“In all of nature there is something of the marvelous”…..Aristotle.

It does not take long in banging around the rural roads, bike paths and rivers and streams of Michigan that we begin to resonate with Aristotle. For you philosophers this is not some soft pantheism, but I must say that the beauty of this state for me is both marvelous and mysterious; enough so, that just being out paddling or biking is physically exhilarating.

I was leafing through much of the literature handed out at the last Quiet Water Symposium held in Lansing and was amazed at all the literature about the natural trail systems in Michigan. These trails include hiking trails like the North Country Trail which is designed to rival the more famous Appalachian and Pacific Crest trails(North Country National Scenic Trail, National Park Service,700Rayovac Drive, suite 100, Madison, Wisconsin 53711). Or the more than thousand miles of Michigan bike paths, with hundreds of miles in west Michigan alone( see www.michigantrails.org). Finally, I was visited by john Mitchell of the Heritage water trail from South Haven to Bangor and discussing its 21 beautiful miles; talking about breaking through log jams and using that beautiful river for longer paddles. Probably more than any other type of trail, Michigan has more miles of water trails.

Thus, the theme for Kayak-kayak this year and perhaps permanently is getting into nature. I was struck with a comment made in the recent publication of “Dividend” from the Ross School of Business at the U0f M, the statement was “the 21st Century will be the Century of Natural Capital” . I would amplify that to say that it is the “Century of the merger of Intellectual (human) Capital with Natural Capital”. This means to me that the real returns on these forms of capital are rising and we will all benefit as we participate in them.

Okay, so what does this mean for us? It means that Kayak-kayak wants its friends to take advantage of the good things that are out there and we will be providing leadership in trips to see some of these wonderful places and encouraging others that are going other places to share their experiences, so we can all benefit.

Beginning in June Kayak-Kayak is having Tuesday paddles starting at about 10AM on the water through about 3pm in the afternoon. Some paddles will be longer, some shorter. Combinations of river and Lake Michigan are planned for later in the summer when the Lake water temperature rises.

Kayak-kayak is sponsoring overnight trips later in the summer. The second week of august Aug 9 thru Aug 12, we will paddle the inland waterway outside of Petoskey to Cheboygan. August 30 to September 3, we will have the annual Drummond Island paddle ( our next blog and new web site will carry the details). Finally in September, we will be paddling the caves on the Bruce Peninsula on Georgian Bay. You will be hearing more about all of these trips. We are also thinking about some joint bike and paddle trips in South Haven and maybe some other spots.
Other local high quality nature activities are the DeGraaf Nature Center and the Outdoor Discovery Center. We have links to them on our web site and they provide excellent programs for all ages.

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