Planning for Fall Camping - Richardson Lake

The alternative for our fall camping trip is Richardson Lake – a l6-mile long lake dotted with campsites maintained by Southerarm. Richardson Lake is divided at the Narrows into Upper Richardson Lake and Lower Richardson Lake. The lakes are impounded as a single reservoir by Middle Dam at the outlet to Rapid River on the western shore of the Lower Richardson Lake. The Rapid River flows 5 miles to Lake Umbagog. Primary inflow is Mooselookmeguntic Lake on the eastern shore of the Upper Richardson Lake. 

Links: 

Southernarm Campground

Planning for Fall Camping - the Magalloway River

We missed this year's spring camping trip due to COVID-19, so I was really hoping to get out in the fall. I had mentioned it to Conrad, and was glad to get an email from him suggesting a 4-day camping trip on the Magalloway River.

The Magalloway River arises in Aziscohos Lake and flows generally south to Lake Umbagog. The upper two miles are popular class II/III (IV) rapids that run during scheduled releases (maybe I will try them someday). The remaining 15.6 miles is a mix of flatwater and quick water with beautiful views, lots of wildlife and several sites for overnight camping. Here is a description of the river:

1. Azisochos Dam Access (mile 0.5) provide access to a section of Class II-III (IV) rapids, or is the take-out for the technical and hazard strewn class V rapids above. Dam releases are scheduled on summer weekends with dates posted on Boston AMC website.
2. Wilson’s Mill (mile 2.25) is an informal access on private land that serves as the best put-in for a quiet water paddle. The next 6 miles are calm and picturesque, with meandering turns and mountain views.
3. Pass under Littlehale Rd (mile 4.3) and enter a straight section adjacent to Route 16.
4. Diamond Peaks (mile 9.0) is a set of basic campsites owned and operated by Northern Waters Outfitters. Advanced registration is required; call (603) 482-3817 to book.
5. Wentworth Location (mile 10.7) is a formal hand carry access point. It includes a 10 car parking lot, a privy, and information on the Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge. It is in an abandoned oxbow on the right side of the river, so if you are taking out here you must turn off the river to paddle to the access. Across the street is Mt Dustan Country Store & Cabins (603) 482-3898) - a good spot to grab snacks or spend the night.
6. Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge Headquarters (mile 13.8) offers a boat ramp and ample parking across the street. 
7. Skirt the wetlands (mile 18) along the western edge of Umbagog Lake, home to osprey, bald eagles, and many water lilies.
8. Steamer Diamond Boat Launch (mile 21.2) is an boat ramp on the Androscoggin that can extend a paddle on the Maggalloway.

Here is the trip as detailed on the trip map below:

Day 1 - put in at Wilsons Mills, ME with 10-mile vehicle/bike shuttle from the take out in Erroll, NH. Paddle 6-miles down to Diamond Peaks.

Day 2 - paddle 10-miles down the Magalloway and 4 miles across Umbagog for a total of 14 miles to the Cedar Stump Campsite at the mouth of the Rapid River on Lake Umbagog. We could also hire a Northern Waters pontoon boat to tow us the 4 miles across Umbagog and bring a big load of firewood (the deluxe version).

Day 3 – paddle 8 miles back across the lake and down the Androscoggin to the take out in Errol where we either camp out at the Northern Waters base camp or possibly the Clear Stream campground in Errol, or just drive home.

Day 4 - paddle the rapids on the Androscoggin in Errol and/or downstream and drive home.

Azizcohos Lake Dam has a FERC mandated minimum flow of 200 cfs after Sept. 16th. Sources, including the guide at Northern Waters, say that the river is navigable by canoe at this level. If it is too low, the default is Richardson Lake, which has lots of campsites through Southarm Campground.

Links:

Magalloway Camping Trips Map

Tully Lake – August 22, 2020

Spirit Falls in November 2006

With medical issues and other obligations, my usual circle of paddling friends was not available this morning, but I still wanted to get out early. My first thought was a bike shuttle on the flatwater section of the Quabaug River above Lucy Stone Park, but I decided to save that for another day. Instead I decided to go the Tully Lake.  

I did my first trip at Tully Lake in October of 2006. My computer crashed around 2010 and I lost a lot of my early paddling pictures, but surprisingly I still have the pictures from that trip on Tully Lake. Wayne and I scouted during a torrential downpour, but we got some nice pictures at Spirit Falls. 

Early morning sun at the boat launch

The next weekend I ran a RICKA trip. We shuttled up to Route 68 and paddled down the Tully River through “beaver-dam-land”. The foliage was beautiful. I’ve thought about running that trip again many times over the years, but hadn’t been back until today.

Tully Lake is a 1,262-acre reservoir and flood control project constructed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers in 1949. The project prevents flooding of the greater Connecticut River and Millers River valleys and provides a variety of recreational opportunities, including a campground operated by The Trustees of Reservations. Tully Lake is an important link in the 22-mile Tully Trail, which I would like to try sometime.

Entering the Tully River

I was on my way early and arrived at the boat launch at the Tully Lake Dam around 7:00. The sun was still low and there was mist rising off the lake. As I launched my boat there was one lone fisherman - no one else in sight. 

I headed across the northern shore of Tully Lake past the campground and into the short section of the Tully River that links Tully Lake to Long Pond. There were a few cars in the parking lot at the Canoe Launch, but they must have been hikers since I didn’t see anyone else on the water. I continued to the top of Long Pond, but couldn’t find my way through the weeds to continue up the Tully River.

Lower drop at Doane's Falls

On the way back downstream I stopped at the take out for Spirit Falls. Spirit Falls is part of the Jacob’s Hill Reservation and is a multi-tiered waterfall that tumbles 150 feet down a rocky slope from Little Pond. Unfortunately, in our current drought the waterfall was bone dry.

I continued downstream and stopped at the Canoe Launch to walk over to Doane’s Falls. Unusually when I am in this area it is to paddle the Upper Millers, so the water levels are up. Today the water was low and I was able to walk up the rocks in the middle of Lawrence Brook to take some pictures.  

Back to the boat launch

Doane’s Falls is named for Amos Doane who built a large, 4-story mill above the falls in the early 19th century to manufacture doors, sashes, and blinds. Doane’s mill was the last of a series of sawmills, gristmills and fulling mills that stood on this site. Today, only the foundation of Doane’s mill remains.

By the time I got back to Tully Lake the place was mobbed – kayaks everywhere. Apparently there was a meet-up group having a picnic one of the Tully Lake islands – no thanks. I was on my way by 10:30, and home by noon.

Links:

My Pictures

Tully Lake Map

USACE - Tully Lake

USACE Tully Lake Dam Gage

Pawcatuck – Bradford to Potter Hill – August 15, 2020

Bike shuttle from Post Office Landing

By now, we have all developed pretty good COVID-19 paddling habits - wear your mask, keep your distance, and no car shuttles. As a river paddler, though,  there are times when I just want to go downstream. Without a car how do you make that happen. Easy – just hop on your bike.

Bike shuttles work just like car shuttles except for the part when you all crowd into one vehicle to get back to the put-in. Instead, you hop on your bike. It’s a fun addition to the trip, and you get some great exercise. 

Running the Bradford Fish Weirs

Lately I have been looking for trips with a relatively long paddle and a relatively short, flat bike ride. The way our local rivers twist-and-turn there are many, but some of the best are on the Pawcatuck – RI’s only Wild and Scenic River.

The Wood-Pawcatuck watershed encompasses 300 square miles in southwestern RI and southeastern CT. Its seven major rivers include the Beaver,  Queen - Usquepaug, Wood, Chipuxet, Shunock, Green Falls - Ashaway, and Pawcatuck. It is one of the largest remaining natural areas along the northeast corridor between New York and Boston, and received Wild and Scenic River status in 2019. 

Paddling through the Grills Preserve

The Pawcatuck River itself arises at Worden Pond in South Kingstown and flows 34-miles south and west to Westerly where it flows into Little Narragansett Bay on Long Island Sound. We would be paddling the section from Bradford to Potter Hill – about 7-miles.  Unlike some of the sections upstream, there is plenty of water here all summer long. 

Jonathan, Bill and I dropped off our boats at Bradford at around 9:30, and drove to take-out at Potter Hill. Parking is available at Post Office Landing – a DEM boat launch across the street from the take-out. It looks like someone’s driveway, but it is a public access point. At least they have now put up a sign.

Polly Coon Footbridge

We left our cars at the take-out and had an easy 4-mile bike ride back to Bradford. It doesn’t take that much longer than arranging a car shuttle. When we arrived back at Bradford, Sharon and Paul were waiting for us. Sharon had arranged her own shuttle, and Paul would do the bike ride after the trip. 

The river was low, but there was still plenty of water – 21 cfs, 1.75 feet on the Wood River Junction gage.  Surprisingly, there was even enough water to run the Bradford fish weirs, which replaced the old Bradford Dam in 2018.

Lunch at the beach

The old Bradford Dam was a 19th century stone and timber structure that provided power to the Bradford textile mills. Built on top of a natural falls, the 6-foot dam spanned the entire width of the river. Since removing the dam would drop the water level upstream by about 5 feet and negatively impact wetlands, the decision was made to replace the existing dam with a new rock ramp structure.

The new dam is made up of 6 gradually ascending stone weirs, which serve like terraced steps. Pools between the steps give fish a place to rest on their way upstream. Gaps in the weirs create channels for water to flow and fish to swim, including the main current down the middle that forms a nice channel for paddlers.

Bill the triathlete - bike, boat and swim

After running, lining or portaging the Bradford Dam we continued downstream. From Bradford to Route 3 the river twists and turns through the woodlands of the Grills Preserve owned by the Westerly Land Trust and Hopkinton Land Trust. We passed under the Polly Coon Footbridge and continued downstream stopping at the beach off Narragansett Way for a break and a socially-distanced lunch. 

Below Route 3 there is more development as the river meanders though open marshland to the Potter Hill Dam. The take out is on the Westerly side of the river just above the Potter Hill Road Bridge at the Whiteley Preserve - a Westerly Land Trust property. We loaded our boats and drove back to Bradford to pick up our bikes after another great trip.

Approaching Potter Hill

Links:

My Pictures

Wood River Junction Gage

Ninigret Pond - August 10, 2020

Bob waits at the put in

My options for yesterday were a whitewater run on the Deerfield (too late and too far), a solo bike shuttle on the Pawcatuck (check out the campsites from Alton to Bradford), or the RICKA trip at Ninigret. I went for the RICKA trip.  

Ninigret Pond is the largest of Rhode Island’s South County salt ponds, which includes Point Judith, Green Hill, Quonochontaug and Winnapaug Ponds. Ningret was formed by the retreating glaciers 12,000 years ago, and is separated from the ocean by the fragile barrier island that forms East Beach. It is connected to Green Hill Pond by a small tidal inlet.

Terry checks out the cormorants

With fertile farmland and rich fishing grounds, the land around Ninigret attracted Native Americans for thousands of years. In fact, the pond itself is named for Ninigret, a 17th-century sachem of the Narragansett tribe. They grew corn, beans, and squash and supplemented their diet by fishing and hunting. 

The area around Ninigret remained agricultural until the 1940s when the Navy built the Naval Auxiliary Air Station Charlestown – a satellite airfield to the nearby Quonset Naval Air Station. It had three runways, numerous hangers and was used for testing and training. In 1974 the base was decommissioned along with Quonset Point

Taking a break at East Beach

After it was closed, large sections of the old Charlestown Naval Air Station were designated as the Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is characterized by salt marshes, kettle ponds and freshwater wetlands and is inhabited by hundreds of species of birds. 

We put in at the boat launch at Ninigret Park and paddled west along the northern shore before crossing over to the barrier island. We hiked across the barrier island for lunch and a quick swim at the beach before heading back. We did try to head over to the Charlestown Breachway, but decided at low tide that it wasn’t worth the effort. That is a trip for another day.

That's me - picture by Pat

Links:

My Pictures

Two Weeks on Salt Water - August 1, 2020

Our annual summer vacation at the beach ended today, so packing up to go home trumped paddling this morning. I paddled almost every day of our two-week vacation (missed one day due to work and one day due to weather) and paddled a lot of old favorites including the Narrow River, Dutch Harbor, Harbor of Refuge, Wickford and Jamestown Harbor. Of course, I spent a lot of time paddling on Point Judith Pond, including a fun trip with RICKA at Potter Pond. 

I avoided the whitecaps, paddled through lots of rollers, and never tipped over, but I did paddle into a lot of headwinds, so this song from Jerry Vandiver seems appropriate for this years' vacation video.


Two Weeks on Salt Water from Erik Eckilson on Vimeo.