As in the past when I ran this river with a canoe, I put in at Graves Road and kayaked about 10.5 miles to the mouth of the river at Lake Charlevoix. This time, I paddled another 1.5 miles on the Lake back to the outfitter. This was not a whitewater experience, but it rained all night and the water was quite fast. The 12 miles took me about 3 hours including time for photos and portages. Early in the summer, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources operates two electric sea lamprey weirs which must be portaged around.
Sea lamprey are parasite fish that fasten themselves to lake trout.
In the 1950's and 60's the populations of lake trout in the Great Lakes were decimated by lampreys, so Michigan and other lake states implemented eradication programs like this. There was some wetland vegetation along the river. As the river flattened out over the last couple of miles, it meandered through an area of marsh grass. By the time I got back to Lake Charlevoix, the thunderstorm was moving in and brisk northwest winds were creating whitecaps into which I paddled. The last 2 miles were the most difficult.