Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Ultimate Kruger Challenge 2009

Story by Mark Przedwojewski

The idea of the Ultimate Kruger Challenge came about from an apparent need that Dan Smith and I noticed of a much tougher and longer paddling adventure here in our fine state of Michigan. We wanted to offer to those who felt up to it a Challenge that would test both skill and stamina, while also offering a great unassisted wilderness adventure. For the past several years we have staged the 100 mile Kruger Challenge (down the Manistee River from M-72 to Harvey Bridge, just above the town of Mesick, in 24 hours or less) and it felt only natural to lengthen this route both before and after to make a great paddling challenge.

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The Route: begins at the mouth of the Au Sable River on the shore of Lake Huron. This section of the paddle is up quick moving river, a portage over numerous hydroelectric dams and through windblown choppy dam ponds, some 120 miles to the town of Grayling. Once up the Au Sable there is a quick 8 mile portage West on a very busy two lane highway, M-72, over to the Manistee River, then down the Manistee River, over two more hydro dams and 160 miles to the mouth at Lake Michigan. Our good friends, and fellow competitors, Bob and Mike Bradford have run this exact route many, many times before and from their stories of it, it sounded like the perfect event to slap the Kruger name on.

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The Run: Dan and I had decided to tackle the trip as a Team and try to stick together the entire route. A few months prior to the starting date Jack Murgattroid, a two time Bushwhacker Veteran, decided to jump in on the team effort. I knew that Jack had the basic paddling skills mastered, as the Bushwhacker Challenge offers the same paddling conditions that this UKC held, but the UKC is a much longer event during a much trickier month, weather wise. Jack would definitely be in for some new experiences and hopefully be able to keep up with the pace Dan and I wanted to set.

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There was an unpleasant weather forecast for the start of the trip and since there were so few competitors, just our three man team all in solo Kruger Sea Wind Canoes and Mike and Bob Bradford in their custom built Bushwhacker, Crozier Tandem, we decided to get a small jump on the weather and start a little early. We had talked it over with the Bradfords and since it was a start-to- finish Challenge it would not matter what time we started as long as we kept track of our start and finish times. Bob and Mike would still start the next morning at 8am.

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So on Sunday afternoon Dan, Jack and I put in at the boat ramp at the river mouth in the town of Oscoda and started our push up the Au Sable River. It always takes a few miles to get used to the heavier load we carry on these extended, unassisted trips. The only rule for most of our Kruger Challenges is that you must do the trip entirely self supported, this means taking no help from a land team at any time. There are two ways to take on this type of Challenge, you can plan a resupply at any grocery stores along the way to stock up on any needed food or gear, or you can carry everything you might need with you from the start. For myself on this particular Challenge I decided to carry everything I needed from the start. There were two resupply points, one in the town of Mio and one in the town of Grayling. Both spots would require a walk away from the river and it was tough to know if we would be passing through these towns while the stores were opened. I decided that it would be best to just carry what I needed for the 300 miles across Michigan.

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We paddled only a few hours that first evening and made camp before the first hydro dam. I felt we could have definitely paddled a few more hours, but I knew that traveling as a group was going to require some give and take, so I helped decide on the spot and thought we could make up some time the next day. No sooner had we all got set up and had a nice campfire going the rain started, everyone turned in early and so began the trend we would follow for the next 6 days, early off the water and lots and lots of rain!

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The rain was with us off and on all night long and the wind kept our rain flies bouncing and making all kinds of noise. The weather, combined with the excitement of the start of a trip such as this, made for a poor night of sleep for us all. As we got up and around the next morning the rain let up for awhile, just long enough for us to pack up and get back on the water. We had camped just a few miles shy of the first of six portages we faced paddling up the Au Sable River. Getting over these dams is fairly easy as they are all just up and over the dam impoundments. Some have a long set of steep steps, others have long gravel roads and some have both. We all had double carries which meant that we had to make two trips to get gear and canoes up and over and back into the water. Just before our first portage at Foote Dam we saw our friend, fellow paddler and ace photographer, Karl Cole who was here to get some photos of us and the Bradfords. He was able to catch Bob and Mike earlier that morning as they launched their canoe back in Oscoda for the start of their Challenge. He told us that they had stored their canoe upright on their van that night and when they went to unload it they discovered just how much it had rained that night. Karl was able to get some great photos of us getting up and over the first dam and then awaited the Bradfords arrival which I figured was not far behind ours.

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A few miles into the pond Bob and Mike caught us and we all stopped to visit for a moment. We discussed the weather, the now constant cold rain was forefront on all our minds, the river and the possible tough challenge of getting through the Mio Pond. A few days before we started our trip the power company that runs all the hydro dams on the river had started to let water out of the Mio Pond at a rate of two feet per day so they could do maintenance on the dam. They would drop the water level 8 feet in total which might pose a problem of getting up and out of the pond itself and back into the river upstream. From what we heard the drop in the pond level would create about a ½ mile section of very fast water that might prove difficult to get up. None of us knew exactly what we would face, but since Bob and Mike would reach it a few days before us, I knew we might hear through the grapevine what we were in for. We took a few pictures of each other as we sat in the rain and then were off paddling upstream again. Bob and Mike were out of site in only a minute or two. This was the last we saw of them on their record setting run across Michigan!

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Jack, Dan and I continued our upriver push, the next dam up was Cooke and we were surprised to see Janet Bradford still there awaiting our arrival. The rain was coming down heavier now than it had all day and the temperature was in the 40's. Bob and Mike had passed by awhile before us, but Janet stayed to get some photos of us. There is a boat ramp at the take out with a steep gravel road leading up to the top of the dam. We decided to keep the canoes fully loaded and use a portage cart to move up the road and over the dam. It took all three of us, on each canoe, to get them up the hill, I'm not sure if it saved any time, but in the pouring rain it allowed us to keep everything in the canoes with the spray covers on so as not to get a bunch of water in the canoes. Janet got some photos of us moving the first canoe and then got back into her warm dry van and was off.

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The rain was quite heavy off and on all day. It's amazing how much energy the wet cold conditions can sap from you when you have to work so hard in it all day long. Replenishing the spent energy is a constant chore that can't be neglected, eating enough calories often turns into work also as the cold rainy day takes it's toll. Just about this time Dan mentioned he was beginning to have a sour stomach, but that it was no big deal. We were less than a day into our trip and with the tough upriver travel in front of us, I was hoping Dan's ailment wouldn't slow us any. I had figured we could keep a 2 mile per hour average going upstream. If we spent 60 hours moving, that would put us in the town of Grayling in 5 days if we did 12 hour days. We were planning on meeting friends and family at the start of the shorter 100 mile Kruger Challenge the night before that event started, and any delay in our time and distance schedule would jeopardize the rendezvous. We continued across Cooke Dam Pond into rain and wind, portaged over Five Channels Dam and then Loud Dam. By now it was almost 6 pm and we started talking about looking for a camp spot and calling it a day.

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It was still early when we made camp, but the rain had let up a bit so we decided to take advantage of it and get set up before the rain started again. I was using one of Verlen's old maps on this trip. He had always kept good track of time and distance on his maps for future reference and those notes came in handy for us now on our quest. Back in 1996 Verlen had done this same upriver trip and from his maps we noticed that he had camped right near to where we were, so we decided to use the same South shore of Loud Dam Pond that Verlen had used 13 years earlier. Once on land and all set up Dan and I decided that this might just be the exact spot Verlen chose. From the notes on the map and the lay of the land it would be just what Verlen would have looked for in a camp spot. We had a nice fire considering all the soaking wet wood, had some dinner and all turned in by 9pm.

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I would have liked to travel a little longer that first full day, but I was inclined to stick with Dan and Jack even if it was at a slower pace than I was used to. On most Challenges like this one I would push well into the night, often traveling all night and all the next day also. I like to call it a day/night/day run and then sleeping the second night of the run. I figure that on either side of a sleep I need about an hour to eat and take care of camp set up or tear down. If I can skip a four hour sleep segment and just have one six hour segment I save two hours in sleep time plus two hours of setup/tear down time. That saves a total of four hours of stop time in the 36 hours of the day/night/day run. It's kind of extreme, and takes a lot of training to be able to stay awake for 36 hours straight, but once the barriers of the mind are broken down and all the fears and self doubt are overcome it becomes quite natural. I find that doing this once in a while definitely pushes my limits of both mind and body.

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We awoke the next morning to cold temperatures, but no rain at the moment. I got a fire going to help ease the cold while we got packed up. As I sat by the fire in the dark that morning my thoughts again were on Verlen and his travels. I wondered how it might feel to be a year or so into a three year expedition. It takes at least a few weeks to really get into the groove of living outdoors and getting used to adverse conditions that last longer than a few days. What was it like to paddle in the rain for weeks on end? How did it feel to paddle the Great Lakes in the winter? How scary would it be to paddle the entire West Coast of the USA? After pondering these thoughts for a while the rainy, cold conditions we faced that day on our small trip did not seem so bad. We were all packed up and back on the water by 8 am, just as the wind and rain also started their day! We had some very quick water to paddle up just after the Loud Dam Pond and we knew that it was going to be a tough day of paddling.

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The fast water proved to be as tough as we thought and we only were able to make about 16 miles that 2nd full day out. Jack, by now, had realized the extent of what paddling up the Au Sable meant and even though it was tough he was totally up for the Challenge and took the opportunity to learn all he could. He had completed two previous Kruger events in a Sea Wind, but still wanted to learn more about proper paddle stroke technique. He asked Dan and me for any advice we might be able to give and worked hard to improve his stroke. I think paddling upriver is a great time to practice this, as it pushes you to be as efficient as you can and try to save as much energy as you can. Dan and I did have to wait now and then for Jack to catch up, but his stroke was getting better and we both knew he appreciated being with us on the trip so the delay was fine with both of us. In fact, I think by now, Dan was needing all those short breaks as his sour stomach was not getting any better. He never complained about it, but it was obvious that he might be in a little worse shape than he let on.

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Late that day we pulled in at a drive-in campground just above Alcona Dam for a water resupply. The wind was out of the Northwest at about 25 to 30 mph and really stacking the water up on the shore we needed to get out on. We all needed water and a resupply from a spigot would be a lot faster and less work than filtering water from the river. The short break was nice because once back on the water we had to do about a 4 mile push right into the wind to get around the bend in the pond and back into the protection of the river. We found a good camping spot, again fairly early, and all got set up as quick as we could as the rain had let off again. The spot we chose had a great supply of firewood and we all enjoyed a nice warm campfire. On trips at this time of year the firewood supply is one of the big factors we look for when choosing a spot. We don't like to hike far from camp to get wood especially when the morning might bring rain and cold. It's nice to warm up in the morning while breaking camp and make sure all toes and fingers are warm before pushing off into a cold and rainy day of paddling. We were kind of taking it easy on this trip and doing it more as a camping trip than a race, so it was nice to be able to enjoy the campfire in the evenings and in the morning. Usually during a race or Challenge I don't make a fire unless it is a life-or-death situation. Verlen often commented on how a campfire in the morning will add at least an hour of sitting-around time that could be spent on the water. I find his estimate to be true and on cold mornings it often adds even more time to that estimate. The fire on this morning, the start of our 3rd full day, felt nice as temps were in the mid 30's with just about all our gear damp and wet.

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We faced only one more dam portage on this section of our journey. I was hoping that we might make a little better time that day and do the 30 plus miles up to the Mio Dam. Dan's condition continued to worsen as we pushed upriver that morning. His sour stomach had now taken a turn for the worse as he told us he had been throwing up during the night. I knew this was bad as we were putting out a tremendous amount of energy in getting upstream and if he could not keep any food in him he would not be able to keep pushing as hard as we were. Dan kept up all day long and did not once complain about his condition. His experience, love of canoe travel and commitment to the trip pulled him through what must have been a very tough day. We ended up making it upriver, in fairly nice weather, to just about 6 miles shy of the Mio Dam.
We found a nice, but well used camp spot on a low bluff with a big open area for the tents. It's nice to find spots that let us set up our tents away from each other enough so each others’ snoring doesn't bother us. It's tough to say exactly who does the most snoring, but I often wake myself up with my own and I'm sure it must wake others also! We had to hike a ways for firewood, but even though it took a little more work we gathered enough for a bigger fire as the forecast was for temps in the low 20's. We had clear skies that night with a full moon rising right over the river in front of our nice spot. Jack and I sat up around the fire a little later that night as the weather was finally dry. Dan turned in early as his energy by now must have been totally depleted. I was hoping he could kick this bug he had and we could possibly pick the pace up a little.

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Thus far in the trip Dan was wanting to keep his small ailment to ourselves and not let everyone know that anything was wrong. In communicating with our Blog Master Brian Weber, we decided to keep it quiet and honor Dan's wishes, but this next day Dan's condition could no longer be denied and Brian began reporting his sickness on our blog. This would in turn get Dan in some trouble with his wife as he was keeping his sickness quiet from her also. We woke up to a 19 degree temperature. Anything that was wet the night before was now frosted or frozen. The fire that morning felt awesome! The fog was thick over the river but there was no rain - it looked like it was going to be a great day! We had a tough 6 mile push up to Mio, where we could get Dan some simple remedies to try and help his condition. I took off in front of Dan and Jack so I could make the short hike from the Mio Dam into town and find the baking soda and antacids Dan thought would help his condition.

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I ended up getting to Mio about 2 hours before Dan and Jack and made the short hike to town and got the needed supplies. In my wait at the Mio Dam I began to get a little impatient in our slower progress. I understood Dan was sick and Jack was a little slower yet, as he was still learning an efficient stroke, but I could not help but keep thinking that this in fact was a race and if I were alone I could most likely be much further along than I was. I was starting to get myself in a real negative frame of mind when I finally realized where I was and what I was doing. We had just traveled up a very fast river 71 miles, over 5 Dams and all in the rain, wind and cold in just 3 short days. This was definitely a great feat and there was nothing to be negative about. I was doing exactly what I wanted to be doing, paddling with two friends up a great wilderness river! I was happy and healthy, the weather was fairly nice, the fall colors were starting to come alive! I began looking at all the many positives in what we were doing instead of wallowing in the one imagined, negative thought of not moving fast enough. My mood was changed in an instant as soon as I started focusing on the positives! What an exciting adventure we were on, epic in fact. At no other time in history that I was aware of had three guys in Kruger Sea Wind Canoes made an unassisted trip all the way across Michigan from Oscoda to Manistee under their own power. Epic indeed!

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When Dan and Jack got in at Mio, Dan took his remedies and we all started the last portage we would face going up the Au Sable River. We did get some news from the Bradford Team about the fast water we would face getting up and out of the pond. The news that we received was that they had to get out of their canoe and walk some 8 miles to get past the fast water. This information came through two people that were not on the water, so I kind of questioned it - 8 miles seemed like a long way to walk to get around only an 8 foot drop. Just the day before Kirt Kitchen and Jeff Kolka, a couple of friends from Grayling, met us at McKinley Bridge and paddled with us for a while. When they left they were planning on driving up to the section of fast water and checking it out for us. They were also interested in paddling the fast water as neither of them had ever seen the Mio Pond so low. Kirt called me back that night and informed me that it was just a few rather large drops that spanned only ¼ mile or less and could be paddled up. It was good news that we all needed. Another thing we learned, and not for the first time, was that information passed down through multiple people is not always accurate. We got over the Mio portage rather fast and headed over to a park on the pond to replenish our water supply. Dan told us to go ahead and get water and yell back to him when we were done. He wanted to grab a short nap before we went on.

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I was really starting to question Dan's decision to keep going. It was now a couple of days since he was able to keep any food or water down for very long. His energy level must be so depleted by this time I was wondering if it was even safe for him to be anywhere but in a bed at home. I really appreciated his resolve and dedication to the trip, but I did not want to be out in the woods somewhere with a sick person that might need more care than we were prepared to give. As I finished getting the water jugs filled Jack paddled back the 100 yards to the landing to wake Dan so we could press on. Back on the water and after only a short 20 minute nap, Dan seemed to be a little more perky and seemed to have regained some energy. His soda and antacid remedy must be working?

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We paddled through the now 8 foot lower Mio Pond. It was quite interesting seeing all the stumps that were still there after over 100 years of being submerged under water. Dan had seen other dam ponds that had been lowered for the same reason as this one. He told us that the stumps are in the process of being petrified. Local motor boaters in his area had tried to cut the stumps lower so as to get rid of the potential prop hazards. In doing so they instantly destroyed their saw blades as the petrified wood is impossible to cut. We traveled the four miles or so through the pond and were up to the fast water before we knew it. Finally we faced the water that we had been hearing about all week.

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The water was fast and shallow. We couldn't use our poles as they would sink all the way up to the handhold in the deep, thick mud. I ferried across the small channel we had chosen, to try to find some deeper water but it was not to be. I ended up using my paddle to push off the muddy bottom into the strong current. I looked back to the shore where Dan and Jack were and just as I looked I saw Jack jump out of his canoe and instantly sink up to his waist in mud. His quick reflexes saved him as he grabbed hold of his canoe and pulled himself up and out and over to a section of rocky shore. I was able to paddle up the first drop and around a small bend. I found some rocky bank myself and parked my canoe. I ran back to see how Jack's recovery was going and by the time I got back he was washing the mud off of himself and Dan was getting his ropes ready to start lining the canoes over the first drop. The banks were steep and fragile, so lining one canoe took all three of us, all holding lines with one of us pushing the bow into the current with one of our poles. Once we had all our canoes above the first drop I jumped back in my boat and was able to paddle up the second drop. Dan and Jack decided to continue with the lining so I jumped back out and helped them get their canoes up the second drop. The banks were so fragile that we really had to be careful not to bust them out and tumble down into the fast water.

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We had made it up two of the three drops we faced, but the last one was being funneled into a very tight and very fast bend that was pushing the water right up against a large beaver den . We would have to paddle this last drop as the beaver den would make lining impossible. I knew we could make it, but it took all of us a rather long time to get up the nerve to try it. We all had fully loaded canoes so it would take a hard push to get up the drop. After about ½ hour of resting and scouting up above the last drop I jumped in my canoe and got out in the eddy about 20 feet below the drop. I hit it hard and fast and pushed up out of the eddy and into the full current that was pushing downstream. My stroke must have been over 70 a minute and still I was only moving less than an inch per stroke. It felt like it took an hour to get up that last drop when in fact it only took less than ½ minute of hard, hard paddling. Once Dan and Jack saw that I could do it they both jumped in and made quick work of the last of the fast water to get up and out of the Mio Pond! It was way less of a deal than we had thought it was going to be and with this obstacle now behind us we all seemed to get a boost in energy and paddled on another hour or two before we looked for a camp spot.

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Once in camp Dan again went to bed right away. Jack and I stayed up and enjoyed the fire. We had enjoyed a full day without rain for the first time since starting the trip and it was nice to be able to sit around the fire without a rain jacket on. Jack strung a line over the fire to dry out the pants he was wearing when he took his jump in the mud earlier in the day and I also dried out a few things that had been wet since the start of the trip. We both enjoyed the nice cozy camp spot tucked in under the pine trees, but we both wished Dan could be sitting with us enjoying it too.

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I was up early again the next morning and had a fire going quickly. It was strange to be traveling with Dan while he was sick. Dan is usually the first one up with coffee and a fire going well before first light. I knew he really must be feeling poorly and again I wondered if he should even be out here. We were on the water by 8am under cloudy skies and another forecast of rain. It started late morning and continued off and on all day, again. During that day we heard that Bob and Mike had completed their Challenge the evening before with a time of just over 3 ½ days. That was an almost 3.5 mph overall average. They certainly set a record that will be hard to beat! We were over 200 miles behind them and were amazed at their record-setting pace. Awesome!!! We had an uneventful, average day of paddling upriver in the rain.

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It started pouring just as we pulled off the water for the day. I pitched my rain tarp over a good spot for the fire and got one going as quick as I could. We had had almost a week of rain and just about every stick in the woods was saturated It took a little work, but I was able to get a good warm fire going in no time. Dan and Jack got their tents set up and joined me by the fire. Dan was heading to bed early again. I think he had hopes of finally kicking whatever this stomach problem was that was still bothering him. He ended up turning in without eating anything. I still could not believe he had made it as far as he had on such little food. I again wondered how much further he would be able to go. We were stopping each day earlier and earlier for him to try and recover and he did not seem to be getting any better. I hoped he would bounce back soon. Jack and I stayed up drying out what we could around the fire. My gloves were soaked so I worked on them as Jack strung a line over the fire again to dry out his clothes.

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The next morning Dan finally decided to throw in the towel and call it quits. He had been up most of the night and said his energy was now totally depleted. He told us to go on and that he was going to stay put for a few hours and rest and then paddle up to the next bridge and get a ride home. It was bittersweet news, but I knew he was making the right choice. I knew he wanted to go on, but I'm sure he also knew he was slowing us down. Jack and I shoved off without him and wished him a speedy recovery. Our Tres Amigos team was now down to Dos Amigos. We paddled on upriver into the gray, misty morning.

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Our original schedule had us arriving in the town of Grayling a full 24 hours sooner than this. We still had about 20 miles to go to get there, and then do our 8 mile portage over to the Manistee River. We had wanted to arrive in time to start the 100 mile Kruger Challenge Saturday morning with the rest of that group, but it was not to be. Kirt Kitchen met us mid morning and paddled the rest of the way up to Grayling. This was his home turf and it was nice to get a guided tour of the area from him. Kirt has a long running relationship with this river and has spent thousands of hours paddling, working and enjoying its beauty. He kept our pace moving at a good clip all day in the intermittent rain and we arrived in Grayling late in the afternoon.

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We had quite a reception in Grayling from lots of friends and family. Jack’s family and a couple friends showed up as well as Mike Smith, Chuck Amboy and a reporter from the local paper. All day long while paddling the last miles on the Au Sable I was thinking about how I wanted to take on this next leg of the Challenge. I talked it over with Jack and he was not interested in traveling all night and all the next day, which is what I was thinking about doing. The rainy weather was starting to break a little and there was going to be a full moon to light my way. I figured I could make pretty good time heading down the Manistee as long as I kept it moving. We rigged our portage carts right next to the river as the reporter got the information he needed and Mike and Chuck snapped a few photos.

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Just as we began to roll away from the river Jack's heavily overloaded boat cart snapped under the weight of his outfit and we were again halted to a full stop. By this time I had decided to pull off a day/night/day run so this added delay started getting me a little upset. I was about to keep going and leave Jack to figure his portage out himself when Chuck popped open the trunk of his car and produced a nice canoe cart that he took out and handed to Jack. We were rolling again in a few minutes and soon found ourselves navigating the streets of Grayling. We stopped in at a local restaurant for a few cheese burgers to go and munched as we walked our rigs west on the very busy M-72. By now it was getting dark so I wore my headlamp backwards on my head with the light in blink mode to warn traffic coming up behind us we were there. I had figured we would have made better time coming up the Au Sable and done this portage in full daylight, so I did not pack my portage lights that I usually have going to warn traffic we were there. The headlight worked well and we did the portage without incident in about 3 hours.

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Once we were at the Manistee River Jack and I said our farewell. Dan's nephew, Brian Keel, was planning on meeting us for the down river run on the Manistee and had started that morning along with the other 100 mile Challengers. Jack's plan was to camp at the M-72 bridge so he could get well rested and visit with his family. He would start first thing in the morning and push hard to catch Brian so they could enjoy the rest of the trip together. It was a pleasure spending the past 6 days with Jack, his growing love and understanding of the Kruger Sea Wind is enjoyable to witness. I look forward to building him one soon! In just 3 adventures in a Sea Wind, he has learned and mastered what takes others years to learn. His 3 adventures did include upriver travel, which in my opinion is one of the best ways to learn and master the art of expedition travel.

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The clouds continued to thin out as the full moon began to rise up over the river. It took about an hour for me to break down my portage rig and prepare for my all night run. I had had a big meal of two huge cheeseburgers and fries at the start of the portage so for the moment I had a full belly and was feeling great. I had also filled up a Platypus water bag with coffee at the restaurant to see me through the drowsy hours I knew I was going to face. Mike, Chuck and Kirt all hung out as I got my rig in order. I was getting focused on my all night paddling task as I did my chores so I did not take part in the visit as much as they did, but it was nice to have them there. At that time I had already been up for 16 hours and done 20 up river miles and about 8 road miles. My immediate goal was to push through the next 20 hours and 100 down river miles. My fastest time down the 100 mile Kruger Challenge is just over 19 hours and this is what I wanted to match on this run. I shoved off at just after 10 pm under a beautiful clearing sky, full moon and 40 degree temperatures. “It don't get no better than this!”

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The night was awesome! It felt great to finally be going with the flow instead of against it. For the first time in the trip my GPS was reading speeds over 2 miles per hour. In fact for the first few hours I was able to hit 5 and 6 miles per hour! The night went well with no unpleasant encounters to report. Night paddling on the upper Manistee could be rather dangerous, but I was feeling good and in a very focused state of mind. The moon was bright and lit the river up nicely, my headlight system worked well in lighting up any obstacles in front of me and the night progressed without incident.

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By sun-up I was over 40 miles down river and well on my way of achieving my goal of around 19 hours to complete the 100 miles. I was keeping an eye out for a few 100 mile Challengers that were here from Florida. Toby Nipper and David Sloan came to Michigan to pick up David's new Sea Wind and do the 100 mile Kruger Challenge. David was fairly new to the sport and Toby, a seasoned expedition veteran, wanted to take two days to complete the 100 miles so as not to push David too hard. I caught up to them mid morning and hung with them for a few hours before I met up with another Kruger Canoe paddler and good friend Jack Cramer at the M-131 campground. Jack was out for a day paddle and had planned on meeting me for the remainder of the 100 miles to Harvey Bridge. It rained off and on most of the day as Jack and I made our way down river. The temperature was in the mid 50's and was pleasant.

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By early afternoon I was 32 hours into my marathon 36 hour push and starting to feel the effects of it. I was getting tired of the same food I had been eating for the last 7 days. It was all good wholesome food, but the sameness was starting to get old and I slacked off a bit on my intake of it. The lack of calories along with the rain that afternoon made my sleep deprivation almost intolerable. I was so looking forward to stopping and sleeping that I started finding it hard to enjoy the paddling. A few hours before Harvey Bridge and the end of the 100 miler, I started dozing off quite frequently. It was a good thing I had Jack beside me. Our conversation helped keep me awake and soon enough we were at the bridge. To my surprise Jack's wife Joan had a large pepperoni pizza waiting for me when we got there. I ate 3 pieces while I sat in my canoe as Jack took his canoe out of the water. We said our goodbyes and I paddled on down river well fed and looking for a camp spot.

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I wanted to get away from the bridge to camp so I would not be disturbed by any road traffic. Toby and David were also just behind me and planning on camping at the bridge, I knew if I stayed there I would not be as efficient as if I camped by myself. I still had 50 miles to go to get to Lake Michigan and my plan was to complete it the next day. I found a spot a few bends downriver. I ate more pizza, set up my tent and was fast asleep by 6 pm. I had pulled off a great 36 hour run! I had paddled 120 river miles ( 20 of it up stream) along with an 8 mile portage. I was satisfied with my effort and decided I would reward myself by sleeping as long as I could. I would get up whenever I woke up, not worrying about setting an alarm.

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I slept very soundly and to my surprise I was up and wide awake at 2am. It was 2 hours longer than what my plan was, but I had really pushed it hard the previous few days. I ate the rest of my yummy pizza as I was breaking camp and getting my boat ready for my final push to the finish. I had 50 miles and two dam portages to do, I felt great after my 8 hour nap and was looking forward to my final day of the trip. The moon would be setting this morning as the sun was rising, the skies were clear and as I shoved off I thanked God for my continued safety and opportunity to experience so much beautiful wilderness.

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I paddled on down past the town of Mesick and was over the first portage at Hodenpyle Dam as the sun began to rise. Since I was now portaging downhill I didn't bother unloading my canoe for the typical double portage that we did coming up river. Using my bow and stern lines I was able to guide my canoe down the first set of steep steps, drag across the parking lot and down the second set of steps in only 17 minutes. I don't know of any other canoe that can take this kind of abuse without splitting in half. I'm always so thankful for my Sea Wind, especially in this type of condition. The fast water below the dam was a fun quick ride and before I knew it I was 12 miles downstream and making my way across Tippy Dam Pond.

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The portage over Tippy Dam is an easy ¼ mile on a paved road past a huge parking area. This section of the Manistee River attracts a huge number of fisherman every spring and fall and by the looks of the cars in the parking lot I was in for a fun time! I made another fast job of the portage by rigging up my wheels. I was back in my canoe after only 12 minutes!

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The banks along both sides of the river below the dam were shoulder to shoulder with fishermen. I had to take it slow and weave in and out to avoid the hundreds of people and lines that littered the river. Depending on the depth of the water and the current, the people fishing might be all the way out in the middle of the river. It felt like an obstacle course and in fact was kind of fun! The rudder on my canoe really got a good workout that day as I continued down river. After I got past the fishermen walking in the river the boat traffic started and was rather heavy most of the way down to Manistee. This final leg of the trip ended up being quit busy which was a fun way to end this adventure. I had paddled hundreds of miles without seeing any other people and then in the last 25 miles I must have passed at least 500 people!

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The rain held off most of the day so I was able to finish my trip dry and comfortable. I ended up finishing at the boat ramp at the mouth at Lake Michigan just after 5 pm on Monday evening. My GPS numbers had gotten screwed up somewhere along the way so I don't know my exact mileage, but from what the maps tell me I figure I covered about 278 total miles. 120 of those miles upriver, 8 miles portaging and 150 miles downriver. The total time of my trip was 192 hours which gave me a 1.4 mph overall average. It was a tough yet fun 8 day trip that I think might become a yearly tradition on the Kruger schedule.

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Huge Thanks go out to; My wife and son for their continued support and love!, to Brian Weber for keeping the Blogosphere up and running, to Dan and Jack for putting up with my sometimes overbearing need for speed, to all those that jumped in and paddled with us for a while, and to everyone that followed along on line and kept us in your positive thoughts. Thank You, all!