It’s crazy how every day is so different, and each day seems like several days somehow squeezed into one. I could write about so much today; I think my word for today is: TEMPERING.

But, first things first… I like some variety in my life, but some things I like to keep regular, like being regular, every morning. My morning ritual starts with coffee, and then within 5-10 minutes it’s time to be regular; whether I’m at home, a five star resort, my mother-in-law’s, or in the woods, I’m regular. Crazy James campsite, which if I didn’t fully convey yesterday was awesome, had a “toilet”! This luxury is not often found when roughing it, where you usually need to remember to zipper all pockets, stay out of the tall grass, and keep phones and other loose valuables away from the drop zone. I didn’t take any action photos, but I thought you may be interested to see Crazy James’ amenities. They had an old fashioned job, and a new fangled version so me and a friend could go side by side! (We didn’t.) Now we’re ready to start the day!

Yesterday all the hard “peddling” and walking in wet shoes gave me blisters on the sides of my feet, so today I got use out of my cheap water booties. With dry socks on (that just happened to match my shoes!), it felt like someone giving my feet a warm little foot hug all day – it was a wonderful change and my mood was high.

When Dave and I got on the water around 7:15, within a few minutes we were both thinking that for the first time in days, it felt like the river was flowing. It was nice to be carried along a little bit, and we hoped it would continue. We saw 10-20 little tributaries feeding the river, most were small rivulets. But after 12 miles we picked up the Leech River, which brought appreciably more water (and assuming more leeches 😳). After that, the river was reliably deep enough to “peddle” all day and make a decent pace.

Lara – I’m using air-quotes on “peddle” because the propulsion system is not really like peddling a bike, it’s more like a 1980’s stair master. If you haven’t noticed on the videos I’ve included, your feet just kind of go up and back – it’s like being seated on a stair master. Now after 5 days of this, and many more to come, I am certain I’ll have buns of steel that will make even Jillian Michaels envious. Come November I’ll look forward to going shopping for some new skinny jeans!

After paddling together for most of the morning, Dave and I separated for 1.5 miles with a plan to meet at Gambler’s Point for lunch. This gave me an opportunity for a short time trial to see what my regular “peddling” pace is. I was happy to complete this trial at 3.6mph. I know that doesn’t sound blazing, but it’s about what I was hoping for. Physically I was feeling stronger than the day before, which makes sense cuz it took also Peter Parker several days to fully develop his superpowers. In a few days I’m sure to be wriggling up walls and sucking the blood out of supervillains!

After lunch, we had 11 miles to go before the next landmark at a road crossing. We took these pretty much separately, which gave me another time trial opportunity, though it also gave me 3 hours alone with my thoughts. And my thoughts turned into talking to myself out loud, which makes me wonder if I’m loosing it. I know some people think I must have a screw loose to begin with for taking on this adventure; but I can say that screw fell out long ago into one of those narrow, dark and dusty place where it’s hard to recover a screw even with a flashlight and one of those extendable magnet things.

All sorts of random things happened today traveling mostly alone that I usually couldn’t photograph and probably can’t do justice in writing: There was one episode where about 20-30 frogs were spread out on a slightly sloped bank, and when I came by they started to leapfrog one another. There was another before lunch when an osprey decided to fly continuously out in front of me for about 1/2 mile; it was like having air support for some sort of naval offense that I was about to enact (thanks Maverick!) Then after lunch a fairly large turtle did a similar job as the bird, offering me submersible support in front of my craft for 1/4 mile.

With the river consistently deep now, I mostly travel in the middle where I can get the most perspective on the scenery and creatures. I saw my first beaver, and maybe an ermine, a few more otters and plenty of muskrats. The muskrats often get surprised and plop off the bank into the water, creating quite a splash. If I’m traveling near the bank to seek a break from the wind, that muskrat belly flop takes me by surprise, it can be quite unnerving and sound an awful lot like a cannonball from a pirate ship hitting the water.

Just before our planned rendezvous at the road crossing, and two miles upstream of the state park we planned to stay, I saw a sign (a literal sign) that read “Welcome Paddlers – The Bromenschenkels”. I pulled up to the dock, walked through the yard and knocked on the door. Nobody home. On my way to the backyard swing overlooking the river to await Shootman, I noticed a sign on the back door with a number to call if nobody is home. No answer. There was a car in the driveway, and now I began to wonder if something nefarious was happening to require the first test of my Leechman powers, but then Sandy Bromenschenkel called me back. She and Jeff were at the county fair 30 minutes away and would return shortly. She welcomed us to stay in their bunkhouse, do laundry, shower, and (wait for it…) help ourselves to beer in the fridge! I was sold, and for the third time we abandoned our state park reservations for an alternate plan.

Jeff and Sandy returned home as we were finishing our washing. They sat with us on the patio while we ate our freeze dried spaghetti. We learned that Sandy is a descendant from a guy who literally fell off the Mayflower mid-voyage (somehow he grabbed a rope and climbed back aboard, or Sandy and apparently a large majority of us US Anglos wouldn’t be here). Jeff retired a few years ago and seems to be making the most of his freedom. He’s quite the concert-goer and was sporting his 2019 Who final tour t-shirt from . We talked about other shows they went to in Seattle and a three day trip they took to Hamburg just to see Yusuf. (Cat Stevens) play. Jeff also taps 50 maple trees on their property and makes his own syrup every year.

In the course of our conversation, we talked about our upcoming dilemma. We are approaching two dams within a 5 mile span of the river. I was told the power company who operates the dams would provide a shirtless service around the dams to Grand Rapids. When I called they said that service was operated by volunteers who stopped doing that two years ago. Guess who ran the volunteer service: The Bromenschenkels! They have now offered to come out of shuttle retirement for us to keep us on track and avoid some painful portages. And if that’s not enough piling of miracles, Sandy promised sausages and blueberry pancakes for breakfast. I told them I may never leave their beautiful property and hospitality (but alas the river calls).

Finally, in a salute to Jeff Bromenschenkel: Yusuf (Cat Stevens) Longer Boats (I hope Jeff can trailer our long boats to Grand Rapids).