-We had an outstanding time out on the Grand River this past weekend. Six Kruger paddlers showed and three dogs (One seasoned veteran “Daisy” and two pups “Gabby” and “Koa”) for a 3 day winter camp / paddle. The pups proved to be very entertaining in camp. Camp participants include Mark, Dan, Mike, Jake, Morgan and my self.
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Between the dogs a raging bon-fire, the butterscotch schnapps and the non-stop buffet of venison and veggies, life is extremely good on the river.
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-Our longest paddle was 17 miles from our base camp at Deer Camp Island. We did a leisurely paddle down to Portland. Very scenic and conditions perfect as we were nestled in the high banks of the Grand River.
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With six paddlers it made shuttles to and from quite efficient, as we could load everything up on the Team Kruger trailer.
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-Our last day was quite precarious as the heavy snow fall now turning a free flowing river into a slushy – creating floating ice chunks. We got pushed around and were at the mercy of the flow. It was easy to make the call to pull out early on Sunday for safety.
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The shore ice made for some excitement as well. It took a good 30 minutes to clear ice at the put in to make a safe entry to the river. Note: Puppies don’t understand a whole lot about icy water and free flowing ice. Mark had a nice save of Koa and Gabby as they ventured out exploring the shore line. Nice save Mark!!
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I must say the highlight of the trip was meeting the Smith Brothers. Mike and Dan have done some amazing trips with Verlen Kruger and on their own. A wealth of knowledge and some very entertaining stories shared. It is not uncommon for Mike or Dan to do a 200 to 500 mile canoe trip at a drop of a paddle and a wink of an eye. These are some hardcore dudes. Also…
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A shout out to Scott Smith, who ventured out to replenish our depleted stock of schnapps late in the evening; I don’t know too many people that will drop what their doing go to the store and paddle out in darkness in January for the shear pleasure of doing so.
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Photos and more info to be posted as the boys send me their pics on the Kruger Canoe Adventure Blog in the next few days. – The Capt’n
I must say the highlight of the trip was meeting the Smith Brothers. Mike and Dan have done some amazing trips with Verlen Kruger and on their own. A wealth of knowledge and some very entertaining stories shared. It is not uncommon for Mike or Dan to do a 200 to 500 mile canoe trip at a drop of a paddle and a wink of an eye. These are some hardcore dudes. Also…
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A shout out to Scott Smith, who ventured out to replenish our depleted stock of schnapps late in the evening; I don’t know too many people that will drop what their doing go to the store and paddle out in darkness in January for the shear pleasure of doing so.
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Photos and more info to be posted as the boys send me their pics on the Kruger Canoe Adventure Blog in the next few days. – The Capt’n
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