Canoe Reflections llc: canoe-camping for women

26/12/2025

The Au Sable River is one of those rare Michigan places that manages to be peaceful and powerful at the same time. It winds for more than one hundred miles through forests, cedar swamps and sandy banks before emptying into Lake Huron at Oscoda, carving a path so clear and steady that it feels like the entire landscape was built around it. On some stretches the water is so transparent you can watch trout drift over the gravel beds like shadows sliding across glass.

The river was shaped by glaciers thousands of years ago, and its curves still follow the lines of ancient meltwater channels. Today it is a living map of Michigan's natural history. Huge white pines tower over the banks. Sandbars glow gold in the sunlight. Osprey dive straight into the current to sn**ch fish from the surface. And in early morning fog, the entire valley becomes quiet enough that every paddle stroke sounds like a heartbeat.

The Au Sable is famous around the world for fly fishing. Brown trout, brook trout and rainbow trout thrive in its cold, steady flow. Some stretches are managed specifically for wild trout populations, and anglers plan entire weeks around hatches that fill the air with insects just long enough to spark frenzied feeding. Even people who do not fish find themselves staring into the water, trying to track the dark shapes drifting beneath the current.

But the river is more than a fishing destination. It is also home to the historic Au Sable River Canoe Marathon, one of the toughest nonstop canoe races anywhere in North America. Competitors paddle through the night under starlight, following the same path lumbermen once used in the early logging era. Remnants of that history still linger along the riverbanks: old camp sites, scattered pilings and places where logs once jammed the waterway during Michigan’s booming timber years.

What makes the Au Sable unforgettable is the way it changes as you travel along it. One moment it is a calm, wide corridor with water drifting lazily around bends. The next it tightens into swift channels that twist through dense forest, with nothing ahead but silence and the reflection of pines in the dark water. Every stretch feels like it belongs to a different version of Michigan.

The Au Sable River is not just a scenic waterway.
It is living history, a sanctuary for wildlife and one of the purest windows into Michigan’s natural soul.

04/12/2025

RIVER ETIQUETTE FOR FLOATING (Michigan)

1. Respect Anglers Already on the Water
• Downstream angler has the right-of-way.
Never float over someone’s water—pull over well upstream, pass behind them, or wait until they wave you through.
• Give 100+ yards of space when possible on smaller rivers (Boyne, Jordan) and even more on larger systems.

2. Control Your Boat
• Keep noise low—Michigan rivers carry sound.
• Avoid banging oars, aluminum coolers, or slamming anchors.
• Don’t anchor in spawning gravel, riffles, or narrow chutes where you’ll block travel lanes.

3. Minimize Bank Impacts
• Use established access sites and avoid trampling undercut banks or private land.
• Many Michigan rivers run through mixed public–private corridors—when in doubt, stay in the water below the ordinary high-water mark.

4. Pass Other Boats Courteously
• The boat overtaking is responsible for a clean pass.
• Communicate politely:
“Want us to slip behind you on the right?”
• If you’re the slower boat, slide to one side and let faster anglers by.

5. Keep Music Down
• Michigan trout rivers are quiet places; small speakers carry far.
• Play it softly or not at all—especially on the Jordan, which is officially “Natural & Scenic.”

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RIVER ETIQUETTE FOR NIGHT FISHING (Michigan)

1. Light Discipline
• Use red lights when possible.
• Never shine a bright white beam across the river—especially not into someone’s face or onto active water.
• Keep headlamps pointed down when tying knots.

2. Give Extra Space
• At night, you should double normal distances.
200–300 yards between anglers or crews is reasonable.
• Avoid crowding good structure or well-known hex flats.

3. Move Quietly
• Sound is amplified at night.
• No yelling, sloshing, or banging gear.
• On Michigan hex rivers, this is a big deal—noise shuts down rising fish and annoys anyone around you.

4. Don’t High-Hole or Low-Hole
• Same rules as daylight, but even more important at night.
• If someone is already staked out on a stretch, work well upstream or pick a completely different reach.

5. Mind Your Lights on Approaches
• If you’re hiking in or out, turn off your lamp before stepping onto the river so you don’t light up someone’s pool.

6. Know the River Before You Go
• Michigan night fishing can be dangerous: strainers, sweepers, and deep cuts.
• Never float a river at night unless you know every bend. Most anglers wade instead.

7. Respect Quiet Hours
• Many access points are near homes or campgrounds.
• Keep voices low, doors quiet, and tailgates from slamming when rigging up at 1:00 a.m.

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ETHICS & CONSERVATION MICHIGAN ANGLERS VALUE
• Pack in and pack out EVERYTHING.
• Avoid walking on redds (gravel depressions) in spring and fall.
• Use barbless hooks during Hex time if you plan to release fish in good shape.
• Don’t leave wads of mono or glow sticks on the bank.

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If you want, I can also give you:
• A Michigan-specific checklist for night fishing
• Etiquette rules for sharing water with fly anglers vs. gear anglers
• Rules specific to the Jordan Natural River (Natural & Scenic) or Boyne River

25/10/2025

Forward progress! One of the things we love about wilderness canoe trips is that we can create experiences that best fit the needs of the group.

So, when you plan a trip, base it on the interests, fitness and skills of your group. You're likely to have a successful (and more fun) adventure.

➕ womenswildernessdiscovery.com

14/10/2025

It's a marvelous night for a moon dance. 🌙

Did you know that the BWCAW was established as an international dark sky sanctuary in 2020? Currently, there at least 16 international dark sky sanctuaries, though that list is growing.

We think the night sky is one of the best experiences of a wilderness canoe trip.

➕ womenswildernessdiscovery.com

03/10/2025

28/09/2025

What Tom Petty Taught Me About Kayaking | “I think we can navigate this safely,” one of my friends says. I squint out to sea thinking, “Tom Petty was right.”

On the beach are three loaded sea kayaks. We’re on day six of an 11-day outer West Coast trip and primed for the crux move. Ahead is eight miles of exposed coast, with three jutting points surrounded by shallow reefs, notorious for making gentle swell explode into breaking waves. Then we have to find a narrow slot behind an island before we can take a breather on land. I look at the sea again and shake my head.

As far as I know, the frontman of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers never sat in a kayak. But now his lyrics echo in my head. We woke to a placid forecast and packed our boats under blue skies and light wind. By the time we were loaded, fog had descended, and we couldn’t see across our small cove. One friend still wants to press on. I don’t. This is where Mr. Petty comes in. He nailed sea kayaking’s biggest dilemma when he wrote, “Waiting is the hardest part.”

Continue reading: https://bit.ly/3whTMES

✍️: Neil Schulman
📷: Elizabeth Gadd
📖: This article was first published in the Spring 2024 issue of Paddling Magazine.

26/09/2025

"There is magic in the feel of a paddle and the movement of a canoe, a magic compounded of distance, adventure, solitude, and peace. The way of a canoe is the way of the wilderness and of a freedom almost forgotten." - Sigurd Olsen

🛶 Paddling season is almost done. Stay tuned for future adventures and follow us at womenswildernessdiscovery.com

12/09/2025

8 essentials you should pack for a fall canoe trip!

🌧️ 🥾🧤🧣🧥 ❄️

1. Merino wool baselayers: top and bottom
2. Reliable rain jacket and pants (one size larger than you normally wear for layering)
3. Fleece jacket or thick flannel shirt
4. Wool sweater
5. Warm pants, zip off or hiking
6. 2 pairs of gloves (one pair for paddling, one pair for camp)
7. Warm hat
8. Wool-blend hiking socks (and close toed shoes or muck boots)

➕ womenswildernessfiscovery.com