Log Jam Workday!

Wow. I am SORE. I volunteered for a log jam removal with a local group today. After a good storm (and we’ve had plenty lately) we end up with downed trees and logs that clog our local rivers as the water levels rise. There is a huge log jam in the Lower Rouge River and Friends of the Rouge is trying to make this stretch of river passable by canoe or kayak. Sign me up!

I arrived with my new waders and joined about 15 other volunteers. We made our way down the paved bike path, a nice little walk actually, down to a bridge where the path crosses the Lower Rouge River.

I couldn’t believe it when I got there!  My friend Bryon had already arrived with his canoe and was perched atop a log, waiting for us.

This logjam was way bigger than I expected!  We got our garbage bags and got to work, alternating between picking garbage out of the jam and pulling large branches out of the water so that the brigade on shore could pull them up the hill into a pile.

This was my first time using the waders and I’m happy to report, they didn’t leak! It was actually nice being submerged up to my waist in the cool water on this hot, humid day! I carefully stepped around rocks and other floating logs, pulling branches and working with others to get them out of the water.  Several volunteers had chainsaws and cut the larger pieces down.

I pulled a flat board out of the water and look who I found!  We placed this board aside so that this little guy didn’t get squished.

We also found a few other treasures – a rubber ducky, a plastic yellow turtle, and roughly a 12″ tall Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle!  He became our mascot.

After a while we took a break for some water and I went up on the bridge for another vantage point. This shot shows the magnitude of our project by the size of two of our volunteers for scale!

Back into the water we went for another hour or two before the group leaders called it a day. We finished pulling the last of the logs up the hill and gathered our things. Below is the pile of logs we retrieved.

We chatted a bit, picked up the last of the garbage bags and equipment and they did a raffle – I won $50! On our walk back to the parking lot (and it was a longer walk back! OMG so sore..) I had to stop and grab a pic of this tree that had grown around the guardrail.

It was a good day! I’ve never paddled this stretch before and I look forward to. Eventually!  The group will be back again later this year to continue.

Now for that ibuprofen…