Тёмный

Springtime Canoe Camping on the South Branch of the Ontonagon River 

Thalweg
Подписаться 273
Просмотров 1,1 тыс.
50% 1

South (and West) Branch of the Ontonagon - Ewen to Victoria Dam
This video documents a solo canoe trip I did in early May 2021. Water levels were relatively low for this time of year. There is no official gage on this stretch of river, but the USGS has gages on the Cisco Branch upstream of here (waterdata.usgs.gov/mi/nwis/uv...) and the West Branch (waterdata.usgs.gov/mi/nwis/uv...) which joins the South Branch about 20 miles downstream of Ewen.
Upper Peninsula Power Company (UPPCO) also provides a website showing flows in the area (www.uppco.com/hydro-water-lev.... The Bond Falls Canal System flow is the relevant one for this stretch as the canal flows into Bluff then Sucker Creeks which ultimately join the South Branch 10+ miles upstream of Ewen.
Total paddling distance for this trip is 26-27 miles. There are no intermediate access points between the put-in at Ewen and the take-out at Victoria Dam. Both the put-in (at Hwy M-28 in Ewen) and the take-out (at Victoria Dam) have easy river access and gravel parking areas.
The water is heavily sedimented due to the clay banks in the area. To be honest, the first 8 miles or so of the trip isn't all that interesting as the current is slow with steep muddy banks backed by lowland forest and farm fields. After that, the scenery improves considerably. As the river enters the Ottawa National Forest, the current picks up, the topography changes to high hills, and the forest changes to a mix of pine, hemlock, and hardwoods. There are numerous potential camping spots in the stretch between the start of the national forest and the confluence with the West Branch of the Ontonagon. There are many long stretches of class I-II rapids in this stretch.
After the confluence, the river is known as the West Branch even though the South Branch is larger. The river becomes wider and slower here until about 2 miles above the Victoria Reservoir. Sandstone Rapids and "The Chute" are in this stretch. Sandstone Rapids is a long, technical class II rapids with several sandstone ledges and slides. I did it at relatively low water (for spring-time), so lots of maneuvering was required but the waves weren't too big. At higher flows, the waves are reported to get much larger and can swamp open canoes.
After Sandstone Rapids, there is another class II rapids (The Chute) that empties directly into Victoria Reservoir. From here, it's about a 2 mile flatwater paddle across Victoria Reservoir to the landing on river left above the dam.
Resources
"Canoeing Michigan Rivers" by Jerry Dennis and Craig Date
"Water Trails of Ontonagon County" by Dean Juntunen which is included in the book "Multi-Use Trails Guide For the Western Upper Peninsula of Michigan - Volume 2"

Опубликовано:

 

4 дек 2021

Поделиться:

Ссылка:

Скачать:

Готовим ссылку...

Добавить в:

Мой плейлист
Посмотреть позже
Комментарии : 8   
@hadenfors6177
@hadenfors6177 2 месяца назад
We did the trip the weekend of April 13th it was a great experience, paddled 12 miles to a group of islands and stayed the night there. Took off at 9am the next morning, about 8 miles in the river was an intense maze of rocks and boulders to dodge lasting until mile 10 of day 2. Made it to the west branch around noon. Hit sandstone falls and was shocked at the size of the waves! Looked way smaller in your video than in real life, water level was pretty much the same as when you went. Got stuck on rocks trying to go around the falls. Made it to the chute and it went smoothly just got really wet, took a while to get to the boat launch from the back of the reservoir as it was windy. I’ll never forget this trip! I hope you can make more canoeing videos in the future!
@hadenfors6177
@hadenfors6177 4 месяца назад
Surprised I was able to find a good video of this trip! Awesome footage! planning on doing this trip with a friend(we are 15 years old) and I actually live right in Ewen and I’ve been wanting to float this river for a long time but I was always scared about capsizing with all of my camping gear and important equipment on board, but now I know there aren’t any impassible rapids and camping areas are plentiful. Thank you!
@avalonadventures8396
@avalonadventures8396 Год назад
Beautiful! Have to add this one to my list. I would love to see more video of camp. Setting up, gear, cooking, processing wood, camp fire, breakfast, etc.
@dunordable
@dunordable Год назад
I'm intrigued by your comment. I've often wondered how much camp/non-paddling content to include in my videos. I've picked up some some useful tips and tricks by watching other's videos, so I get your point. I can see that you and I subscribe to a lot of the same canoeing/camping RU-vid channels. For example, I've probably seen Jim Baird set up his tent a hundred times and Jonathan from Lost Lakes build dozens of fires by now. After a while, I've felt that the around camp stuff tends to get somewhat repetitive. As such, I made a somewhat conscious decision to focus more on rivers and places in my videos rather than focusing on me or camp skills. I figured others had the topic of camp skills covered quite well in their videos, so why should I bother. That being said, there are a couple of pieces of gear and techniques that I use that, while not totally unique, are somewhat uncommon. So maybe I'll try to include those in future videos. I can also see how the around camp stuff helps to convey the overall "experience", so maybe others might be interested as well. Thanks for the tip/suggestion.
@riversandcoffee
@riversandcoffee 2 года назад
Great trip and information...thanks👍✌
@brucekissinger
@brucekissinger 2 года назад
Thanks for taking the to film this and publish it.
@Tailwind1
@Tailwind1 2 года назад
Nice footage, thank you!
@backinthewoods2022
@backinthewoods2022 2 года назад
That looked like a fun river 👍
Далее
120 Miles Solo Kayak Camping the Au Sable River
32:45
Просмотров 292 тыс.
Whitewater Rafting: Rapid Classes Demystified
1:06
Просмотров 212 тыс.
Flambeau River - Nine Mile to Beaver Dam
12:30
Просмотров 2,1 тыс.
Headwaters of the Wisconsin River
17:47
Просмотров 8 тыс.
Kayaking down the Zambezi river at highwater!
6:31
Просмотров 317 тыс.
1977 Grumman 17 Double Ender Canoe
4:10
Просмотров 274
Van Clothier One-Rock Dam Demonstration (May, 2024)
13:43
Riley Brook - June 2024
1:22
Просмотров 122