DAY 54 TenaCity to WindyCity Runyak October 19, 2020

                                TenaCity to WindyCity Runyak

October 14, 2020

Flint to Chicago DAY 53

ALL PHOTOS AND IMAGES WILL ENLARGE WHEN CLICKED

This time we had better luck picking paddle a day. We arrived at dawn to water we could enter without getting wet. Well at least I did. Kate tried and got awash. Had to retry after draining Green Snake. Kate used my reserve kayak. I offered it, knowing her nearly identical kayak would not fit inside her Rendezvous. She instead brought a bike in case we needed it. 
Our launch site for DAY 54 Muskegon's Meinert County Park. 

Heading south on Lake Michigan as usual, many sand dunes. 

Skies the limit.

I used a new hat today given to me by Nick and Jeni Godlesky. I prefer my captain's hat but with it I have to shift the bill to block out the sun. I was bundled up quite well, the temperature was in the 30s.



I was loving our pace for the first 5 miles,it was under 20 min/mile. Faster than portage pace.
These photos were taken at the channel leading into White Lake which extends 5 miles inland. The twin cities of Montague and Whitehall are on the east end of the lake, divided by the White River. 
A five mile long lake makes runyaking difficult. Today's paddle from Meinert Part to Duck Lake was a typical Lake Michigan paddle distance of 8.6 miles. The long White Lake made it a 14.6 mile run. 



White River Light Station

We landed at Duck Lake State Park, in particular the mouth of Duck Creek. 
Pictures taken from the bridge spanning Duck Creek

Starting line of my 14.6 mile run. Running the steps seconds later.
I planned to divide the long run up, half before lunch and half after.  I  began running with a jacket on but when Kate drove by and stopped I gave her the jacket, thinking I didn't need it anymore. When I arrived about halfway, in Montague on foot, I did not find Kate, she was still positioning my van then riding the bike back to her Rendezvous at Meinert Park. 
I was now cold, I looked at the temperature and it was 34 degrees, I was now chilled and I needed my jacket. By the time Kate met up with me, I only had 4.5 miles to go so I decided to finish before eating. Even though it would be after 3:00 pm. After 10 mile of running I was thirsty so she gave me water and I took back the jacket Id given her earlier. I did not have to run the last mile back to Meinert since I'd already run that before. 
Aftermore than 23 miles of runyaking I was very glad to see my van where Kate had parked it along side the road.

Sadly another runyak season was over. I celebrated on the side of the road before heading to Whitehall to meet Kate at Fetch Brewing in Whitehall.


Correction: In the video I erred and said 11 runyak seasons. It has been 12.
I managed to get 14 days of runyaking in this season, so I'm thankful for that. When I broke my collarbone on July 4th I was worried I would have less days than ever before  Since I began paddling with Swiftee in 2005 (before runyaking invented) I've always got between 14 and 19 days a year.(excluding 2016 when I only did 5 because of open heart surgery) and average 15.7 days per year.
Flint to Chicago, 54 days since July 2017.
973.5 mile runyaked 
462.7 run
510.8 mi kayaked
See everyone next May when Runyaking season 13 begins.


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