NATHAN INVINCIBLE

The Cisco Branch of the Ontonagon River is a weird and wonderful one. There's a gauge at the dam of the Cisco Chain of Lakes that for most of the year shows a paltry few CFS – hardly enough to have any fun with. How am I supposed to run a river with many rapids with no water! Solution: wait for a week's worth of storms to blast the region and let 'er rip! 

I put in at an old gravel pit at 46.3757, -89.3965, which is just off of County Road 527. It was a short drag down to the river which was bumpin' along nicely. The dam's gauge far upstream said 88 CFS (down from 180+ CFS the day prior), but it felt like a lot more water in the river. I was pleased and set off directly into Class-II rapids

About one mile in I met my first major obstacle: Wolverine Falls, a Class-III drop that followed a few Class-II+ rapids. It snuck up on me and pulled me to the outside as it swung to the left 180° before making a sharp drop to the right. I barely held it together! Had I known it was coming I might have been able to line up properly but still managed to make it through in one piece. If you're not experienced with remote whitewater, this one could be trouble. The next few miles were smooth sailing through more Class-II rapids and beautiful forest before it finally steadied for a bit before reaching the FR 6930 bridge.

I'd known Wolverine Falls was coming, but everything below this bridge was a mystery. Turns out there are MILES more Class-II rapids, and not far downstream of the bridge was another surprise Class-III drop. I saw this one coming dead ahead and picked my way down a nice 3' ledge through a sluice closer to river right. I don't have photos of that one because it was a long, fast stretch of rapids, much like the rest of the river.

About 7.5 miles from my put-in the river began to slow a bit and I found a mother of a logjam. It was so big, the river actually blasted a new course around it! Instead of a 50'-70' corridor, the river squeezed into a narrow and fast-paced tunnel of alder about 20' wide. It was honestly the scariest part of my journey. Deadfall blocked the path out of nowhere and the current swept my nice carbon fiber paddle out of my hands after I got pushed into a thicket and sent it down into a strainer, never to be seen again. Luckily I had a spare so I could continue.

After the logjam, the river settled down a bit as I approached 18 Mile Rapids, the only marked rapid on the map. Turns out it's hardly a rapid at all compared to what I had already enjoyed! I camped along here for the night to ready myself for the next day's push.

After I hit the South Branch of the Ontonagon River, I knew the current would be significantly less and I'd be doing a lot more paddling. At leas the fall colors added to the enjoyment. Along the way, I found an abandoned canoe in the woods that was completely full of rainwater. There were no roads for miles and no sign of anyone around, so I bailed it out and towed it home for ten miles. This slowed my journey considerably but earned me points towards my CDL license. I pulled out at the Ewen put-in and biked back to my truck far upstream.

Realistically, with as much water as was churning down the river I probably could have put-in at Kakabika Falls on the Cisco Branch about 5 miles further upstream of the gravel pit. Next time! Check out a lot more photos from this trip here.