Whitewater kayakers and rafters flock to Piers Gorge for spectacular scenery and intense excitement. Piers Gorge is a beautiful valley formed by the Menominee River, which serves as the border between Wisconsin and Upper Michigan. I have kayaked here a couple of times before. On a beautiful day in October I returned with two kayaking buddies, Jeff and Ryan. We drove separately because of, you know, The Covid. If you’re paddling only the Gorge section no vehicle shuttle is required because you hike the nearly half-mile trail from the parking lot to the put-in while carrying your boat and gear. We ran it twice this day. I would have done more if I didn’t have to schlep my kayak each time. It’s a workout but definitely worth the effort.
The drops look like “piers” as they fall over rock ledges and create four sets of rapids. The biggest, Mishicot Falls (AKA “Third Pier”) (class III+), drops about 10 feet. There’s a rocky ledge on river left, and on the right a “V” shaped tongue drops you through waves and holes. If you line up to hit the tongue at the right spot and make it down right-side-up, the main flow takes you straight toward Volkswagen Rock (so named because it’s about the size of a VW bug), which creates a significant pour-over and sticky hole on the back side. Most boaters try to work their way left or right before encountering Volkswagen Rock.
On our first run I was third in line, following Ryan and Jeff. I lined up perfectly to ride the tongue down the slot. I saw Ryan go right and Jeff go left around Volkswagen Rock. In my excitement I didn’t think about working my way left to avoid Volkswagen Rock until it was too late. Realizing I didn’t want to hit it at an angle, I charged straight ahead. At this high flow (2,800 CFS) the rock had a lot of water pouring over the top; so much that I was able to boof the top and skirt through the hole on the downriver side. It wasn’t the line I chose when we scouted, but it worked. We continued downriver through the remaining half-mile of rapids including Whirlpool (class II+), 2nd Pier and the Two Sisters (class III), and 1st Pier (AKA Terminal Surfer) (class III+).
On the second run I again lined up just where I wanted to be to enter the “V” shaped tongue. At the bottom I glanced over and saw Ryan’s overturned kayak to the right of Volkswagen Rock. I didn’t want to take my chances going over the rock a second time so I worked my way left, joining Jeff in the eddy left of the rock. Now I could see Ryan bobbing in the swirling whitewater and floating downriver. Jeff jetted over to to pick him up so I shouted, “I’ll get the boat!” In my rush to help with the rescue I made one paddle stroke to change direction and immediately capsized. After rolling up, I continued to move toward Ryan’s kayak. I quickly decided the slower moving overturned kayak could wait. First I needed to find my line through the series of rapids in front of me. Eventually we reconnected Ryan with his boat and continued the rest of the way downriver to the parking lot. By the way, there were also other kayakers and another rescue that we assisted that day.
The Piers Gorge section of the Menominee River has been called one of the most challenging kayak runs in the Upper Midwest. In my opinion, it’s certainly right up there on the list along with Minnesota’s North Shore rivers that plunge toward Lake Superior each spring.
I posted this video on YouTube and my Facebook page back in October but I didn’t previously write about the experience. In case you missed it, here’s the video. (Footage from shore by Angela Gru and Karin Jennings.)
