Manistee River: Sharon Bridges to Coster Road Access

In early September, Water Weasel (check out her blog) her boyfriend, and my wife and I headed up North to our favorite river, the Manistee. Water Weasel had just purchased a like new canoe on Craig's List and was eager to try it out. We drove up Friday night and stayed at the CCC campground. This is a nice place as it is right on the river. There were many other people there that night and at first we were worried we would not have a site. After set up, we cranked up the radio and busted out the High Life and Boones Farm. A tame night was had around the fire.

The next morning we packed up and headed towards the Sharon Bridge access. When we were just 500 yards from the put in point, I realized I had a flat tire! The last time we did this section of the Manistee I messed up my car. I am two for two now. After a Nascar-like tire change to the donut, we were on our way. The put in point has changed a lot since our last time on this section! There is a parking area, toilets, and ramps to help put in your boat! This is a far cry from the washed out gravel, stump, and grass infested put in point of old! We were pleasantly surprised! After unloading and spotting cars, we were finally on the river around 11. My cares started to melt away with that first paddle stroke and sip of High Life. We paddled for a few hours and camped just before the US 66 bridge. We love this river because there is a lot of government land surrounding it. That means you can "ninja camp" as we call it. We are very self sufficient and are able to camp anywhere. We discovered this site on a previous trip. I think we call it Kick Ass now. I am not sure how this site stays as open as it is. There are a few trees which seem to be old apples. I discovered some OLD rusting cans in the woods. Maybe this was a homestead at one time? The site is pretty flat, gets a nice breeze, has a fire ring and is on a nice small bend. There is great swimming here! We arrived at this site about 6 hours after we left Sharon Bridge access.

After supper the bugs came out. They were not horrible, but they were bad enough to just be annoying. Then, I remembered something I read in a wilderness survival book Water Weasel got me. I made a smoke can. I gathered one of those old cans and cut out some holes in the bottom. Inside I put a few hot coals from the fire and added lots of green brush. This made lots of smoke that I placed upwind from our site. A light wisp of smoke drifted through Kick Ass site and kept the bugs at bay...until the green brush ran out. Then I added more.  Check at the end of the post for a video to better explain this technique.

We had a fun evening at the site. We did some swimming and of course lots of consuming adult beverages. The Freeplay Ranger radio kept us entertained with Big Ten football. After much searching, I finally got in my Buckeyes on AM radio. They were playing USC and I really wanted to hear it. I managed to hear the entire 4th quarter and even though we lost, I had a great time during that quarter!

From here we paddled another 3 hours or so to the Coster Road access. This access is very well maintained and has very good parking with a boat launch and restrooms. On the way home we stopped at Houghton Lake Walmart to get a new tire. We also picked up some more ratcheting straps to better secure the canoe. This trip was short, but it is just what we all needed after a very busy summer. No matter how long or short the trip may be, just getting out does so much! So, the question is...what will happen to my car next time we do this section???