We are heading here today
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I paddled through rain most of the day, but at the end of the day the clouds had broken up and it was Michigan at its most beautiful
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Nope, the bathtub ring is still quite visible, just not in that pic!
The level is now about 1070’, down from it’s peak of about 1076’ a few weeks ago. That was the highest it has been since May 2021.
I’m going by this page:
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Not really the prettiest picture. Sad actually. We were kind of grossed out by all the trash that had accumulated at this log jam on the Navasota River. My daughter did take home a perfectly good volleyball though! 
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One small river without dams that I paddle will have log jams that fill with trash until it floods with heavy rains and tops the banks which it often does. The Enoree is Cherokee meaning “River of Muscadines”. The headwaters run through a metropolitan area before becoming very rural and mostly forested lands where we like to paddle. We find so many different types of balls in the logjams that I think the modern name should be the “River of Balls”. I think that kids leaving their balls outside in the yard must wonder where their ball went after a heavy rain. The rain causes a sheet of water which drains to the nearest ditch which then leads eventually to a tributary or the river.
I have done multiple river clean ups, but they just barely scratch the surface. I believe rivers should have some form of structure built downstream of the built-up areas to divert floating trash into an area for trash collection. This stuff eventually adds to the trash ending up in the Oceans. Rivers are the source of most of the trash in the oceans which end up concentrated in the ocean gyres.
Most people will never see this type of thing because on an unobstructed river it all flows out into the ocean.
Not pretty pictures!
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Sounds like a good idea.
A little more slob education on the front end wouldn’t hurt either.
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On the trash topic, straying from ‘Pretty Pictures’:
Our through-town creek has a yearly volunteer trash pickup, which actually does some good. I try to remember to carry a trash bag when paddling locally and then pick up stuff. This is also somewhat useful. However, some places I paddle have so much trash that such efforts are futile. How many refrigerators,car doors, etc. can I possibly retrieve?
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The irony, or maybe the cause, is that there is a landfill only a mile or 2 from the put-in point of this trip. Unfortunately, I have seen numerous people hauling unsecured loads of trash with stuff flying out and even a occasional bag of trash just laying busted on the side of the road. The landfill has tried to reduce this by requiring all loads to be secure. Meaning you have to have a tarp over your trash.
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Years ago Ross Allan, at Silver Springs, had a standing offer of $1,000 for anyone who would bring him a live six foot Diamondback. I never heard any report that he had to pay. I’ve seen dead ones stretched out well beyond that.
Our parents used to take us there on the way to my grandparents every year. I’ve seen RA step out in to the room of rattlesnakes wearing those tall boots and milk the snakes. 
*many many times *
Yes we were Ross Allen groupies.
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Growing up in FL we also visited Sliver Springs. He took a group of Boy Scouts on a survival trek across the width of the state. I would have loved doing that. Silver Springs is a great place to paddle and see lots of natural wildlife used to being around people.
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Another Ross Allen/ Silver Springs repeat visitor as a youth. Canoed up the river from Ray’s Landing several times w/ family to the springs when you weren’t allowed to exit the water. Since the state took it over have launched from there a few times on the way to Gore. Like stated, amazing amount of wildlife for photographers like us.
