The camping trip that wasn't to be - January 3, 2026

Getting ready to launch

How many days with temps in the teens does it take to freeze a river? Based on this weekend’s experience, the answer is three.

For the past couple of years (2023, 2024), we have been doing a winter overnight trip at the Burlingame Canoe Campsites. It’s been a lot of fun, and this year we had nine joining in, with one coming from as far away as NY.

In past years, the temperatures have mild (days in the 30’s to 40's, nights in the 20’s to 30's), but this year we were having a cold snap. Day time highs were in the 20's, and night time lows were in the teens. Average temperatures had been in the 20’s for a couple of weeks, which is unusual for RI. We did ask JD to check the river for ice on Wednesday, and he reported that the put in was ice-free. It's tough to see much else from the river bank.

The river is iced in

When we arrived at Bradford Landing on Saturday morning the put in was open, but it was solid ice down to the Bradford Dam. There was an open channel upstream so we loaded our boats and headed out. We didn’t get far. We paddled upstream a couple of hundred yards and found the river frozen solid – a good half-inch of ice for as far as you could see. No way we were getting through that.

We paddled back to the put in to try to figure out our options. Was there a different section of the river that wouldn’t be iced-in - nope. Was there a campground or picnic area nearby that wasn’t closed for the season – nope. Unfortunately, we were out of luck. Best we could do was a picture at Alton Landing and lunch at a nearby restaurant – Cornerstone Pub in Exeter.  

The crew at Alton Landing

Getting skunked earned me a new poem from Tom.

From a Burlingame to a curling game,

canoes might glide on ice,

but getting swept away

paddles not brooms in play,

pack-it-in's the hully roller's advice.

(On the rocks at the Cornerstone plays nice)

TW

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