Pretty amazing to just observe mother nature. After 3 cold very cold days my put-in was looking pretty hopeless. Sometimes the St Joseph doesn’t freeze this much all winter.
Then yesterday it was 55 and it had been above freezing for 2 days so I checked my possibilities. The St Joseph still had shore ice on both sides everywhere I checked. Even if I could find one open spot I won’t paddle unless there are plenty of ways out without shore ice.
The much smaller Paw Paw was still very frozen even after our 12-14" of snow melted.
Lake Michigan might be a possibility for some folks but not me. The weird ice and sand drifts have started.
The Silver Beach parking lot is usually buried in sand by Spring.
So today I check the St Joseph again and find several other 4x4’s poking around and one pick-up with an empty trailer has decided he’s not going to wait.
And then I checked my local put-in and I’m feeling pretty good right now and hoping to get out tomorrow!
