Chain of Lakes Kayak Camping

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Backpacking... bike touring... kayak touring! My wife has family in northern Michigan near Torch Lake so we've gone up there a few times and always had a blast. It's the longest in-land lake in Michigan, crystal clear, and stays nice and cold in the summer. Last time I was there, we saw signs near some of the lakes for the Chain of Lakes Water Trail. It's a collection of nicely thought out day trips with good signage and some investment in new docks and kayak launches organized by the local kayak club. It looked like the same idea as most of the bike trail projects to encourage tourism and highlight local businesses. I had done one kayak camping trip before which I really liked, so I ordered the guide book the trail offered and started to scheme how to make this happen. We planned a family vacation up there in August and I'd drive up a few days early to be out on the little boat before my family flew in to meet me for a nice week on Torch Lake.

Pre-Trip

I managed to pack about 90% the night before and did one quick test fit to get confident I could get everything I needed in my dry bags. I tested the dry bags and bigger pieces of gear to make sure they'd all pack in the Kayak and left around 8AM on Wednesday headed for Detroit to crash at my mother in-law's. I cut off Route 70 onto 68/291 which is 15 minutes longer but avoids the Breezewood silliness, the narrow bad part of the PA turnpike, and saves on tolls. It's 15 minutes longer, but always the right call. I made it to Detroit at 6:30PM for a nice dinner, catching up, and beers.

I finished a little bit of work, coordinated getting my old kayak to my brother in-law, loaded up both boats, and was rolling at 6AM with a coffee. It was a little under 4 hours to make it up to Torch Lake where my wife's uncle has a place right on the lake. One nice thing too was that the guide book I ordered wasn't going to make it to my place in DC on time. Deana from Paddle Antrim dropped a copy off for me at their place so I'd have it for the trip. I had a bite to eat and then we headed over to the starting point on 6 Mile Lake. It took me about 30 minutes to get everything packed from the van in the kayak and then John very graciously saw me off and drove my van back to his house. I'm always really greatful to people who help me on these kinds of trips and a big thank you to Ann and John.

Day 1

22 Miles on Strava

It always feels weird starting these multi-day tripsand thinking about what you're forgetting. I've learned to trust my packing lists that I check off and not start ripping apart bags and second guessing what I don't have. I started at noon which is a VERY late start for this kind of day for me, but thought it would be ok since it stays so late with Michigan being on the western end of the eastern time zone. I pushed off, waived by to John, and was happy my boat still floated with all the gear in it since I couldn't test that.

6 Mile Lake starts out narrow and heads north before turning into more narrow marshes and then curving west to Elsworth. I had fun going through a little tunnel and this made me realize something really special about this trip. It's a full route that you can't do on anything else other than a kayak. There are a bunch of smaller tighter spots that a motor boat couldn't fit in. I took a break in Elsworth park to eat a late lunch at 2PM and realized I was only 25% done with my day. For similar bike trips like this, I always really try to get at least 50% of my distance done by lunch so I had a lot of ground to make up.

I headed south on Elsworth Lake which has narrow winding melow rivers connecting to other similar narrow lakes as you head south. There were lots of really nice little docs and cottages setup along the narrow sections of river. I went under a bridge and then arrived in Central Lake. Thurston Park was on the right and an official stop on the kayak trail. It's a really pretty park with bathrooms and fresh water. I relaxed for 5 minutes, but then hopped back in the boat to try to hopefully be done before it got dark out.

I was heading south and there's a little airport overhead with planes taking off every 30 minutes or so. Central Lake turns into Intermediate Lake and there was a neat little island in the middle where a few kayakers had stopped. I found the rest of the trail in a narrow little corner of the southern end of the lake. This section was a really pretty narrow river with big dense pines. I made it to Bellaire where I was planning to camp so I was feeling pretty good.

This ended up being the trickiest part of the day. There were a ton of stumps to navigate around here in the water. There was a river I was looking for on the map, but it was not at all part of the official kayak trail. I had to look around to find it and check my map to follow it since it splits off. I was paddling a longer kayak upstream against strong currents, it was shallow enough I had to get out to drag it, some loose dogs ran up near me before being called back, and there were downed trees I had to push under.

I navigated all of that and ran right into a dam. It was luckily pretty small and happened to have a nice set of stairs next to it that went up to the road which went right to my campsite. I dragged the boat up the stairs, did a horrible job putting the wheels on cause I was tired, and started a 10 minute walk to Craven Lake Campground.

It was around 7:30PM when I got there and I had plenty of light left. I setup my tent and prepped a few other things because I knew I'd quickly get too tired to do those later. This campsite was a jackpot. I was able to walk 10 minutes to a pizzeria, a gas station with snacks and single beers, and there was also a breakfast spot nearby too. I ate an entire pizza except for the last slice, grabbed a candybar for desert, and a single beer for camp and felt great.

The campground looked to be entirely RVs and the folks next to me had a fire going and were friendly. I pulled up a chair to enjoy a drink with them. They had just retired and were going all around the US and Canada for the next 3 months. I went to bed around 10PM tired, full, and happy in the larger size tent that I had packed. Reflecting on this, it was one of the best days of kayaking I'd ever. It really is fun coming onto a new lake every hour or so and following winding paths that connect them.

Day 2

24 Miles on Strava

I slept great except for all of the swans I had seen the day before honking and flapping really early. The big tent I had packed was really nice to have. Marmot had warantied my 7 year old one person tent when all the waterproofing failed, but they oddly don't make a light 1 person backpacking tent anymore. I picked a Limelight UL-3 tent instead. I think it's going to be difficult to go back to my trekking pole tent after using this thing. Tons of space, and has these cool little nooks in the corners for gear storage, and has a nice matching footprint.

I walked over to the M88 Cafe for an egg sandwich, coffee, and a big cinamon bun. It's always nice to start the day with a real breakfast and good coffee. I packed up and left at 8:30AM. I debated if I should go back down the narrow river from the day before, but made the right call to go towards town and find somewhere to put in that wouldn't be such a hassle. I stopped for snacks at the gas station and had the wheels much more towards the center of the kayak where they caried more of the weight. I talked two folks at the gas station for a bit and everyone is real friendly when they see the kayak on wheels. I slow rolled the morning since the lunch spot I was heading to wouldn't be open until 11.

I slinked around some neighborhoods near the water and found a steep hill to slide down and put the kayak in. I dealt with plenty of mud, but started cruising. Where I put in was fine, but quickly I was stuck in mud and dense plants. I couldn't paddle and when I did it just flung mud all over the place. I didn't want to push too hard on my new fancy carbon paddle, so I had to scooch forward about an inch or two at a time for about 50 ft until I finally hit deep enough water.

A rough start, to the morning, but it felt great to get moving and then 5 minutes later there was a dam in the river. I don't do any real whitewater kayaking, but the water flowed over an incline and I'm sure someone has ridden it, but I got out and there was about a 100 ft path where you can tell everyone else had dragged their boats. Once again I was glad I have a cheap boat. I got back on the boat into strong rapids below the dam and was flying. This was really fun, but also really challenging to keep a longer boat straight in heavy currents. If it got sideways it would have been pushed real hard and likely rolled.

I cruised by nice small houses with little docks, trees hanging over the river, and then the river dumped out onto Lake Bellaire. I also realized that the skeg on the boat wouldn't deploy anymore so just made due, but you really get used to how straight the boat tracks with it down. I had to look a little for the trail on the east side of the lake and then followed a narrow winding path to Grass River Natural Area.

There was a brand new dock and kayak launch with rollers here so I cruised up and relaxed for a while. As I suspected a rock got stuck next to the skeg when I dragged the boat around the dam so I picked it out and the skeg worked as normal. A lot of folks were walking here so I chatted with them about the new dock and my trip. From here I went into Clam lake where I had been before fishing with my kids. The boat tracked noticably straighter now with the skeg down as well so I started paddling quicker eager to eat lunch and got to Dockside just after noon.

Dockside is a large bar on Torch Lake where everyone parks their boats at and I'd been there a few times before. I pulled my boat up onto the grass and settled into a good spot on the deck. It's also next to a narrow channel where two lakes connect and fun to just watch the boats go by. I had beers, a soft pretzel, and a burger with fries. I got back on the water at 1:30PM and settled in for a long haul north on Torch Lake, the longest inland lake in Michigan at about 18 miles.

The water was choppy and it was cloudy so I just zoned out for about an hour and paddled. I really do like how easy it is to zone out on a kayak compared to a bike with cars going by. I stopped at what I thought was a public park, but figured out after landing was a private country club. Luckily everyone there was nice and no one said anything since I obviously wasn't a member.

I started to use the JBL Clip speaker to play music and it really helped me power through for the afternoon. There's nothing like being on the relaxing peaceful water and playing metal and hardcore. I passed a fun looking camp which had 50 boys throwing each other off docks and looked like a blast. I ended up at the very north part of torch lake at the East Port boat launch at 5:30PM. This time I took a few minutes to get the wheels just about in the center of the kayak and started walking.

I passed a real fun looking restaurant (Torch Lake Cafe) and made a mad dash across Route 33 thinking about my mother-in-law mentioning crossing with the kayak would be a frogger type situation. It's a busy major road north with cars flying by almost all of the time, but I only had to wait about 5 minutes. It ended up only being about a 15 minute walk to Barnes Park Campground. I checked in, setup the tent, threw everything in it, and then walked on the short trail out to Grand Traverse Bay.

This was a really nice campground I suspect because they mostly charge more for RVs. There were about 5 of us in tents at the south end, but we were right near the water. I grabbed a shower walked back to the fun looking restaurant for wine, a few free drinks from folks at the bar, a giant plate of ravioli, and apple pie with ice cream. Comforts like these always feel exceptionally nice at the end of a long day. There's no need to eat a freeze dried meal unless you have to. The bar had live music and everyone was incredibly nice. I walked back to pass out after another great day.

Day 3

9 Miles on Strava

I slept great and woke up at 6:30AM. Took a walk for water and made breakfast at camp. I chatted with the couple next to me for a while who were motorcycle camping and also another camper with two big friendly dogs. We reflected on the internet making everyone scared of each other and how nice most people are in real life. I slow rolled the morning and enjoyed a coffee while I walked with the kayak back to where I had gotten off of Torch Lake.

I was originally supposed to do a 34 mile day out into Grand Traverse bay and down into Elk Rapids, but for a variety of reasons decided on a much shorter 9 mile day back to where my van was. 34 miles would have been about a 13 hour day if everything went right and it may have even been slower on the choppier water of great lake. Days that long are rough and also require getting up at 5AM. I also didn't have a full skirt for the kayak on bigger waves and there was a chance of thunderstorms with nowhere good to get off the water for the first 10 miles of the day. For a day out biking, or kayaking, or hiking. 8 hours is about the sweet spot for me and it doesn't really get more fun past that.

I put the boat in at 8:30AM with the water very choppy in the wind. The water got smoother and I took a break near a spot on the lake I recognized as being near my wife's uncle's house. I texted John I'd be there soon and then booked the last 2 miles really fast as the water flattened out. I finished fealing great with John on the dock to greet me right at noon. Reflecting back on the shorter day I was really happy with making the call not to be out all day. I ended up spending the afternoon at a nice brewery and wasn't completely exhausted when my family showed up.

Recap

• I've done a lot of trips without spending much and not always having the right gear. This time I invested a little more in the right setup and spent on nicer things. I bought a faster kayak, got a nice carbon fiber paddle (Werner Cyprus) when they went on sale, and also picked up a half skirt for the boat. These were longer days and all of the right gear really added up to a better trip. I also picked up a JBL Clip bluetooth speaker which was really nice in the afternoons to turn on music and power through when I was getting tired.
• The boat I had was perfect for this trip. I sold my brother in-law my old Wilderness Tsunami 125 and snagged a Dagger Stratos 14.5s off Facebook marketplace for $400. It needed new rigging and a seat, but was totally setup right for this trip. It was noticably faster being 2 feet longer, more narrow, and also the retractable skeg really helps it stay straight. My arms were tired at the end of the day, but nothing else hurt which was nice. I had been eyeballing nicer Eddyline or Delta Kayak's before this trip and I'm really glad I went with a lower end boat. It was nice to just drag it across gravel when needed and not think about it getting too banged up when launching. The right strategy is to buy nice enough gear, but not so nice that you're going to stress about it getting broken.
• The signage for the stops on the trail was fantastic. The nice big orange signs are easy to spot from out on the water, the maps are great, and the little guidebook was helpful. I actually found out about this trail a year ago when I saw one of the signs at a boat launch.
• Take the time to get the wheels near the center of the boat! The first day I was exhausted and not thinking so I put them near the back. In the middle they carry more weight and make the kayak a breeze to pull along.
• 35L and 25L Sea to Summit Big River Dry bags worked great. You can fit more with a lot of little ones, but I had plenty of room. I only had things that really couldn't get wet in them and everything else was just in random spots in the kayak hatches.
• The Marmot Limelight UL-3 tent is really great. These went up in price so I got really lucky with them giving me one in a warranty situation. It's going to be hard for me not to pack it on similar trips from now even though it takes up more space and weighs more than my treking pole tent.
• Speaking of the wheels, everyone is incredibly friendly and wants to chat when they see you walking with the kayak which is fun. This was one of my favorite parts of the trip.
• Kayak touring continues to be my favorite compared to backpacking or bike touring. You don't know you have all the gear on the boat and my body is much less beat up at the end of the day.

My biggest conclusion coming out of this trip isn't just that I want to do more kayak touring, but want to explore more of the northern US and Canada this way. I've never been to Minnesota or Wisconsin and it looks like there's tons of similar lakes to explore so I suspect I'll find myself up there on a similar trip sometime soon.