metro
Mystic
Creels
GOLF CLUB & BANQUET CENTER
Paddling A River
Kayak enthusiast travels 631-mile Alabama river trail
with the aid of "angels" all along the route.
Barbara Lewis
Contributing
Writer
I
es, she'd seen Deliverance, the
1972 movie about Atlanta
yuppies stalked by murder-
ous locals during a canoe trip in the
Southern wilderness.
But that didrit deter Jan Wanetick and a
friend, avid kayakers, from becoming the
first all-woman group to complete the 631-
mile Alabama Scenic River Trail (ASRT).
Wanetick, 63, a retired teacher and
member of Congregation Beth Shalom
in Oak Park, used to enjoy outdoor
adventures with her husband, Marvin.
After he died in 2002, she traveled
widely with her daughters, friends or
alone. When her daughters Sala, 25, and
twins Fran and Natalie, 21, were still in
school she took them to South America
for two months one summer. Since then,
Wanetick has been all over the world.
She started kayaking in 2010. Soon
after her first paddle, Wanetick joined the
Grand River Expedition, a 250-mile trip
conducted once every 10 years down the
length of the Grand River (the longest
river in Michigan) from its headwaters
south of Jackson to Grand Haven.
Wanetick, who lives in Southfield,
belongs to two informal groups of
Michigan women kayakers, Love to
Kayak and Kayak Connection. Members
keep in touch via the Internet, orga-
nizing classes and paddling activities
around the state.
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26
November 28 • 2013
When Wanetick learned about the
Alabama Scenic River Trail, the coun-
try's longest river trail within a single
state, she had to give it a try. She asked
Gayle Owens, 61, a former colleague
from the Detroit Public Schools, to join
her.
On Sept. 15, Wanetick packed up her
car, with the kayak on the roof, and
drove to Cedar Bluff, Ala., where the
trail starts. There she met Owens, who
now lives in Virginia. With a book of
maps showing the trail, they were on
their way.
The best part of the trip, said
Wanetick, was getting to know some of
the "good people of Alabama:'
"I don't know if we could have done it
without the river angels:' said Wanetick,
referring to a group of volunteers whose
names and contact information are on
the ASRT website.
Some of the "angels" helped them
get across the nine dams on the trail.
Jan Wanetick, left, and Gayle Owens, right, with "angels" Calvin and Sheila
Herring, who let them camp on their property, fed them breakfast, did their
laundry and took them shopping.
"Three of the dams had locks, but
because of the government shutdown,
two of the locks weren't working; said
Wanetick. The volunteers helped them
haul their kayaks, often using their
trucks to carry them around the dams.
Most of the time the women pitched
single-person tents near the river and
ate simple, easy-to-pack camp food.
If they were near a town, they'd treat
themselves to a restaurant meal.
Many of the river angels provided
meals.
In White Oak Creek, past Selma, angel
Bobby Wright was so eager to meet the
women that he went out on his pontoon
boat to find them, handed them each
a beer, then towed their kayaks to the
creekside resort community where he is
one of the few year-round residents.
"He gave us a golf cart and the keys
to a vacant house in the community. He
and his wife, Dot, gave us dinner and
breakfast the next day and then towed
the kayaks back down to the main river:'
Wanetick said.
The women also met a number of
unofficial "angels:' In Gadsden, they
pulled ashore and asked the property
owner if they could camp. Instead, Sheila
Herring let them sleep under their pavil-
ion, which had a bathroom and shower.
"Then she drove her car down, left us
the keys and walked back to her house.
She said we should drive up for break-
fast when we were ready:' said Wanetick.
"She did our laundry and after breakfast
she drove us into town so we could get
supplies:'
The women had heard there were
Wanetick and Owens started their trip
in Cedar Bluff, Ala.
alligators on the river but saw only a
few babies. The only problem they had
was being chased by two large dogs
when they stopped to fill their water
jugs. "I was wearing flip-flops and Gail
was wearing clogs:' said Wanetick. "It
was pretty funny seeing us trying to run
back to the kayaks:'
They paddled an average of 20 miles
a day, finishing their trip on Oct. 16. At
the end, they took a taxi to a U-Haul
rental site, rented a truck and drove six
hours back to Cedar Bluff where they'd
left their cars.
"It was a wonderful experience
Wanetick said. She's now preparing for a
two-month trip to Nicaragua and Belize
starting in January.
❑