Dead

What's in a name? Though the current reality came about after this stream's naming, the name is regrettably apt. About 70% of this river's 35 mile total length consists of a series of reservoirs and dewatered reaches due to extensive utilization for hydropower. The Dead arises at over 1800' of elevation (from it's headwaters in the McCormick Wilderness) and drops 1200' in 27 linear miles to the waters of Lake Superior (if unfettered, an overall average of nearly 45 feet per mile). Much of this drop comes in the final 10 miles of river. Before being dammed, there were great falls and cascades (at least one near 100' in height) along the course of this river's precipitous descent.

In the longest normally dewatered reach, described here, there are two sections of elevated gradient, roughly a mile each in length, separated by about four and one half miles of flatwater. The drops contained in these sections of gradient are not the biggest around, but a combination of the factors of bedrock type and configuration, in conjunction with their not inconsiderable size, may make this potentially some of the most challenging whitewater in the UP (Upper Peninsula, of Michigan).

The greatest challenge though, is actually finding a runnable flow in this reach. The storage capacities of the reservoirs are great, especially considering the relatively small size of the river. Flow in this dewatered reach requires sufficient water to exceed the penstock (pipe that feeds the hydroplant) capacity, fill the reservoirs, and top the dams. The UPPCO hydro project here came up for FERC relicensing several years back. The Michigan DNR stated at the time that they were adamantly opposed to any recreational boating flow studies. That, in combination with the fact that at the time there were perhaps no more than twenty or thirty paddlers in the upper Midwest that likely had the skills and desires to tackle a reach such as this, caused us to advise the persons directly involved with

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