This guy's wings seem to be a little ragged and the season is just beginning. He's got a long trip ahead of him.

Today was a gem!

You know how great it is when you wake up and the bed is the perfect temperature? So you languish in that cocoon a bit longer than normal and you don’t even feel guilty. That was how this terrific day started.

Once we finally got our guilty-less butts outta bed and on the road, we found the 4.5-mile Eagle Run Trail, that hugged the picturesque AuSable River for nearly two miles. This turned out to be one of our favorite trails so far. The trail had so many different variations. For a while it snaked through a dense forest, then it traversed a sea of tall grass, skirted acres of lush ferns, and there was, of course, that high riverbank overlooking the AuSable. Wildflowers and songbirds added to the delight.

The splendid Eagle Run Trail is located just a couple miles from Oscoda off the River Road National Scenic Byway. There are three main loops. We hooked the two eastern loops together to make 4.5 miles.

Hiking through the grassland was fun. We could barely see the trail.

About 1/3 of our hike was along the AuSable River.

I do love ferns.

I was surprised to see these woody vines way up north. We saw lots of these in Kentucky and Tennessee. This was the only specimen that we saw in Michigan.

Just as we completed the loop, I spotted a couple picking some plants. In one of those odd coincidences in life, Wanda and I were just talking about fiddleheads, the young ferns just breaking through the soil in Spring. Even though we were well past fiddlehead season, all the ferns got us talking about how to cook fiddleheads. So, when right in the middle of our conversation I spotted this couple picking at some fern-like plants, I had to inquire about it. 

Sure enough, the lady, from South Korea, found a field of bracken fern that was still young enough to cook. Because these brackens are toxic, there is a specific way that they have to be steamed and cooked to neutralize the toxin. 

That started a long conversation with yet another very interesting couple with amazing world traveling stories. We hit it off so well that we exchanged emails and made promises to visit again someday. One of the benefits of travel, besides seeing dazzling places, is meeting special people like this couple.

Next up, launching the ekayaks on the fast-running AuSable. The Eagle Run Trail was right next to the Whirlpool Landing boat launch, so we didn’t have to go far. As we were assembling our kayaks, a stereotypical sportsman-looking guy launched his fishing boat with a hefty 150-hp motor. I asked if the river was deep enough for such a large boat and motor. He grinned and told me that not only is it deep enough, there are tons of crystal-clear 20’ deep holes that will knock our socks off. Besides, he knew every turn, bend, log, rock, and stump in the river that he could run it in his sleep. He also predicted that our electric trolling motors should get us up river even in the relentless current. 

Sure enough, at full throttle, we could fight the current. River running is an art. You have to read the water. Where are the underwater obstacles, where is the deepest channel, etc. Wanda and I are pretty decent at river-reading going downriver. Going up river was a bit different, challenging, and fun. The stiff current added to the challenge. If we got just a little cock-eyed the river wanted to turn us around and the boat felt a wee-bit unstable. 

It took an hour at full-tilt to get 3 miles up river until we hit a spot where the current was so strong that we just couldn't go forward. And those 20’ deep holes? They did amaze. With the river’s perfect clarity we could see the river bottom’s structure as if we were scuba diving right at the bottom. Even though this section of the river was very close to Oscoda and Lake Huron, it was protected as it ran through this official National Recreational Area. The river wandered through wild country devoid of development. Thanks, National Parks Service!

The real fun began on the return trip. Drift downriver? No way. At full-throttle, we zoomed back to the landing. It was like being in a video game. As fast as we were going, we had to make snap river-running decisions. Where’s the channel? Rock over here. Log over there. Wow, just missed that snag. It was all over too quickly, but it was a blast.

This was the fisherman that encouraged us to head up river with our kayaks.

And up river we went.

Once we hit the turbo-current we just pulled over and parked for a while.

This guy nonchalantly posed for us.

The couple we met encouraged us to visit two more sites in this National Recreational Area: Iargo Springs and the Lumberman’s Memorial Monument. I had previously seen these on our Gazetteer Map, but with their encouragement, we set out to check them out as soon as we had the kayaks loaded on the van.

The springs themselves were pretty cool, but it was the network of boardwalks and stairs that really amazed. The parking area and trailhead are located on top of a cliff, hundreds of feet overlooking the AuSable River. A thick stand of trees desperately hung onto the steep cliffside. The stairway down to the springs that feed the river weaved around the trees as it switched back and forth on its way down. There must have been a thousand steps. Once we reached the bottom, a labyrinth of boardwalks traced the dozen or so rivulets of spring water that popped out of the base of the cliff. The deep forest bottom was lush with green moss and ferns. Not too shabby, I thought. Now to tackle all those steps back up. My nearly 70 year old legs felt the burn.

One of a dozen little creeks that sprung out of the ground.

It was getting late when we reached the Lumberman’s Memorial Monument. We have been inundated with turn-of-the-century lumbering information over the past few days, so I wasn’t expecting too much at the memorial. But, the word “memorial” piqued my interest. Sure enough, this was a kind of shrine, complete with statues and sculptures, dedicated to the men, and some women who were mostly camp cooks and nurses, that worked in the lumber industry back in the day. Low pay, long hours, dangerous working conditions, backbreaking work…. It sounds so romantic and nostalgic, doesn’t it? NOT!

The magic continued after dark when the lightning bugs put on a show. We were bushed when we returned to V-Jer. After a brief stint of writing this journal, it was lights out to a perfect day.

Glossary of terms used for newcomers: 1) V-Jer. The name of our camper. 2) Saturn. The name of our Van. 3) Duende. Our mischievous gremlin that breaks things. 4) Tata. The good gremlin that helps us fix Duende’s dirty work. 5) The Black Hole. This is what we call Walmart because every time we go in for just a couple of items, we come out spending way more than we figured. 6) QT. Quaint Town. 7) Little Buddy. This is what we call our Dyson cordless stick vacuum.

Dave and Wanda

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