Day 33 (July 25): The Brule's The Best

On the same day in 2002 that Elise read Dan Brown's Davinci Code (in one day, of course), I learned about the Brule River. It's the kind of river you can miss easily as you drive east from Duluth on US-2 toward Washburn, Ashland and Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Just a little green roadside sign near a crossroads town.

I remember that Elise mentioned something about a former president loving the Brule and it being a favorite for paddling and fishing. (This is a nontrivial aside. Calvin Coolidge had a summer White House on the Brule and, as we learned, converted a local high school into a base of political operations.). But as soon as we booked this cabin, just east in the town of Iron River, it became apparent that a canoeing adventure on the Brule was in my future.

With help from the good folks at Brule River Canoe Rental, we were delivered to the Stone Bridge Canoe Ramp at about 1:45pm. One adult, one twin and one big in each canoe.

We had a nice breeze at our backs (anywhere else and the trip would have been awful), enough clouds so that we weren't hot, and a bag full of snacks. By far, the coolest moment was when we came across a huge bald eagle in a tree and then watched it take off, soon to soar high into the sky nearby.

The trip took about four hours and by the end we were thrilled to see our takeout point. We had only brought two bottles of water (for six people for four hours) and one of them spilled before we even started. It's hard to involve Ali and Cate in the paddling, although they tried. Henry and Lily had developed some canoeing skills at Camp Miller earlier this month, which was terrific.