Rouge Paddling: End of Winter Paddle and Meet & Greet

Brrrrrr!  I woke up to snow this morning on the day of the End of Winter Paddle and Meet & Greet, hosted by Rouge Paddling. The ground was covered in a light dusting and my yard looked like a snow globe. It was like winter was not leaving without a final reminder.

By the time I got to Ford Field in Dearborn, however, the snow had subsided and even the snow on the ground had melted. I approached the group of paddlers who had a fire going, coffee and donuts.  Canoes and kayaks were provided by Motor City Canoe Rental.

I came for the meet and greet, not so much for the paddle. I have no cold weather paddling gear, and as much as I miss paddling, I prefer it on a hot summer day. I was happy to see a nice turnout of folks and watch them as they got situated and off into the chilly water.

I also wanted to come today to check out a new put in/landing spot along the Rouge. This is a section of the river I’ve never paddled before but had heard talk about many of the spots along the way. I hoped to meet a few folks and learn about a new spot to explore this summer. I was happy to see a few faces I knew and also put faces to Facebook names that I’d seen on the Rouge Paddling site over the past year.

I took a moment after a while to walk down a nearby path and get a look at the river where there was a fork leading to the right, under a bridge.

I had just been told how FAST the river gets with the water level being so high on the other side of the bridge. They weren’t kidding!

During my walk on the bridge I saw several locks attached to the fencing over the bridge. Here are a few, but there must have been about 20 of them.

In asking about the locks back at the fire, I learned about the love lock concept. Couples write their names, initials, dates on a lock, then throw the key into the river to symbolize their unbreakable love. Something else I learned today!

As paddlers made their way back to shore, the snow began to fall again. We made room around the fire for them to warm up and asked how they enjoyed their winter paddle adventure. For some it was their first time!

The last of the donuts were eaten, Motor City Canoe loaded up their boats and we said our goodbyes. A chilly day, but it was great to put faces to names and share the excitement for the upcoming paddle season!