5°4 



RECREATION 



divides and wanders about, and it is neces- 

 sary to pick a careful course and avoid sub- 

 merged logs. This section of river must 

 have been a source of anything but joy to 

 the lumbermen in the old days. Along here, 

 for a few miles, good camping places are 

 scarce. The first one that we found to suit 

 us was some distance below, at the mouth 

 of a stream known as Big Creek. We tried 

 the fishing a short distance up the creek, 

 but there were no pools and we got no 

 strikes. 



The next half-day was down swift water, 

 between high and picturesque banks. At 

 one-thirty we ran beneath an iron bridge, 

 and tied up just beyond, below a mill. Fol- 

 lowing the road to the right, up a long hill, 

 a mile or so, we came to the town of Mio, a 

 county seat, and a point from which mail or 

 telegrams can be sent. If one is so disposed 

 one can drive from Mio some thirty-six 

 miles overland to a railroad, thence to 

 civilization. A few minutes' run below Mio 

 that evening we found an excellent camping 



place, at the top of a rather high bank, in a 

 grove of jack-pine. 



For two and a-half hours next morning we 

 swung down the swift current. At noon, 

 when we tied up for lunch, we gathered 

 wild raspberries, strawberries and quantities 

 of blueberries and huckleberries. In the 

 boats again, we loafed along the remainder 

 of the day. 



In the morning we reached the town of 

 McKinley, once a thriving village, but now 

 almost deserted. The maps show a railroad 

 running down to this point, but it has been 

 abandoned. 



We had dinner that day with a "dead- 

 head crew," on their houseboat. These men 

 spend the summer working the river from 

 top to bottom, resurrecting from the river 

 bottom sawlogs that have lain there ever 

 since the heyday of lumbering times. They 

 have been hard at it for several seasons, and 

 seem still to find ample material to work on. 



That night, in a camp on a high bluff, we 

 enjoyed our only really unpleasant expen- 



se Au Sable seemed a great stream for fish 



