Baskehegan Stream - May 17-21, 2025

The crew - loaded up and ready to go

The forecast called for rain on Saturday, and Sunday, and Monday and Tuesday, but it didn’t matter. This trip on the Baskehegan had been on the calendar since March, so we weren’t going to miss it no matter what the weather.

Baskehegan Stream arises in Carroll, ME and flows generally north for around 40-miles to Bancroft where it joins the Mattawamkeag River. We would be paddling the section through Baskehegan Lake from White Farm Road in Topsfield to the dam in Danforth. Originally, the plan was to paddle down to the bridge in Bancroft, but more on that later.

Put in on White Farm Road

We met at Jonathan’s in Wiscasset Friday night so we could get an early start Saturday morning. There was a steady drizzle on Saturday as we loaded the boats and gear and headed out. It was about a 3-hour drive from Jonathan’s house to the river, about 6.5-hours from my house in Woonsocket.

White Farm Road is a dirt logging road owned by a local logging company. The put in is just below a bridge and a pretty waterfall. After unloading our boats and gear we ran the shuttle up to Bancroft. We finally got on the water at around 4:00.

Wading through the shallows

This first section of the river tends to be shallow. With recent rains, we hoped the river would be up, but it wasn’t. We frequently ran aground and had to get out to wade our heavily loaded boats. Fortunately, it was a short trip down to the first campsite – Upper Baskahegan Campsite. Day 1 paddling – about 2 miles.

We unloaded our gear and quickly got the tarp and tents set up. We gathered wood as Jonathan prepared dinner – his classic fried fish with Maine guide potatoes. After dinner we sat around the fire until 9:45 when we called it a night.

Beaver lodge in the Big Bog

There is something to be said for staying warm and dry inside your tent as the rain is falling outside. I woke up at 6:00, but with the rain I didn’t crawl out of my tent until around 7:30 when I heard Conrad making coffee. The rain was expected to fall until noon, so we had a soggy breakfast and packed up a soggy camp.

We got on the water around 11:00 for our trip through Big Bog – the large wetland that feeds Baskehegan Lake. There were beaver lodges everywhere, but surprisingly few birds or other wildlife. The river twisted and turned through a marsh with very little solid ground. We took a break for lunch in our boats.

Crossing to Long Island

We arrived at Baskehegan Lake and found it flat and calm. Fog was rolling in and out as made the crossing to the Long Island Campsite. Day 2 paddling – about 9-miles.

The rain and fog continued as we set up camp. By 6:00, tents and tarps were up, and wood was gathered. Time for cocktails. Dinner was Ellen’s chili, and desert was Jules’ brownies. It was another early night. I was in the tent around 9:30.

Tents with extra tarps for the rain

I woke up at 2:30 to a torrential downpour. Everything was dry in my tent, so I fell back asleep and woke up around 5:00 to rain and gusting winds. The plan was to get an early start, but it didn’t look like that was going to happen, so I went back to sleep. I woke up again at 7:00 to another torrential downpour.

I finally crawled out of my tent around 7:30 when I heard Jonathan lighting the fire and making coffee. We cooked breakfast and started taking down camp in the rain. We finally got on the water at around 11:00. This was to be our biggest paddling day – around 12-miles down to the Narrows Campsite on Crooked Brook Flowage. We would be paddling into 10-mph headwinds with gusts around 25-mph.

Crossing to Round Island

We launched and headed out on the crossing to Round Island – about 1/2-mile. The going was slow, and the wind was kicking up small waves, but everyone made it across fine. From there, we did another 1/2-mile crossing from Round Island to North Point. Once again, it was a slow crossing, but everyone made it across fine. Finally, we had to paddle about a mile along the shore to the outlet for Baskehegan Stream.

We ran the broken dam as we left the lake and reentered the river. We continued to fight a strong headwind as the river twisted and turned thorough another large wetland. We were cold and tired when we pulled into the Anvil Meadows Campsite for a break at around 3:00. Rather than paddling on, we decided to call it a day. Day 3 paddling – about 8 miles, about 4 miles short of our goal.

Tarp is up at Anvil Meadows

With the decision made to stay, we got to work setting up camp and gathering wood. I was the chef for the evening and made lasagna in the Dutch oven. Everyone was tired, and we were in the tents even earlier – a little after 9:00.

Tuesday was the first morning that the rain didn’t keep me in the tent. I got up around 6:00, started the fire and the coffee, and started taking down my tent. With the truncated day on Monday, we knew that we needed to get an early start today. We had a quick breakfast, broke down camp and loaded the boats for the final leg of our trip. We are on the water at around 8:30.

Running the small rapids

This section of the river was a lot of fun with short sections of flatwater separated by quickwater and easy rapids. We took turns picking lines through the rapids. Eventually, we reached Crooked Brook Flowage, which is the dead water above the Danforth Dam. We passed the Narrows camp site – our intended campsite from the day before.

We crossed the flowage, and paddled along the shore down to the Danforth Dam into a 15-mph headwind with gusts around 30-mph. It was a real slog. We pulled into the boat ramp at around noon. Day 3 paddling – around 7-miles.

Take out at Danforth Dam

It was clear that we didn’t have time to do the portage and 7-mile trip down to Bancroft, so we needed to get a ride back to our cars. Fortunately, there was a guy sitting in his truck in the parking lot. We struck up a conversation and he offered to give Jonathan a ride - problem solved.

This trip was definitely a case of Type 2 Fun. It was cold, cloudy, windy and rainy. We spent most of our time cold and wet. We were paddling heavily-loaded boats through shallow water and against strong headwinds. But in the end, we pulled together and made it work. We only paddled 26-miles total, but the camping and comradery was still great.

 

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Upper Pawtuxet - May 13, 2025

Paddling with Cheryl in the Spirit II

I paddled tandem with Chery at the traditional Blackstone Valley Paddle Club season opener with the Southern New England Paddlers on the Upper Pawtuxet. With last weekend’s rain the river was flowing well. There is no gage on this section of the river, but the gage downstream at Fiskeville was at 1-foot, 250 cfs.

The North Branch of the Pawtuxet River, also know as the Upper Pawtuxet, originally arose at the confluence of the Ponaganset and Moswansicut Rivers in what is now the Scituate Reservoir. Today, the river emerges from the bottom of the massive Scituate Reservoir Dam and flows south for approximately 9-miles to West Warwick where it joins the South Branch of the Pawtuxet River to form the main stem of the Pawtuxet River.

Launching at Hope Landing

The main stem then flows east for approximately 12-miles to empty into Narragansett Bay at the Pawtuxet Cove. Collectively, all three branches played an important role in the development of the textile industry in Rhode Island, and numerous dams still block their course.

We put-in at Hope Landing above the Hope Furnace Dam (15 Hope Furnace Road in Scituate). We had 16 paddlers for the 2-mile paddle upstream to the base of the massive earthen dam that creates Scituate Reservoir. The first part of the paddle took us through the winding marshland created by backwater from the Hope Dam. Eventually the river narrowed and we followed its tree-lined course and tricky currents up to the Scituate Reservoir Dam.

Spillway at the base of the dam

The Scituate Reservoir was formed by the construction of this large earthen dam in 1925. The Scituate Reservoir is now the largest artificial body of water in the state and provides water to more than 60-percent of the state’s population.

With last weekend’s rain, there was water flowing down the spillway from the top of the dam. There were trees down in the channel, so we decided not to paddle the short section from the spillway to the dam. From there, it was a quick trip back down to the put-in.

The crew at the put-in

Links:
My Pictures
Fiskeville Gage
Hope Landing from Rhode Island Blueways

RICKA trip on Otter Brook - May 4, 2025

Awaiting to launch

Paul posted a couple of RICKA trips on the Whitewater Message Board this spring – both were old favorites. The first was the Knightville section of the Westfield, and the second was Otter Brook.

Otter Brook arises in the town of Stoddard and flows south for 13-miles to join Miniwawa Brook at Route 101 to form the Branch River. The Branch River flows into the Ashuelot River, which eventually flows into the Connecticut River. Jonathan and I did a tandem run down Otter Brook and the Branch River all the way to the Sawyers Crossing Covered Bridge on the Ashuelot River a couple of years ago.

Rapid below the put in

In 1958, the huge Otter Brook Flood Control Dam was completed to protect Keene and the other communities along the Ashuelot River. The flow on Otter Brook is now controlled by releases from the dam. The gage on Otter Brook is no longer active, but the historical releases were around 300 cfs.

I met Paul at McD’s for the drive up to the river. We met the crew at the put-in at the base of the dam. It was not a particularly busy day, but we did see groups from MOC and CTAMC. We unloaded our boats and ran the shuttle. The usual take out on Swanzey Factory Road was filled with construction equipment, so we used a new take out just downstream at the Cheshire Railroad Stone Arch Bridge on the Cheshire Rail Trail.

Running Otter Ledge

We were the first to launch and head downstream. The top of Otter Brook is narrow and rocky as it twists and turns through the woods down to Route 101. We worked our way downstream dodging rocks and running waves. We ran Otter Ledge through the slot on the right, and everyone made it through fine. With additional water from Miniwawa Brook, the river opens up and we bounced down the final section along Route 101.

Taking out at the rail trail bridge adds one more rapid to the trip. On the first run I wasn’t sure where to take out, so I had the crew take out too far upstream. We had to drag our boats across a grassy swamp to the cars. Paul went a little further downstream and found the actual take out on river right just above the bridge.

Down to the new take out

After a slightly confused shuttle we got all the cars, boats and people in the right places for our second run. It was a bomber run, and everyone did fine. This time we took our down by the bridge and ran one last shuttle back to pick up the cars.

On the way home, Paul and I stopped at the Troy Deli and Marketplace for a steak and cheese sub. I’ll bet there will be a RICKA Whitewater trip on the Fife Brook section of the Deerfield this summer.

Links:

My Pictures

River Description from American Whitewater