West Branch Sturgeon River (M-38 to Pelkie)
11.4 miles
June 2024
In late-June 2024 the central part of the Keweenaw received several inches of rain in one week for what felt like the first time in years! That meant rivers that haven't been paddle-able for eons were ready to rumble. Misery Paddle Tours were back!
My first target was the West Branch Sturgeon River from M-38 to Pelkie. I was expecting a rough go along the dozen or so miles, although the higher flows would help get us through the logjams and other obstacles. What we found at the put-in was a bit sketchier: the river was near flood levels! Turns out there was a lot more water than I thought. We weighed our comfort levels and sized up the tiny non-whitewater kayaks I'd brought and decided to do it anyway.
This was one of the fastest river trips I've done yet. Water levels were so high that we simply floated over all but one logjam. Beckman Bridge sailed by. We navigated our way though the brush to avoid dangerous strainers and wondered whether we'd be able to paddle two rivers in one day at the blistering pace we were laying down. Even with stops we were hitting nearly 5 mph!
The fun came to an abrupt end with about 0.1 miles to go until our take out. I successfully blasted over a 'death log' that blocked the river's path too high to easily hop over, but too low to get underneath. My co-conspirator Ben was not so lucky in the transition. The current caught the back end of his kayak and quickly flipped him into the river. Bad news! Fortunately he clambered up away from danger while his kayak bobbed sadly below. It was a bit of a chore to bail out his kayak in such fast current. No damage done except a soggy sandwich and brusied pride!
I consider this stretch of river to be Misery Paddle Tour-grade. Although it wasn't particularly miserable when I hit it, almost every other day of the year it would be clogged with downed trees. Buyer beware if you hit it at normal flows!
Guage readings for the area were as follows: Sturgeon at Prickett - 1690 CFS; Sturgeon at Sidnaw - 925 CFS; Traprock - 93 CFS. Find my full flickr album here.