While searching out caches to enjoy, I came across the HHMT series and decided to check them out! The Huron History Mystery Tour, comprised of 22 caches covering approximately 100 miles of the Huron River, was set up by local cachers with the support of the Huron River Watershed Council. A special coin is the reward for completing this series…well, that and the great fun you’ll experience!  I had read enough; I loaded the caches into my PN-40 and warned KAboom of the upcoming trip! The day came, we went in to work early bringing our gear with us so that we only needed to drive to the river from work…and a beautiful sunny day was promised us!

Arriving at the river, we were unloaded and putting in the water by 10:45am, a bit later than we’d hoped, but we were on our way! Our first impressions were that we were in for a rough day! This is by far the swiftest river we’ve played on yet, it took a bit of effort just to make it past the bridges which marked our starting point and we were soon sweating! Just past the bridges, we were met with the first of the many rapids sections we would encounter this day…OUCH! These pictures really don’t show what we were working against, there was a “wall” of rocks likely placed long ago to slow the flow while building the bridges or for some other crazy reason…this row of rocks made for about a 1.5’ drop (not much…unless you’re trying to go UP them lol). As the right picture shows, we walked up the rapids towing our kayaks and chatting with a local fisherman who seemed to enjoy our work! At the top of the rock row, the river was much calmer; we were able to paddle on with only a little work…it was calmer, but still quite swift! The first cache was about a half mile upstream as the crow flew, we found ourselves at the cache location soon enough and KAboom made the quick find while I kept the kayaks from drifting off! One cache down, several more were planned for this trip, so off we went to the next in line, a cache that wasn’t actually part of the HHMT series, but within reach from the river! Only a quarter mile from the last cache, we paddled on to it fairly quick only to find yet another bridge and more swift water!

While this picture really doesn’t show the struggle involved to make it past this bridge, it was taken of me while breaking through the invisible “wall” which you needed to get past in order to move on, there was a small amount of rapids here, but not too bad! I originally tried to come up on the right side of the bridge piling, the water proved too swift there and I was forced to rest a bit while allowing KAboom time to get the camera ready. The second cache of the day is a mere 20’ past this bridge in a park which borders the river, I was elected to retrieve this one and had to take great care to exit my kayak while it was still in the river since there wasn’t a good place to beach them! KAboom held the kayaks this time while I made the quick find and signed the log while listening to a group singing what sounded like church songs (possibly Jewish but not sure exactly) off in the distance! Cache number two was now logged on my PN-40; we were off again after the next cache which happened to be just around the next bend and much closer to the singing group.

This time, there was room to beach and we were happy to get out and stretch a bit…I made the find while KAboom took pictures of the nearby goose family.  KAboom likes to take pictures, so I allowed him to carry the camera, but I was pretty nervous and watchful…it’s an expensive camera given me for Christmas a few years back and I cannot afford to replace it! Oh well, he did a super job of taking the pictures, I guess I should learn to relax? These geese were just a bit of the abundance of wildlife we encountered on this trip, I was surprised to find so many animals running around this close to the big city of Ann Arbor Michigan! You couldn’t really tell you were so close to civilization most of the trip along the river except for the passing of many others enjoying the river, all were heading in the opposite direction we were though…downstream! Many times along the way, I commented to KAboom how the river gave the feeling of being in Colorado or further north than we were, it really was a peaceful and picturesque setting! Unfortunately, we didn’t have the luxury of floating downstream like those we watched lazily float down the river, we were working hard on to the next cache, this one was on an island?? First though, we had to pass the next major rapids section…this one was HUGE!

The rapids here were just past where a bridge was being replaced, the bridge made up of some of the swift water, but the rapids formed from the large piling of rocks all over this section! It took a LOT of work just to make it past the bridge construction so we could find a place to port around the worst of it, we were worn out by the time we finally got out and walked the last bit up and over the roughest stuff! I let KAboom, the more agile of the two of us, get out and drag me onto the rocks before making my exit, I was tired and shaky but glad we had made it this far! While standing on the rocks trying to form a new plan to get us past the worst of it, we heard someone talking and was surprised to see a couple standing on the nearby river bank behind us, they were pointing at something in the river’s rapids. The river is quite loud here, we could barely hear them but made out that there was a canoe in the middle of the rapids…I had seen it, but didn’t even realize it was a canoe, I thought it was something connected to the bridge construction!

After a bit of work, KAboom was able to remove the battered canoe from the rapids, we pulled it onshore so the owner might come and get it back. Inside the canoe was a cooler and a shoe, I have a hunch the canoeist must have misjudged the size of the rapids and ended up swimming? I hope he is all right; we took this as a reminder to be careful! After removing the canoe, we set our minds back to the task at hand, getting around this huge blockage which separated us from the next cache location some distance on up the river!! We ended up walking a small side branch shooting off the rapids which proved a great cooling off time since we misjudged the depth and found ourselves up over our waists in the somewhat swift water! KAboom ended up tripping on a rock and was completely soaked by now, but this was just more memories and fun added to an already exciting trip! We soon made it past the rapids and, before heading on upstream, we took a long hard look at the rapids from the top and imagined how rough it would be to get back down this section, I figured we’d need to walk the river again. That is, until we saw this group of kayakers come into view and, without hesitation, made their way over the rapids without even a bit of trouble?? UH-OH, we were now thinking we’d have to try it ourselves on the way back! On up the river first, more caching adventures awaited! After a bit of paddling, we were in view of the island the next cache called home and were now floating along the bank looking for a place to beach when something caught my eye!

  We tried not to spook this little guy, but being only maybe 10’ from it made it pretty hard, it did sit still long enough for us to snap these pictures and a few more before we paddled on upstream and found a place to beach. Knowing this little guy was all alone on this island, we tried not to come too close while searching out the cache which was housed on the opposite end of the island, we never did see the little fawn again but sat down and ate a nice lunch while keeping an eye out for him, just in case! After our sandwiches and snacks were eaten, we were off again upstream after the next cache, another island cache just a short ways off! This cache and another one about a mile further upstream gave us plenty of time to wear ourselves out, we came to yet another rapids where we were forced to walk the river, this area offered us a few minutes of fun while we watched some scantily dressed ladies bob over the rapids on inflatables! We forced ourselves up the final stretch in an effort to make it 5 miles upstream before turning around…we’d traveled around 10 miles each trip, why not keep that record going on this one? Our turning point came just past the 5 mile mark when we came to another bridge and rapids section. We were warned a little bit downstream that some drinkers were using this bridge as a platform to jump into the fairly shallow waters, but were surprised to actually see these crazy people jump! Judging by the rapids, that water surely wasn’t deep enough and we feared we’d watch someone get seriously hurt (they were pretty drunk and careless)

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We turned around there and floated on back, worn out and sore from all the hard paddling, but not too tired to play a little bit with our rubber duckies as is now a norm while enjoying the float back downstream! We soon made it past the first rapids where we watched the scantily dressed ladies, a great bit of experience which only fueled our desire to make the biggest rapids where the canoe was recovered! A couple hours later, we were at the big rapids, I let KAboom lead the way since he’s a bit more “stable” in the kayak…he made it without trouble and I found it to be my turn to head on down…

Another fun tour, we will not soon forget our adventures on the Huron and we are sure to come back since we had only bagged ONE of the HHMT series caches on this trip, we did get five caches total! All along the way, we practiced safe paddling and only during the rough rapids did we feel the need for a helmet, safety first! While on the river or on the roads, PAY ATTENTION, you just never know what lies ahead! Try to help those in need if possible, you never know when you could make a difference! I can’t help but to think back to that little fawn all alone on that island, who knows when you’ll end up just like that little guy…alone and in need of protecting!