Red Cedar River Canoe Landing Maintenance

On Monday, August 18, we will be working at the Van Atta Road canoe landing at the Harris Nature Center.  We will be improving the existing dock structure and improving the existing pathway down to the water.  The goal is to provide a higher quality access to the Red Cedar River for anyone wishing to use the river at that point.

We will be using wood timbers to frame in the steps down the bank and wood bark to fill in the steps.  The design is a basic one commonly used to control erosion on pathways on slopes.

If we do not complete the work on Monday we will finish it on Tuesday, August 19.  Please RSVP for exact times to start prior to this activity.  All maintenance work has been approved by the Meridian Township Parks and Recreation Department.

Jay Hanks, LOAPC President

Unoffical Canoe and Kayak Night at Lake Lansing – July 28

The weather looks good this evening–what a shock.  Hope to see some of you there.

Project Boat: Dagger Passage Tandem Canoe

Some people put cars up on jack stands in the back yard. Paddlers put boats up on lawn chairs. This is my Dagger Passage project boat. I’ll be documenting my restoration of it in a future newsletter article, but I thought I’d share a few “before” pictures here.

Click to see more.

Unofficial canoe and kayak night at Lake Lansing – July 21

The sky doesn’t look all that friendly, but the radar doesn’t show any storms heading our way, so I’m going to paddle.  Bringing a splash jacket in case the wind stays up like it is now at 6:15 p.m.

Loretta Crum

Unofficial canoe and kayak night at Lake Lansing – July 14

Who’s paddling tonight besides me?

Loretta Crum

Friends and Family Canoe Trip in August near Grayling, MI

The 9th Annual Friends and Family Canoe Trip will be held the weekend of August 23-24.  We will be heading up to Canoe Harbor State Forest Campground on the South Branch of the Au Sable River on Friday night, August 22.  There are no reservations available, so it is first-come first-served.  Generally speaking, there are usually plenty of sites to choose from in this primitive facilities campground, but I have no ability to reserve sites.

We will base camp at Canoe Harbor and on Saturday we will shuttle upstream to Roscommon and float back to camp on the South Branch.   The trip is expected to take five hours once we actually launch.  On Sunday we will launch from Canoe Harbor on the South Branch and take out on the Mainstream of the Au Sable River at McMaster’s Bridge.  It is expected to take about four hours of paddling on Sunday once we actually launch.

This is a BYOB (Bring Your Own Boat) but rentals are available if necessary in Roscommon.  Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or needs.  This is a self-guided trip

Jay Hanks, LOAPC President

Unofficial canoe and kayak night at Lake Lansing – July 7

I won’t be paddling tonight–although the rain seems to have moved out of the area, the weather is too uncertain to make it worth the drive for me. If anyone who is closer to town plans to paddle tonight, please comment below.

Loretta Crum