| o Wellston to canoe on the Little Manistee River. The | | | | swamping the canoe three times, we cried, "Uncle". |
| book said that this is an intermediate river to canoe. | | | | Rather than risking life and limb, we gave up the battle |
| The Little Manistee River is fun to try. Pine Creek | | | | and walked out of the river, up the bank and to the |
| Resort on R55, just west of Wellston rents canoes | | | | truck, which was still two miles downstream. Did we |
| and kayaks for both the Manistee and Little Manistee | | | | have fun? Yes. We had a blast! |
| Rivers. The manager explained the vagaries of the | | | | Did I mention the salmon? The Little Manistee River is |
| stretch of the river from 6 mile bridge to 9 mile bridge. | | | | a spawning bed for Lake Michigan salmon. It was |
| Many have come to challenge the river and have | | | | exciting seeing them swimming under the canoe, then |
| failed. Even experienced canoeists, who have | | | | jumping in the air and skirting along the banks of the |
| conquered the Pine River at high water levels have | | | | river. These were not small fish either. They were |
| succumbed to the Little Manistee river. | | | | about two feet in length and pretty fat. The canoe |
| The current was pretty reasonable. Even though the | | | | provider had mentioned that they sometimes jump in |
| river is only about 30 feet wide, there is quite a lot of | | | | the boat. We now believe him. |
| deadfall, i.e., tree logs and branches fallen across part | | | | We returned our gear: paddles, life jackets, etc to The |
| of the river. Of course, they are not on the same side, | | | | Pine Creek Livery. No one snickered at us or |
| but crisscross like a labyrinth . As we paddled down | | | | chastised us for leaving the beached canoe. Other |
| the river, the pace of the current increased along with | | | | parts of the Little Manistee River are more forgiving, |
| the deadfall and the amount of curves. After | | | | as is the Big Manistee River. |