10-25-2015 3:53am

Gallery: Kayaking the Saline River a Challenging Endeavor

With a push from my friend, I set off in a kayak from Curtiss Park down the Saline River on an Indian summer day. A raft of ducks was soon scared into flight as I approached.

Further along, other groups of ducks would take to the air as the kayak rounded a bend. In addition to ducks, common birds like sparrows and robins (especially robins) flitted among the branches of overhanging trees and shrubs.

A couple of belted kingfishers flew from branch to branch looking for aquatic prey and raising their strident chattery voices. Several great blue herons that had been wading in the shallows lumbered into flight with their large wings.

Of course there were also abundant squirrels chasing about in the trees and sometimes crossing the river on over hanging branches. Deer were also present, but I only saw one, the rest only left footprints in the soft mud. Perhaps they knew it was bow season.

Although the course of the river goes through settled land, from the water’s surface it usually looks like wilderness. The emergent golds and reds of the autumn foliage, both overhead and reflected in the water, added to the beauty of the scene.

In a few places houses and lawns can be seen. By the old Saline Mills on Hartman Street, now owned by Taylor Jacobsen I met Taylor’s son, Einar Jacobsen. He was startled to see someone on the river, but he was welcoming and helped me carry the kayak around a log pile.

There is a group of people in Saline and some in Milan who are planning to promote the Saline River between the towns as a recreational waterway. It surely has scenic beauty, but there are problems too.

I paddled only about 4.5 miles on the river and it took about five hours. Granted I took my time and stopped to take photos along the way, but that is not the main reason it took so long.

There are logs across the river that block travel by boat and in some places there are big piles of logs, such as I encountered by Jacobsen’s place. I had to get out and drag the kayak around large piles probably eight to ten times.

For many of the smaller log barriers I was able to stop, get out of the kayak, pull it over the log and get back on. For others I wound my way under and through, occasionally needing to perform an aquatic limbo dance.

However, there was yet another travel barrier. Some skill is involved in being able to read the river and see the clearest path to travel. I have not perfected that skill, but even so, there were many parts of the river where no clear pathway existed.

The river becomes too shallow over some gravel bars to be able to support a boat with a person in it. In these places, the only recourse is to get out of the kayak and wade.

To protect my shoes, I took them off and walked barefoot. This was probably not a good idea since my feet took a beating and the shoes strapped to the top of the boat got soaked anyway.

Also, in the many barefoot portages, my feet and legs crashed through nettles, a common plant in damp areas, and 24 hours later, they were still tingling from the exposure.

Furthermore, I was wet from the waist down from maneuvering around and over logs. If it had not been a pleasant 70-degree day, I would have been quite cold.

The planers of the river trail are well aware of the logjams. They intend to attack them with chainsaws and continue to clear new tree falls as the need arises.

The shallow shoals will not be so easy to remedy. There is even a possibility that clearing the logjams, which act as partial dams, may make the river shallower.

This means that traveling between Saline and Milan by river would require a fair amount of walking through gravel bars, except during times of high water. The distance by river is probably at least 15 miles, so even a one-way trip would make for a long day.

I pulled out at the bridge where South Maple Road crosses the river about three miles south of downtown Saline by road. It is know to some locals as “the troll bridge.” I was thoroughly exhausted.

This was the maiden voyage for a kayak that my friend won as a door prize at an open house in July at Bill Crispin Chevrolet. I’m afraid I returned it a bit worse for the wear.