New Territory: HWY 72 to Michigan City

2/12/12

            On this clear, cold day, a group of us decided to drive to Mississippi in order to attempt the river section from HWY 72 to Michigan City. This area is close to the headwaters of the Wolf, and the upper most section that I have paddled. Our group was small but experienced and include Dale, the venerable river rat; John Hyde, the most experienced paddler on the upper extreme of the Wolf; Jonathan Brown, a pioneer of Wolf River stand up paddle boarding and myself, former WRC intern and volunteer river guide. The sky was a spotless blue, which appeared even deeper through my sun glasses, with temps in the 20s and slowly rising into the mid 30s. The  water was relatively clear and deep enough to float. We parked the truck on a dirt drive on the south bank of the Wolf, east of HWY 72. The drive is easily accessible off the highway. I was relieved to see that we could park away from the highway traffic and that we were also close enough to the river to avoid a long portage to the bank.

            At HWY 72, the river is close to 50 feet wide. However, this is said to be the upper most point on the Wolf that is legally navigable. Oddly enough, state law says that a flowing body of water with a volume of 1000 cubic feet per second is considered navigable. This would imply that the Wolf is legally navigable above the HWY 72 bridge. Based on conversations with the locals, anyone paddling upstream of HWY 72 is considered to be guilty of trespassing. I’m paraphrasing the law and emails I have read. To the best of my knowledge these statements are true.

            The temps were well below freezing when we launched. The banks were lined with hoar frost, ice crystals pushing up through the river mud. Surface ice covered many of the sloughs and creeks that entered the Wolf. I sliced through the ice in my otter kayak just to hear the crackling sound of the ice breaking against the bow.

            Our group moved down the main channel easily. The water depth was not a problem, but we did have to steer around partially submerged logs. Since they had floated this section before, Dale and John took the point position. I lagged behind to take video. As we followed the main channel, I saw a pair of great blue herons off to the right. We were also following a flock of about twenty ducks downstream. They would burst into the air as we approached. We saw them about every 30 minutes as we paddled with the current.

            The right bank of the main river channel was marked with signs designating the land as a natural area. We could also see that the land to the right dropped away and actually appeared to be lower that the riverbank. This was a hint that at some point the water would spill over the bank and leave the old river course. A little while later we could hear water spilling through the brush on the right bank and then the main channel terminated in a grassy swamp. To the right, we saw a sign that read “Smith Corner”. This was the domain of Larry Smith, a WRC founder. He owns some acreage on the right bank and even put some blue canoe trail signs.  We had to backtrack approximately 200 yards to find a turn off on the right bank. The water led us through the trees and before rejoining the main channel. We followed the old river channel at times, but there were at least three turns that we had to make where the river left the channel.  We also had to portage over some downed trees, but it wasn’t as bad as I had expected it to be. I had prepared myself for a portage every hundred yards. Luckily, we had a great deal of clear paddling. At one point, we took a right instead of staying with the main channel. The tributary we were in became almost to shallow to float. I hiked north away from the group to look for another channel, and saw flowing wet lands that continued to a high red dirt bluff almost a hundred feet high. When I returned to the group, we decided to continue forward, and we were rewarded by finding the main channel again. It was even marked with the blue canoe signs.

            Besides ducks and great blue herons, turkey vultures circled overhead most of the trip. Other birdlife included a variety of woodpeckers including a redhead, hairy and a downy; cardinals and sparrows. I saw a raccoon climb down a tree on the right bank and swim across the river directly in front of us. I marveled at the animal’s ability to swim in sub freezing temps. Wildlife signs included deer tracks on the bank and of course beaver dams. We also saw signs of human use. We passed under an old iron footbridge. The group also saw remnants of a wooden bridge, deer stands and even a rope swing. Dale was going to try the rope swing but declined since he didn’t bring swim trunks. Paddlers should be aware that much of the lands to either side are private tracts. Care should be taken not to trespass.

            We stopped for lunch and Jonathan found a large sheet of ice in a nearby stream. He held it up to the sun, and John and Dale took pictures of the sun reflecting off the ice. The pics were unique, and I hope to get a copy. It was funny to watch John and Dale give contradictory directions for the fire and ice poses. Finally, Jonathan had enough and smashed the ice sheet over his head.

            We floated of a number of rapids, some caused by cypress trees, some from beaver dams. We had fun with the largest one as we attempted to paddle back up it. Each of us tried to fight the current, but we failed. On my second attempt, I was almost over the lip of the rapid when water began to spill over my bow and into the cockpit. Fearing being swamped in sub freezing weather, I decided to give up.

            Towards the end of the section, John directed us to follow a stream course on the left side of the river. It led to a large beaver dam, the largest I have seen on the Wolf. We marveled at the engineering. The curvature of the dam allowed it to hold back a great deal of water. It was the same concept as a Roman arch except it was lying on its side. The water on the other side of the dam was about four feet higher than the streamside. John remarked that, “Beavers are pretty smart for being so low to the ground.” How true.

            A short while later, we reached an old, wooden train trestle and HWY 7 near Michigan City. I was relieved to find that we could take a right up a canal and easily land next to Dale’s waiting van.

            It was a fun trip and easier than I had expected. However, there are dangers to paddling in such cold weather. If one of us had capsized, he could have faced a serious threat from hypothermia. In addition to being well dressed, we were all experienced paddlers. I was wearing waders, two pairs of wool socks, two pairs of nylon pants, four layers of nylon and wool shirts, a water proof jacket, water proof gloves and a warm hat. A combination of the sun, clothing and activity made it feel like a warm spring day despite the chilly temps. Because of the cold, there was also the tendency to become dehydrated. One should not to forget to drink water even in the cold.