I've paddled The Pine from Briar Patch ---> Low Bridge in a 2 night, 3 day trip before. I've also done many 1-2 nights along various stretches of The Manistee River throughout the years, mainly between CCC to Red Bridge.
This year we are doing a 3 night, 4 day trip. I'm looking to see a new bit of river, but I don't want to make the classic mistake of miscalculating how long it takes to paddle across the dam reservoirs. (Made that mistake by not hitting the Hodenpyl Dam Pond until around 4pm once.... Nowhere to stop until you portage past the dam. lol. We ate dinner in the dark that night. Also on a trip I didn't plan, a similar mistake on the Au Sable, except we had multiple portages to deal with hahaha whooooppssiee)
Anyway, I have the detailed river maps from "Michigan Maps" of the Manistee & Pine but it doesn't show paddle times for where the Pine and Manistee intersect.
Does anyone know the paddle time from Low Bridge (on Pine) to Norman Township Park Access Point? Additionally, do you know the paddle time (with moderate winds) from Norman to the Tippy Dam Portage point? The map has a lot of marked campsites within Tippy Dam Pond. If you've been there, are there even more that aren't on a map?
Has anyone camped at site C-41 on that map? (it's between Low Bridge and Norman on the right side of the water)
If you've done this section of the rivers, do you just recommend sticking to the rivers and lakes that I'm used to?! Was it fun, or stressful? I'm not opposed to a challenge per se, but it is my birthday with a group of friends so ideally we'd like to be able to not hate our lives the whole time hahaha.
Thanks!