RiverThoughts

A great article about Craig Kivi and Smallmouth Bass fishing on the Huron…Battling bass are a workout | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press
Back in 1881, James A. Henshall told us in “The Book of the Black Bass” that the smallmouth was “inch for inch and pound for pound the gamest fish that swims.”
Advertisement

Henshall must have met the great-great-great granddaddy of the 12-inch smallie that was putting a deep rainbow bend into Craig Kivi’s long spinning rod as he fished from a kayak on the Huron River near Dexter. The fish jumped four times during the two-minute battle, at one point clearing the water by four times its length, a perfect example of Henshall’s argument that “the royal salmon and lordly trout must yield the palm to a bass of equal weight.”

It’s been a while since I’ve forced you to look at photographs.

These have all been taken in the past week or so…. nothing real special, but some neat shots.

Body of War

If you have the opportunity, catch this film at the Michigan Theater. We are privileged to have it showing here. It is a powerful documentary that builds a very strong case pointing out the deception involved in selling this war to our country, and the terrible impact it can have on those sent to fight.

Huron River runs high for canoers | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press

If you’re a fan of “The Office”, you’ll love this SNL skit…

nine minutes of your time… watch it…

Worth watching…

A great narrative about the last half of Charlie’s trip, some good advice thrown in… worth the read!

Now for the rest of the story.
On Monday April 21, 11:00am Doug McDougal and I started out from Bruin Lake paddling thru Watson, Patterson and Woodburn lakes.
We then started up the Portage creek. It was marshy very much the same as the Portage or Hell Creek outlet. It was clear sailing except for a few log jams and low bridges to Unadilla. After ice cream and a short break at the Unadilla store we continued upstream. The creek was full with a good current to paddle up and of course the log jams and low bridges and a couple of shallow fast places and an old dam in Williamsville made things interesting.
We paddled south on Williamsville Lake and into Ellsworth Lake crossing under Bowdish road. Then paddling out the northwest corner of Ellsworth Lake we paddled up the creek to some small culverts where we portaged up and over. We continued up the creek to Bowdish road and because it was getting dark we decided to start our portage on wheels there. It was almost 9:00pm when we started portaging and sometime after 11:00 when we got to our campsite down a two track off Topith road on the north side of the Portage Lake Swamp. After a long day we went to bed tired. I felt bad about putting my paddling pal Doug
thru so much on his first day out but he said he was enjoying it. Doug and I have been on a lot of trips together and he is the kind of paddling partner most people dream about. He enjoys the good days and laughs about the bad ones. Good paddlin pals are hard to find……great ones are even more rare and Doug in my book is the rarest of all.
Tuesday April 22,
After an oatmeal and cappucino breakfast we headed south thru the swamp. I wanted to show Doug the route I had in mind and a few options. We walked to Leeke Lake and over to the last point of high ground where we would have to start dragging thru the marsh . Thats when we found out there was no way of walking and dragging the canoes thru the swamp, The ground would not support our weight and we started breaking thru and after going thru to my chest in the muck bottom a few times we decided to try another route which after scouting and knowing we would have to do it on private land we
walked back to our campsite and called Jim to tell him it probably was not the safest thing to do. He agreed and we started out on the second part of our portage on wheels. I have walked across the Portage Lake Swamp on the ice and its a long ways across the marsh part of it. Jim mentioned that the Russians used something called swamp skis to get across marshy areas ….might have worked. As we were walking down Topith road pulling our canoes a lady pulled up in her car and laughing said ….where are you going ….where is the water…and what are you doing here…….I suppose we did look a little silly though .
Walking down the road leading our canoes like dogs and with Dougs waders straddling the sides of his canoe it looked like someone in waders with their head down in the canoe and me with a green plastic lawn chair we found back on the state land where we camped the night before and decided we could use
it at our next camp sitting on top of my gear in the canoe ……looking like the Beverly Hillbillys….. I guess I could understand her amusement….So I thought about it and told her where the water was and that we were going to some garage sales on the way and then she really started laughing and sped away.Doug asked me what she said and I told him she thought she knew the guy wearing the waders in the back of his canoe. Heading south on Parks road on way to our next camp a local dairy farmer that lives near the corner of Parks and Waterloo Munith roads stopped to talk to us. He invited us to stop at his place for a snack and some cold ice water. After talking to him about the Portage Lake Swamp he said it was a wise choice not to try it. A Schwanns truck was sitting in someones driveway and I asked Doug if he would like some ice cream. I love their ice cream….Doug kept walking …The truck passed us and the driver waved….I told Doug we could have had ice cream…….Doug kept walking……..The truck passed us again…. I told Doug we should have flagged the truck down for some ICE CREAM!!!!! …..Doug kept walking…..He doesnt know how much I LIKE ICE CREAM!!!!!!!! We turned onto the gravel rd heading for Moechel road and our next camp site at the bridge that crosses the Portage river…… and the Schwanns truck pulled up next to me and asked if we would like to by some ice cream. I SAID …….OH YES ….YES WE WOULD…….We bought a box of ice cream cookies ….6 of them and in the excitement we had blocked the road …..a lady in her car pulled up while we were diviing up the ice cream…..I gave the driver one ….and knocked on the ladies window and handed her one and said here have an ice cream cookie…and do you know if there are any garage sales around here ….she did not see the humor and drove away… I could not stop laughing ……I probably was at a low sugar point but the ice cream took care of that……we made it to our camp site and made camp. With plenty of daylight left we decided to walk over to the Waterloo Farm Museum. It was closed but we looked around the grounds and buildings and took pictures …If you have never taken a tour of the Farm Museum you would not be dissapointed. Doug and I have and enjoyed it. When we got back to camp we made dinner and had a fire in the fire
pan which is one of those small grilles you buy at the party store with the charcoal already in it. It works well ….It is not a big fire but good enough.
Went to bed about 10:30
Wednesday April 23
Had breakfast and broke camp and were on the river about 9:00 am. After paddling upstream for almost two weeks
it felt good to be going downstream again….downstream….Ahh downstream…..I can still only Imagine what it must have felt like to Verlen Kruger, Clint Waddell, Steve Landick and Valerie Fon’s and all the people I dont know about after paddling hundreds and thousands of miles upstream…….paddling down the Portage River to Little Portage lake was not a bad paddle …a few places we had to pull over or around but not bad at all…..We paddled south on Little Portage lake to the outlet of the Portage River and downstream to Portage Lake road.
Doug got out of his waders while we took a break. Paddling under the road thru some big tiles there were hundreds of big spiders that had webs hanging down from the top of the tile. We kept our heads down ……way down …..and got thru without a bite. I said it was the tunnel of love ….if you loved spiders ….
Paddling downstream headed for the Portage drain we met another paddler by the last name of Humphrey ……we asked him where the river was and he said we had passed it. The whole area was flooded and hard to tell where the channel was .He asked us if we were the guys paddlin across michigan and said he had read about it. I asked him if he knew about the area and he said he had lived there all his life and the big hill to the north of where we floating was a summer camp that the Indians used. Looking at it it made sense too. He grew up with the boys family that farmed that field and said he had a box full of arrowheads and Indian relics. We said goodbye and looked at our maps ……the ones that Jim gave us being the best we used them to navigate working our way west and staying on the north side of the flooding we came right into the channel …..we were glad for those maps …it would have taken a while to know where to go without them. We paddled into the Portage drain and after passing under Dunn road and around a bend in the river it was straight as an arrow for most of the rest of the way to the Portage and Grand River intersection. It was like US I 75 after being on those creeks the past few days. Most of the farmland next to the river being flooded makes you wonder why they channelized it in the first place……After a lunch break at a spot where an old road used to cross we paddled on and into the Grand River….another milestone..paddling down the Grand was not as good ….a lot of log jams but except for getting out and dragging over in one place we managed to get around everything else by going out of the river channel where it was flooded to get around the log jams and before the day was over we did that a lot finding the woods easier to paddle thru than the river channel itself. It was fun picking your route thru the trees to get back to the river without having to back up to get thru.We arrived at the US 127 and the Grand River intersection around 7:30 pm. Another long day with more to come..
Deb picked us up and Doug stayed at our house overnite.
Thursday April 24
Back on the water around 9:30 we started paddling for the Gale road boat launch. The river was still full of log jams but we never had to get out for any managing to get around them all somehow. We saw deer, turkeys, ducks , geese, blue herons, turtles,red tail hawks and many other critters of the forest as we did on everyday of the journey. The Grand river begins to get bigger as you get closer to Tompkins with the Sandstone river and a few others that come in along the way but we could not tell where they were coming in because of the river being flooded ….There is a lot of flood plain in this section of river ….probably the most of any section of the Grand from what I have seen. It was an easy day of paddling and enjoyable. We stopped for lunch at the Tompkins road DNR boat launch.
We paddled thru to the Gale road boat launch just enjoying the rest of the day. We got there around 5:30.
Doug dropped me off and headed home. It was nice having him along to share the trip with.
Friday April 25
Back on the water at 8:00 after Amber my daughter dropped me off.
Paddling alone again but not for long…..I paddled to Smithville dam and portaged around on the right. I see their doing some more work on the park …It looks very nice what the Eaton Rapids Fire department has done with it …..I only wish the people who go there and fish would clean up their messes.
Paddling downstream to Eaton Rapids and taking out and portaging with Jim Woodruff’s wheels…Wow what a difference ….His wheels having the bicycle wheels pulled so much easier than my canoe cart. I know which cart I will be buying now. Portaging thru Eaton Rapids and getting the same stares and looks
from people when I pulled into the Q.D. for a pop and a paper and after reading the article by John Schneider about the Ultimate Hugh Heward Challenge I headed downstream. The water was moving and I took a little paddling break and just let the river do the work.
I arrived at the English Inn where Chuck Amboy made reservations to buy a group of us Jim Woodruff , Doug McDougall ,My wife Deb, My friend Gordy Martin, Chuck and myself for lunch. Very nice…… A huge thank you Chuck …. very generous and kind….After a long lunch and interesting conversation Chuck Amboy
and I paddled together to Dimondale ….another nice afternoon with a short rainstorm near the Waverly road bridge …where we sat out the storm under the bridge.
We paddled into Dimondale and took out at the Fire Barn.
We shuttled Chuck and his boat back to his car, said our goodbyes and each headed for home. Thanks again Chuck…great to meet and paddle with you.
Saturday Aprill 26
The 8th Annual HUGH HEWARD CHALLENGE
A cool morning start.
I didnt get on the water until 7:30 …..I think I was the last one on the water. Water levels and current were good and making good time I caught up to some of the paddlers. At the North Lansing Dam or fish ladder I caught up to Rich and Emma Bailey and we paddled along together until I got to Jim Woodruff’s place and pulled off
for a short visit. Back on the water I was in the rear again. I paddled downstream and waved to Jenny Kruger and her sister as I paddled by. Paddling thru the fast water at Delta Mills and onto Grand Ledge stopping to help a few paddlers take out at the ball field in town I saw what time it was I picked up the pace a little ….the headwinds were tough that day but not as bad as paddling upstream on the Huron or maybe I was just in better shape now.If we had not had the headwinds I think people would have gotten in to Portland in record time this year. It was a tough paddle but that is what makes it a challenge. In Portland Jim Woodruff and family gave me a brick for the Kruger Memorial Walkway for the Ultimate Hugh Heward Challenge………….Thank you Jim and family and all who stayed to be a part of it. It was as Verlen
would have said “High Wine” for me …………Thanks again everyone…..
Tuesday April 29
Launched at Thompson field At 10:30 with Dan Smith and Jim Kinney and paddled thru Portland. Dan pointed out the new Veterans Memorial near where the Looking Glass River enters the Grand. We paddled to the Portland dam and portaged on the left. We paddled to Weber dam and portaged on the left. Dan told me that Weber dam is the largest dam on the Grand River and after seeing the dams on the Huron and the Grand I beleive it is the largest of all the dams of these two rivers. We paddled downstream to Wager dam and looked at the chute we would have to run. We decided to portage around it. Paddling to Lyons dam there Steve Miller was on the side of the river taking pictures. We had left our camping gear with Steve in Portland and he shuttled it ahead to Lyons for us. We portaged around the Lyons Dam, loaded up the camping gear and after a few pictures we paddled on. Thanks for the help Steve…….It was nice to meet you…
We paddled along at a steady pace talking and joking about this and that just enjoying the day and saw an eagle and an osprey and pulled off the river to camp a mile or so upstream of Ionia. We had a nice campfire and dinner of baked potatoe and venison brauts with all the fixins…Dan and Jim are expierienced paddlers and campers and know their way around a campfire kitchen. I like their York pack set ups and will own one myself when I find one. Every time I go out with other people canoe camping I learn something new and watching these two guys I learned plenty.
Wednesday april 30
It was another cool night but I slept good. We were up a little after seven and after breakfast, breaking camp and on the river a little after 9:00….. another beautiful day.
At the Ionia Fair grounds I realized I did not have my life vest on and thinking I left it at camp I headed back upstream. Dan and Jim said they would wait for me in
Saranac …..and I thought I was done with the upstream paddling part of this trip… after paddling upstream a short ways I thought about it and remembered checking to make sure we had not left anything behind. I pulled off the river and found my life vest up in the front of the boat. I put my vest on and paddled hard to catch up with Dan and Jim. When we got to Saranac we pulled off the river at the Railroad museum and walked into town for lunch. After lunch walking back to the museum we met and talked to George and Pat Raimer. They had paddled on Expedition 2000 and after talking and buying a book on the History of the Grand River Pat told me she had taken kayak lessons and was ready to paddle On Expedition 2010. She took some pictures and sent them to me along with the book. I would like to thank the Raimer’s for their kind, and energetic hospitality. I remembered meeting Pat and George on Expedition 2000 and hope we will be able to paddle together again on Grand River Expedition 2010.
We paddled on down the river and camped upstream of the Rogue River. For dinner we had T-Bone and Porterhouse steaks, salad, and baked potatoes.
We sat around the fire and talked and went to bed around 10:30.
Thursday May 1
We were up, had breakfast, broke camp and were on the river at 8:30. We paddled past the Rogue River and on to the Dam in Grand Rapids. We portaged on the left
and paddled over the cauffer dams below on the right side of the river. The first one was the biggest drop …..a little scary but the rest of them were fun. Paddling past the Gerald Ford Museum and seeing the dinosaur thru the glass window and the carousel above the river while going over one of the cauffers was cool.
Stopping downstream by a dinner paddle boat a jogger offered to go and get us water so we would not have to cross the highway or walk so far.
We camped downstream of M-45 a mile or so. In Honor of Verlen and The Ultimate Hugh Heward Challenge we had macoroni and cheese with tuna and peas.
We toasted the trip and ate dinner by the campfire. It was good. After a few beers to celebrate the occassion I went to bed and slept like a baby.
Friday May 2 2008
The last day of the Ultimate Hugh Heward Canoe Challenge……
After breakfast and canoes loaded we were ready to go. We were on the water by 8:30 or so……
We wanted to get to Grand Haven before the Thunder storms so we paddled steady .
We were listening to the news on Jim’s t.v. and it said the Coast Guard was looking for the source of an oil spill. There was a Coast Guard helicopter flying over the river down near the mouth so we did not go out into Lake Michigan and later heard they had put the oil spill containment floats down so I doubt they would have let us thru.
Mike Lyer of Portland volunteered to pick us up in Grand Haven and was waiting for us at the Spring Lake boat launch. We just got the boats on the trailer and the gear
loaded when it started to rain. It would have been nice to have paddled out onto the lake but one last man made obstacle changed that.
After stopping for burgers and toasting Jim Woodruff and the Ultimate Hugh Heward Challenge with a celebration beer we headed home in the rain.
I would like to thank Mike for coming to pick us up……thank you……Dan Smith and Jim Kinney for their company on the last days of the challenge……I enjoyed paddling with them and appreciate them taking the time to do so……I hope to paddle with them again sometime……..
I am home now ….It’s May the 12th……Saturday nite…..actually Sunday 1:30 in the morning and I am packed and ready for another two week adventure on the Ausauble river…..sorry it took me so long to finish the last trip report for the trip.
Jim asked me to answer 3 questions about the challenge so here they are…..

1. Evaluation of your canoe,wheels, paddles, clothing,sleeping arangements and camping gear .

I paddled the deep hull Sea wind for the whole trip. I would not have wanted to paddle anything else ….this boat was made for just this kind of trip…
If you are serious about expedition paddling the Kruger Sea Wind will serve you well and for me it is an Honor and priveledge to own one.

The canoe trailer saves a lot of wear and tear on your body. The wheels I made worked and hauled a lot of weight but the bearings started giving out.
The bicycle wheeled canoe cart is probably your best bet. You can buy one off E-Bay for about $85 includind shipping and I think its good for 300 pounds.
The Bicycle tire cart worked better on payment, gravel and grass as far as I could tell.

I use a carbon fiber paddle and cant say enough good about them. They are lightweight at 14-20 ounces and very durable ……The Barton paddle I have has probably got
4 thousand miles worth of paddling on it and it still looks new.

For clothing I use the poly pro, nylon, merino wool and fleece layer combinations. I would love to have more of the smartwool and merino wool clothing but it’s pricey.

For this challenge I slept in the canoe tent on the first part. It’s a prototype but it does work .I do find it colder sleeping than a tent when it is cold….about the same as a tent when its warm. Hard to sleep in when its raining because of the noise of the rain hitting the hull. If you wear ear plugs its not too bad. I would have to agree with Verlen though……. like he said……you can sleep in the canoe but I don’t recommend it…..in other words if I am camping where a tent will work I would rather sleep in the tent…The canoe is pretty confining …. there is hardly room in it for you and a good fart …..and the hang time …… well we will leave it at that……

For camping gear I am no expert….or an expert on any of the matters above I have talked about and these are simply my opinions:
No matter what type of carrying packs you use remember what you put inside the pack that needs to stay dry should be in a dry bag.( waterproof bag )
If my pack is waterproof I still put the things I want to keep dry in another dry bag…..example sleeping bag,camp pillow,stock cap and gloves for sleeping would go in one dry bag together and xtra clothes in another dry bag. these bags would then go into a carry pack. other things like tent, rain fly, rope ,cord etc. I dont worry about.
getting wet …just be sure to dry them out when you get the chance.
I think most sleeping bags are over rated on temperature….. always go colder than you need. I have froze on some widerness trips when the manufacturer said the bag was good to 20 deg. and I was cold at 35 deg. I am not a cold sleeper either!!
I have a food barrell I have been using the last few years and like it so far….I dont hang a food pack anymore ….I have been in bear country and have not had a problem. Dan and Jim both had York Packs and I the looks of those.
There are lots of camp stoves out there and most of them will get the job done ….I have a svea 123r thats 30+ years old and it still works fine…

2. How I fed myself
To be honest while I was paddling upstream I only actually cooked a few meals. I ate power bars, energy bars, candy bars , granola bars, peanut butter, beef jerky and canned fruit. It was usually dark when I got off the water and I was just too tired to cook. When I did cook it was usually oatmeal or Lipton rice dinners. something quick and easy.
I can tell you this ….I lost almost 20 pounds on the trip. I never felt real hungry because I ate all day long just not a lot at any time….
When I was with Doug McDougal we ate regular meals.When I paddled with Dan and Jim I ate good..real good…

3. What you would or should have done differently and advice to anyone who wants to try to duplicate The Ultimate Hugh Heward Challenge or parts thereof.
I probably could have taken less food and gear. …But at the same time I was re-enacting a trip so I carried all the food I needed for the whole trip…
basically three weeks worth of food and fuel. As it worked out I could have only carried a weeks worth and had plenty.
It would have lightened up the canoe and may have made it possible for me to have climbed thru a few more of the faster current places. It would have made the canoe cart easier to pull too. Camera equipment …….less is more…..paddling upstream makes picture taking and movie making difficult.
To anyone who wants to duplicate or paddle parts thereof I would say be carefull ….High and fast cold water can kill you….I had some close calls and would recommend that a person practice paddling upstream on something a little slower if your not expierienced at upstream paddling. I have done a bit of upstream paddling but some of the fast water I was in on this trip was very intimidating to say the least. For anyone who wants to do the whole challenge I would say travel light as possible and
good luck and be safe.

So it is done ……. Although I did not paddle every mile of the Huron and did not paddle thru Ford Lake because of ice it was a great expierience for me and it was fun planning it with Jim. I want to thank Jim’s family for loaning him out to me for the last couple of months.Thanks go out to
Ron and Kay of Unadilla Boatworks for all of their help on the Huron River, Hell creek and Portage creek/river sections of the trip.
Chuck and and Jeanie Amboy and Rich and Emma Bailey for joining me for the paddle to Hell and back portion of the trip
Jim Woodruff and family for the pizza and beer at the Dam Site Inn in Hell and the Kruger Memorial Brick…..and shirt..
Doug McDougal, Dan Smith and Jim Kinney for being paddlin pals…..and to all the other folks who helped out with the Ultimate Hugh Heward challenge.
To my family that had to deal with my absence. To the newspapers who gave us our minute of fame….to all of the folks who followed along for their prayers.
To our Father in Heaven….. the one who watches over us all…. Amen.

My sincerest thanks Charlie Parmelee

It’s been interesting tracking Charlie’s progress…he has my respect for undertaking this adventure… And my thanks to James for keeping me in the loop… But…the journey has ended…these are the final posts about Charlie and his Grand Huron adventure:

From James:

Charlie, Dan and Jim pulled out short of Lake Michigan in Grand Haven because of the oil spill. They are back home now.

From my “Across Lower Michigan by Canoe-1790″:

Heward and his engages wasted no time in heading south along the Lake Michigan shoreline. The next day after they had arrived at the river mouth they: “…set off the Wind North by West under Sail but before Mid Day the Wind forced so as to oblige us to put into the River a Barbu (Pigeon River) & with Difficulty got in & got some Sprays of the swells & there we camped & unloaded to Gum the Cannots”

On the following day, Thursday, April 29, they were windbound all day. During the next two days they coasted the shore, arriving at the mouth of the St. Joseph River late on May 1. Here thay were windbound for two more days.

These are Heward’s words describing their jouney on Tuesday, May 4: “A very blowing Night the Wind veering to every point; in the Morning A Wind from the Land continued in a Wavering manner by Blasts & the Swell also from the North not abating & we finding no River or creek to put in & seeming a Risque of taking in Water if we put in to unload we continued sometimes under reefed Sail & Sometimes with paddles hoping to reach a River till about 3 O’clock when as sudden as lightning the wind chopp’d round with the Swell & blew a terrible Squal and thunder Gust which obliged us to make the Shore as fast as possible & both Cannots filled We saved the cannots & all the Goods but was wetted we put them out of Reach of very high Seas & camped & made a Fire the best way we could continued a heavy Rain & sometimes Hail storm all the Afternoon. We were happy at being near shore & quick at Landing for a Quarter of an hour would have lost all it was so sudden & excessive that no small Craft could have sustained it.”

Remember, these are eight men in two 20 foot birchbark canoes with all their baggage, food and trade goods, and that Lake Michigan water is numbingly cold in early May.

They spent the next three days on the beach drying their goods and gear. On Saturday, May 8, they loaded and set off, arriving in about an hour at the mouth of the Galien River (present-day New Buffalo). From there they followed along the south shore of the big lake until they sailed up to the Chicago portage on Sunday, May 9. Here they traded their birchbark canoes for a pirogue. It must have been a sizeable dugout to hold eight men with their baggage and goods. They hired five Indians to help them across the portage and on Wednesday May 12 they were on the DesPlaines River, the northern tributary of the Illinois. The journal entries through May 20 describe the trip down the Illinois River. The last entry is nothing but the date: “Friday May 21st 1790″. If there was a record of the return trip it has not survived

My ultimate admiration to Hugh and his crew………and to Charlie……

In a footnote to the “John Askins Papers” Editor Milo Quaife has this to say about Hugh Heward:
“Hugh Heward was engaged in the fur trade in Detroit and the Wabash regions as early as 1782. In 1786 he was given power of attorney to represent the Miamis Company in French Illinois…(The Miamis Company was a partnership of six Detroit merchants or firms which in the end proved unprofitable)…in 1787 he sojourned for a while in Cohokia…(in 1790)…he was serving as a clerk and bookkeeper for William and David Robertson (Detroit merchants), in which employment he continued until 1796. In the autumn of 1800 he left Detroit for York (Toronto), where he was employed by the Governor in the capacity of clerk or secretary. There he died in June, 1803…Heward was a man of considerable education, and it is a matter for regret that more of his journals of his wilderness life, which there is reason to suppose that he kept, have not come down to us.”

It is known that he was a member of the militia for the Town of Detroit of which John Askins was Captain.

As best I am able to determine, Hugh Heward and his French-Canadian engages were the first white men to travel on the Upper Grand River; that is, that portion of the Grand River from its various headwaters to its confluence with the Maple River, where it enters the channel of the ancestral super-river which drained the meltwater from the retreating glacier. This belief is based on more than the fact that I could find no record or other indication of white men being on the Upper Grand prior to 1790. It is plain that Indians regularly used the Grand-Huron route to get to and from Detroit, and thus knew the location of the portage and the geographic relationship between the Grand and Huron tributaries and headwaters. Apparently no white men, French or British did.
Heward and his employers would have had ready access to information anyone in Detroit would have had. The white men nearest the portage,the settlers and traders at what is now Ypsilanti, seemingly did not know the route to the Grand River watershed nor the location of the portage.
If there were any white men on the Upper Grand before Heward, they most probably would have been unlettered and unknown coureurs de bois…If any of these men went up the Upper Grand, one would wonder why. Going from Lake Michigan to Lake Erie, or vice versa, is crossing the peninsula the hard way. The usual and ancient means of crossing the peninsula was the Grand-Maple-Bad-Shiawassee-Saginaw way. The route most used by both the Indians and the French for travel between Lake Erie or Lake Huron and Lake Michigan was via the Straits of Mackinac.
If one just wanted to travel between Lake Erie and the Lower Illinois River or Cohokia or Kaskaskia, the route via the Maumee and Wabash made the most sense.
I believe Heward’s jouney was more in the nature of an exploration rather than a commercial venture.

The past few days have continued to bring updates on the past and the present:

April 30th, the present:

Charlie, Dan and Jim camped at Ionia last night and are on their way towards Saranac, Lowell, Ada and Grand Rapids. They will have a metropolitan portage around the Sixth Street Dam and fish ladder.

The past:

As the trio paddles downstream on the Grand it grows in volume from inflow from its major tributaries. The first is the Looking Glass River which enters the Grand just downstream of where they launched in Portland. Its headwaters are in a marsh just a few yards from the Shiawassee River, a tributary of the Saginaw River whose waters flow to Lake Huron. In its upper reaches it is an important Sandhill Crane breeding ground.

The next is the Maple River, a placid stream occupying the channel of what was once a Niagara-sized meltwater torrent. Some 10,000 years ago a mile thick lobe of the continental glacier occupied the Lake Huron basin blocking the drainage system to the Atlantic forcing all the meltwater to flow to the Mississippi. The Maple and the Lower Grand are the remnants of that once-mighty glacial drain. The Upper Grand as we know it today did not even exist in those times. It is a geologicaly youthful stream which cut a sinuous path across the moraines and drift left when the glacier retreated. (The Huron River up which Hugh Heward and Charlie Parmelee struggled flowed westward to the Kalamazoo as a meltwater outlet during those same times as the the glacier also covered Lake Erie).

Next: The Flat, Thornapple and Rogue Rivers.

James’ perspective on the river:

The Flat River flows into the Grand from the north at Lowell. Its headwaters are in Montcalm and Mecosta Counties, farther north than those of any other tributary. Hundreds of thousands of pine logs were floated down the Flat during the lumbering era. Two quaint covered bridges still span the river, Fallasburg Bridge and White Bridge. On its way south it passes through Greenville and Belding.

The headwaters of the Thornapple River, which flows into the Grand at Ada, are in Eaton County just a few miles from Lansing in what used to be an impenetrable wilderness known as Old Maid’s Swamp, now the location of large sod farms and General Motors’ Delta Township car assembly plant. There was an Indian canoe portage across a prairie where Charlotte is now located. It connected a tributary of the Thornapple with the Battle Creek River, a tributary of the Kalamazoo. At approximately 100 miles, the Thornapple is the Grand’s longest tributary. It passes through Nashville, Hastings and Middleville on its way to Ada, where there is another old covered bridge. The Thornapple is the only major tributary to flow into the Grand through its left bank, in this case from the south. All the others come in from the east or north via its right bank.

The Rogue River enters the Grand near Belmont at the top the great bend that goes north then south to Grand Rapids. I have never been able to figure out why the river makes that detour. I would have thought that the Glacial Grand would have been powerful enough to cut right through from Ada to Grandville. The Rogue was orignally called rhe Rouge like River Rouge in the Detroit area but became Rogue as a result of a mistake by a Wisconsin mapmaker. It also floated logs during the lumbering era. Its only dam is at Rockford.

The full-grown Grand is an impressive sight where it rolls over the Sixth Street Dam and the remnants of the rapids. And to think there were serious plans to pave over it for parking for downtown Grand Rapids!

The past, again:

THURSDAY APRIL 27th, 1790: Embarked (from Grand Rapids site) after getting some sturgeon. Passed a plain to the east in about an hour where it appears to be a wintering place.The river still larger and a good smooth current but with a north wind strong against us. The course northwest and the river larger and larger to the mouth. Surrounded with pine on all sides and small lakes (bayous). Very wide at the entrance to the lake where we arrived at sunset (Grand Haven). Found Mr. Langlade who appeared to be very friendly and promised to get me some gum. Encamped on the other side there being many Indians with him.

From Appendix 6 of my “Across Lower Michigan by Canoe-1790″: “Their last camp on the Grand River was at Grand Haven. The only question is: On which side of the river did they camp? The quote from his journal…tells that it was on the opposite side from the trader Langlade. Apparently Heward thought Langlade had too many Indians with him.
The Indians called the place where the Grand entered Lake Michigan ‘Gabagouche’, their word for ‘big mouth’. My guess is that Langlade would have had his operations on the solid ground on the south side where the city is today. Thus Heward’s party would have camped on the dunes or beach on the north side.”

Next: Their trials and tribulations going down the Lake Michigan shoreline to get to the Chicago Portage.

May 1st, the present:

8:00 AM: The trio is camped just upstream of where the Rogue River enters the Grand at the top of that big loop in the river above Grand Rapids. They’ll be heading south into the Big City. It’s a long way from Hell.

Dan has joined Charlie…and update from his wife:

just got a call from my husband Dan, the trip is going well they are about an hour from going thru Grand Rapids area. Charlie,Jim and Dan were in Saranac yesterday and walked to the gas station there and had a polish dog. While in town they ran into a couple that live there and had gone on expedition 2000 and are looking forward to the next one if there is one. Dan admitted it was a little brisk getting up yesterday morning with the frost we had gotten, but other than that the three musketeeers are enjoying the trip and said they are starting to pick up the pace.

Still May 1st:

They are past the Sixth Street Dam. Portaged on the left bank. They are through the rapids. Sounds like Charlie might have gotten splashed going through. Plenty of water.

And, May 2nd:

9AM. Call from Charlie from an Ottawa County campground. Of all things, Jim Kinney has a TV! Anyway, they learned from watching the news that there was an oil spill on the Grand downstream of them which may prevent them from reaching the lake. I’ll let you all know when I know.

a bit later on the 2nd…

Charlie and his paddling buddies are sitting in a tavern in Spring Lake waiting out the line of thunderstoms that is coming through. No sign of the oil spill. 1;30 PM

and…in the past…:

THURSDAY APRIL 27th, 1790: Embarked after getting some sturgeon. Passed a plain to the east in about an hour where it appears to be a wintering place.The river still larger and a good smooth current but with a north wind strong against us. The course northwest and the river larger and larger to the mouth. Surrounded with pine on all sides and small lakes (bayous). Very wide at the entrance to the lake where we arrived at sunset (Grand Haven). Found Mr. Langlade who appeared to be very friendly and promised to get me some gum. Encamped on the other side there being many Indians with him.

From Appendix 6 of my “Across Lowere Michigan by Canoe-1790″: “Their last camp on the Grand River was at Grand Haven. The only question is: On which side of the river did they camp? The quote from his journal…tells that it was on the opposite side from the trader Langlade. Apparently Heward thought Langlade had too many Indians with him.
The indians called the place where the Grand entered Lake Michigan ‘Gabagouche’, their word for ‘big mouth”. My guess is that Langlade would have had his operations on the solid ground on the south side where the city is today. Thus Heward’s party would have camped on the dunes or beach on the north side.”