Rifle River

21 July 2007

The Rifle River is described, in the travel journals, as one of the best rivers in Michigan for canoeing or other modes of transit that suits your fancy. So on Friday we decided, being parked at the Rifle River RV Resort along the river, that it would be silly to leave without making a trip down the river. Most of the way, we had a very enjoyable trip. Water levels were a bit low and I had to push the canoe along in a few spots. Where there was sufficient water the current ran quickly in the bigger bends in the river. That was where the trip could be described as less enjoyable. While sweeping thru one of these bends at a good clip, we hit a submerged rock just under the surface that we failed to see. We will not go into any discussion of responsibility, if any, for this failure to note the rock, as it is a highly contested item.
The result, however, was undisputed. The bow lookout went over the side taking the canoe with her and quickly following her myself and all the gear also ended up in the water. After recovering said items and getting the canoe under control, I had to manhandle the canoe to shore in order to empty it of the large amounts of water that replaced us in the canoe. Once order was restored, stock was taken the recovered gear, to find that the bow lookouts camera appeared to have suffered considerable damage. It was an undisputable fact that I had carelessly not replaced it in the watertight bag after use, hence deciding not to press the failure to notice the rock issue. Anyway, we carried on and enjoyed the rest of the trip, while also noting the various bruises that we were beginning to feel.
Needless to say, there are no pictures of this event or any other part of the trip surviving the dunking. I did, however, get a few pictures Saturday of some of the returning adventurers who appeared to enjoy the trip, even if they may not remember it later.