More South Shore Creeking

Me, Chad, and Paul headed back up to the south shore of Lake Superior to do some more boating. We started on the Baltimore.

DAY 1 - THE BALTIMORE

The level of this one is determined by measuring down from the downstream river-left side of the bridge at the get-in. It was at 11ft. down when we ran it and I'd say this is the bare minimum. I would want it much higher the next time I do it. This run starts out with about 2 miles of flatwater and ends with two miles of flatwater and has one mandatory portage. Though this falls may be runnable, most will choose to walk.

After the first two miles the first rapid is a 10 foot riverwide falls with a deceptively sticky hole. Not too bad though.


Paul plays around under an unnamed falls.


Chaz smooths out the bottom of his boat on the sandstone.


This shot reminds me of a California creek.



All the rock in this riverbed is sandstone, so where one would normally be cruising on granite the sandstone can stop your boat. The more water the better. There is some real quality whitewater in this section, but at low levels like this there's lots of grinding out.

DAY 2 - STURGEON CANYON

This is another L'anse, Michigan area run. It's about a mile of continuous whitewater in a sweet gorge - awesome! We ran this at about 600cfs - the AW suggested max. I think it could be paddled higher, but the holes would be pretty meaty!

The run starts out with a nice 10 footer.


After the falls is a wild ride of fast moving water through a canyon with 20+ foot walls, Wa-Hoo!
Didn't have time to get many photos though.

Here's the last rapid of the canyon.


DAY 2 (cont.) - PRESQUE ISLE

We were hungry for some more whitewater and levels were dropping around L'anse, so we decided to hit the final mile of the Presque on the way home. Always a good time, with the highlite being Manabezho Falls.

Hitting my boof and bracing for impact.


Chaz shows us how to catch air!


After Manabezho, Zoom Flume is an awesome end to the run, bringing you to the mouth of the river and onto Lake Superior.
There is an awesome rodeo hole at the end of the run, and maybe even some waves to catch on Superior.