From Beulah to Greenland and Beyond

Sept. 7, 2014

Sometimes you don’t have to travel far to begin your uncommon adventure.

Tiny Beulah is home to Michael Gray, a naturalist, guide, and owner of Uncommon Adventures, which guides kayakers all over the world.

After searching high and low for somewhere to launch his business 30 years ago, Gray settled on Northern Michigan.

"No matter where you’re from, the Northern Great Lakes are a world class paddling destination," he said.

STEP ONE: FOLLOW YOUR PASSION

Although his training was to be a naturalist, Gray quickly realized he needed to find a better fit than leading hikes.

""¦[I]t became clear to me that you had a limited effect on people with a one-hour ranger talk," he said.

His off-hours passion was wilderness tripping with a backpack or paddle "¦ a passion he is driven to share with others.

"There’s a screaming need for us all to get our hands dirty, our feet wet and breathe the musky aroma of earth back into our lungs," he said.

In the late "˜80s, Gray was looking forward to a summer guiding sea kayaking trips on Prince William Sound, Alaska, but the Exxon Valdez oil spill derailed his plans.

"I said, "˜Now what?’ to myself," he said.

"Then realized I was standing on a peninsula surrounded by a large percentage of the earth’s freshwater supply. And the idea was born."

STEP TWO: FOCUS YOUR OPTIONS

It was a solid idea, but still a tough sell in Uncommon Adventure’s early days.

"Midwesterners’ image of kayaking was whitewater; their first thought was capsizing, and a horrible death," said Gray. "So I had to teach them what touring or sea kayaks were before I could sell them on the idea of a trip."

Frustrated, he considered moving to the San Juan Islands in Washington, or maybe Lake Placid. But each time he visited somewhere else, he returned to the wild Great Lakes.

"It’s a great place for day trips and skill building programs, while still being a very nicely habitable region with good food, art, and culture, and it’s only gotten better," he said. "It’s also a great springboard for our programs on lakes Michigan and Superior, as well as Alaska and Greenland, since it has a good airport and access to supplies."

STEP THREE: LOCATION, LOCATION

Uncommon Adventures specializes mainly in sea kayak programs, so the kayak, Gray explained, is always the "common denominator."

"Then, it’s simply a matter of what waterscape I think will work," he said.

Northern Michigan’s waterscapes being some of his favorites, there are plenty to choose from, including treks to the Keewenaw Peninsula, the Manistee River, Isle Royale, Lake Superior, and Les Cheneaux.

Day and overnight trips are both offered, depending on the destination.

For some of the local programs, he likes to include highlights of local food and wine options, as well as what he calls "our gorgeous local coastline."

"That one’s a no-brainer," he said. Two types of local kayaking programs have taken off: the weekend skills-training workshops, and the Water to Wine tour, where a day trip adds in a local wine-themed cooked lunch.

"It’s been a popular trip, and it’s something that new paddlers can enjoy," Gray said.

STEP FOUR: MAXIMIZE YOUR OFFERINGS

Destinations even more exotic than Michigan’s lakes are also on the schedule.

For a place like Greenland, Gray calls on the expertise of a 10-time Greenland champion, a personal friend of his who helps him maximize his paddlers’ experiences there.

"We build paddlers’ skills to handle such an expedition and this gives them something to reach for," Gray said. "Traveling in Greenland with Greenlanders is the way to experience both the culture and the incredible land and seascapes."

There are also warm water trips, which take place from locales like Panama or the island of Roatán, which is part of Honduras in the Caribbean.

"It’s a perfect combo of easy flight access, interesting local culture, reasonable costs, coastal reef paddling "¦ and the fact that I’m still the only sea kayak outfitter there," Gray said.

STEP FIVE: ENJOY YOUR SUCCESS

Uncommon Adventures’ roster of available treks is always changing, as Gray researches more destinations and adapts his treks to his clients’ needs.

Over the years, he’s offered kayaking adventures in even more far-flung places, including New Zealand, Iceland, and Greenland.

While he says that planning trips and guiding vacations for others isn’t the same as a vacation he might take on his own, the job still offers an amazing and challenging variety of responsibilities, from the research trips to the planning stages, guiding in several languages, and seeing the world at sea level.

And since Gray thrives outdoors, nurturing this company has allowed him the opportunity to help people invest in the wild places, while he can follow his passion and remain, as he puts it, the "outdoor dog I was born to be."

"I was never really meant to be particularly housebroken," he said with a grin.

Uncommon Adventures is located in Beulah, Mich.; (231) 882-5525. More can be found online at uncommonadv.com.