New Hampshire paddling recommendations from Tommy

• Squam Lake is nice.
• Umbagog Lake(NH-ME), Richardson Lake(ME), and Lake Mooslookmaguntic(ME) are nice. All have campsites available. None are truly wilderness (but what is?)
• Aziscohos is reputed to be nice as well.
• The Magalloway from below the rapids down into Umbagog is a quiet water gem. If the wind is daunting on Umbagog the Magalloway is lovely.
• The Androscogin between Umbagog and the Errol Dam is nice and quiet (mostly). Some years back I saw a large otter family as well as a nut in a Cigarette Boat all in the same paddle.
• The Saco from North Conway down can be nice when it's not overrun with drunken dorks.
• The Pemi below Woodstock is sweet if you don't mind a bit of current. Class I with one Class II in Thornton then Quick to quiet water all the way to Ayers Island Dam in Bristol, NH

River Bend Farm to Rt. 122 - August 25, 2012

It’s been one of those busy weekends, and the only time that I had to paddle was early Saturday morning.  Fortunately, Linda and Bob were able to paddle then as well. We decided to run the section of the Blackstone River from River Bend Farm to Rt. 122 in Uxbridge.  The level was low (3.5 feet) but runnable – if you were careful about avoiding the gravel banks. 

Bob running the broken dam at Rt. 16

Links:

Northbridge Gage

Trip Guide - Plummers Landing to River Bend Farm

Trip Guide - River Bend Farm to Blackstone Gorge

Cold Spring Park – August 21, 2012

I was the leader for the last Blackstone Valley Paddle Club trip of the summer at Cold Spring Park in Woonsocket. The scenery isn’t the best, but the sunset more than made up for it. Summer is coming to an end, but fall paddling is even better.

Sunset over Cold Spring Park

Links:

My Pictures

Blackstone Canal/River Loop – August 12, 2012

With the rain we had last week, the Blackstone River came up enough for a run on the Canal/River loop.  I put in at the Bike Path in Lonsdale and paddled up the Canal to Ashton.  I was surprised at the number of trees that were down in the Canal, although I was able to paddle over or around all of them.

I crossed over into the Blackstone River below the Falls in Ashton.  The river was low but fluid.  A couple of fishermen were taking advantage of the rare summer flow to cast their lines in the shallow water below the Falls.  

Lots of people on the Bike Path, but I only saw one other boat on the water – a couple with a big tandem canoe took out above the Pratt Dam just as I did.  They were taking a rest before portaging that beast over the dam to the Canal - better them than me.

Fishermen below the Ashton Dam

Links:

My Pictures

Olney Pond at Lincoln Woods - August 11, 2012

Took the canoe out yesterday with my favorite paddling partner - my wife Michelle.  We did a lap around the Olney Pond at Lincoln Woods.
  
Olney Pond, named after one of the area’s principal families. In the early 1800s, the Olney’s created a dam at the eastern end of their property offering a fall of water sufficient to run a thread mill about a century before the park was created. Thread Mill Brook leads southeasterly from the dam to other ponds along the Moshassuck as it loops its way back to Providence.

Small islands dot this 126-acre pond. The shores are surrounded by woodland filled with red and white oak, dogwood, hickory, and red maple as well as ferns and wildflowers. The pond’s edge is lined with granite and quartz boulders. Migratory waterfowl such as cormorants, mallards, American black ducks, mergansers, and ring-necked ducks stop at the pond during migrating seasons.

 It wasn't very crowded, and there was a nice breeze on the water.

Exploring one of the many coves.

Links:

Olney Pond from Friends of the Mosshassuck

Lake Maspenok – August 4, 2012

I was trying to decide where to go paddling this morning, but I wasn’t very excited about any of my usual trips.  I decided to check the RICKA Flatwater Message Board and saw a post from Frank for a trip at Lake Maspenok in Hopkinton, MA.  It sounded good to me. 

Lake Maspenok (also known as North Pond) is one of four lakes in Hopkinton including Whitehall State Park and Hopkinton State Park. The lake is about two miles long and reminds me a lot of Spring Lake.  There must be a lot of fish in the lake since there was a fishing tournament taking place today.  The lake is also open to all types of watercraft.  We saw some great water skiers, and a few jet skis as we left.

We put in from a small landing on West Main Street in Hopkinton.  We paddled down the west side of the lake past the summer cottages that line the shore to an old dam at the far end. From the old dam, we paddled back up along the east side which has a few interesting coves to explore.

It only took us a couple of hours to paddle around the lake, but it turned out to be a nice trip. 

Links:
My pictures