Sunday, August 28, 2005
DAMN NEAR PERFECT DAY
Photo: St. Joseph river in South Bend When it comes to canoeing, I am always prepared. From about the first of April to the end of November, the canoe always stays on top of the trusty S-10 pickup, the gear stays stored in the cap. So when the alarm went of at 5:45 yesterday morning, all I had to do was throw some water on the face, deodorant on the pits, swim trunks, sandal's and T- shirt on the very ample bod, and head out the door.
After a stop at Mickey D's for coffee with my pal Ron, and another to ice down the OLD MILWAUKEE, I pointed "old trusty" northeast and we embarked on the 1 1/2 hour drive to Colon MI (magic capital of the world).
I met up with my friends John, Bob, Scott, and Carol at a small diner undeserving of mention. After breakfast and small talk, we spotted Carol's Jeep Cherokee at the public access, and headed upstream to Sherwood MI.
We hit the water a little after 10. The weather was glorious, partly cloudy and mid 70's. The river was a bit low, and we had to rock over a few fallen trees, but only once did I have to get out of the canoe and pull over a fallen tree. Never did my feet get wet!
This is a very scenic stretch of the upper St. Joseph, with lots of points of interest. The remnants of several ancient Indian fish traps can be seen, along with the remains of an old grist mill, and a spectacular Indian burial mound. The mound is easily thirty foot high, and a perfect oval shape. We stopped for lunch at the mound, and while exploring, I came across a baby Massauga rattlesnake. It was barely 6" long. Massasaugas are an endangered species, and very shy creatures. Ones this size have no rattles and very indistinguishable markings. But the arrowhead shaped head is the give away. It was not pleased by my presence and made a beeline down the hill towards the river. I was amazed at how fast the little guy could move!
About a half hour before we reached our take out, Bob discovered an aluminum jon boat stuck in the crook of a tree, obviously carried there by spring floods. He got it down, it floated, so we salvaged it and he is now the proud owner of a 10' jon boat.
We were off the river around 4:45 and by 5:15 we were loaded up and headed to dinner. Dinner was at the very mentionable Curly's in beautiful downtown Colon. John, Carol and I had an excellent pizza, while Bob had the all you can eat broasted chicken, and Scott the all you can eat fish.
I arrived home about 9:15 pm. All in all, it was damn near a perfect day!
Now cooking at the The Church Potluck: FABULOUS FRIED FISH
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