NATHAN INVINCIBLE

Following my successful trip down the West Branch Sturgeon River, I decided to take advantage of the recent high water to paddle down the Keweenaw's Silver River from M-38 to Pelkie. I knew the high water wouldn't last forever and the river would be even more miserable to paddle down. So out I went in search of hairy adventures down an uncharted river.

River levels were indeed down from the recent flood-level flows, but were still high enough to keep me moving when there weren't logjams in the way. The Silver River would have been awfully sketchy at super high flows anyway. The turns in the river were sharper and the logjams much more frequent, all of which would have made for dangerous conditions.

Thankfully, I don't mind hopping up and over junk piles in rivers! There were at least a dozen major logjams along the way. Some I was able to sneak through... but only just. I set a new personal kayak limbo record by squeezing under a log with under 14" of clearance. The challenges were fun and the river felt mostly wild for nearly the entire journey. I even found a large, illegal metal bridge that was at risk of falling into the river and creating a dam. Not great!

I pulled out on Kyro Road in Pelkie after meeting up with the Sturgeon River. Guage readings for the area were as follows: Sturgeon at Sidnaw - 250 CFS; Sturgeon at Prickett - 490 CFS; Traprock - 88 CFS.  Find a full album of photos here.