get away from the storm.
Kate did not portage since her boat navigates waves much better than Swiftee. Since abandoning Green Snake and going back to Swiftee, I now avoid points whenever possible, for the wave action rounding points or peninsulas can be terrifying. If I could have portaged DAY 127, back at Point AuGres, Swiftee would never have capsized. And, I never would have started using Green Snake.
Studying the Illinois River from where Kate and I will start later this month (Liverpool, IL) all the way to the Illinois’ mouth at Grafton, IL, I see no more wide spots where peninsulas or points could be. It looks like a snake the rest of way to the Mississippi River. I’m crossing my finger that my portaging DAYs are over.
I remember the Niagara Parks story! But I don't recall the specifics of portaging, esp with Green Snake. Thanks for the update.
Thanks for sharing your adventures