DAY 53 TenaCity to WindyCity Runyak October 14, 2020

                                      TenaCity to WindyCity Runyak

October 14,, 2020

Flint to Chicago DAY 53

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I met Kate at Meinert County Park in Muskegon Co before daylight. We walked to the beach to look at the wave action with a flashlight. Not good. Waves were white capping on the shore. Well, Meinert is where we'd finish, hopefully our launch point, Claybanks Twp Park was launchable. We drove and got there as dawn arrived. The video shows be swamped everytime we tried launching. 

I had driven 3 hour, I was not willing to turn around and just drive the 3 hours home. I decided to portage to Meinert Park. Five miles of carrying Swiftee. There was a time I would have dragged him but I learned the hard way that friction from dragging put holes in the the hull. I found carrying the kayak over the shoulders was actually faster. This was learned on DAY 34 when I portaged from the AuSable River to the Manistee along M72.  At that time my amended goal was to maybe quit at Manistee city because Lake Michigan to Chi-town could be to much of a challenge. I found the 7 mile portage on M72 was not that difficult, so it was Chicago or Bust, even if I had to carry Swiftee from Manistee to Illinois.

Today would be one of those days of carrying Swiftee. I felt sorry for Kate though, she did not sign-up for portaging. 

The good thing is I had already did the 7.7 mile run from Meinert to Claybanks on DAY 52. Kate's job today would be photographer and driving my van to Meinert Park.

The beach was 70 feet below where the van was, I had to be extra careful getting Swiftee down stairway because it was still not daylight.

I began portaging Swiftee southward to Meinert Park at the break of day.

I'd been seeing shelters like this for the past 50 miles since Manistee. 

I'd only portaged about a quarter mile when the beach began to disappear and I had to drag the kayak through trees along the shore.

After a couple hundred yards of no beach and no sight of beaches ahead I aborted. I turned around and started heading back to Claybanks Park. 

Soon after turning around I came upon a private stairway. I decided to take my chance. I took quite an effort lugging Swiftee to the top. 

This I the residence at the top of the stairway. Being October I figured it was a summer home and nobody would ever know I traipsed through the estate. These days with motion detection cameras I figured someone was watching me all the way. I might not be long before police would be asking me questions. 

I made it to the main road out of the lake estates area nearly a half mile and going stealth. Once on Muskegon county road B-15 Scenic Dr I was carrying the kayak the opposite route I had run two weeks before. The 5 mile portage would now be and extra 2.8 miles because road route was longer than the beachway. Argh.

My body became very discomforted after lugging a kayak seven plus miles but if need be I will keep doing it.

Pulling Swiftee in sand the last 50 yards was a better option, my shoulders were killing me.

Where I should have debarked. I ended the portage then and pulled the kayak back to the van. Still have to follow runyaking rules.