River Island Park - October 26, 2019

I needed to stay local today, so I did the run from River Island Park to Manville with Mike D., Bill M. and Gary P.  River was 2.5', 650 cfs - a nice level.

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Connecticut River Camping - Orford to the Wilder Dam - October 18-20, 2019

The put-in at Orford

The rules are simple – cocktails at 5:00, dinner at 6:30, no one goes to bed before 10:00 (we break that one a lot), first one up in the morning starts the fire, and everyone needs to be packed up and ready to go by 10:00 (we break that one a lot too – sometimes earlier and sometimes later). Why work hard when you don’t have to!

For the past couple of years, Bill and I have been camping our way down the Connecticut River Paddlers Trail along the NH and VT border. The Connecticut River is the longest river in New England flowing south for approximately 400 miles from the Canadian border through four states before emptying into Long Island Sound. Its tough for me to get away to do long camping trips, so Bill and I and a few friends have been doing 3-day weekends.

Covered bridge at Clay Brook

We started in Canaan, VT near the Canadian border, and have been slowly working our way south. So far we have done the sections from Canaan, VT to Blooomfield, VT; Bloomfield, VT to Lunenburg, VT; day trips on the reservoirs from Lunenburg, VT to Woodville, NH; and Woodsville, NH to Orford, NH. On this trip we would be paddling the 20-mile section from Orford, NH to the Wilder Dam in White River Junction, VT with Jonathan and Conrad.

As hard as I tried to get Friday off from work, I still ended up with an 8:00 meeting in Waltham. Fortunately, it only took an hour and I was soon on my way up to VT. I met the crew at 11:30 at the Wilder Dam to run the shuttle up to Orford. We had two tandem canoes, and a ton of gear. We are not known to travel light.

Breakfast at Roaring Brook

We loaded our boats at the Orford Boat Ramp and headed out for the 5-mile trip downstream. The sky was cloudy, but it never rained. We paddled past the Edgell Covered Bridge at Clay Brook and the Birch Meadow Campsite before arriving at the Roaring Brook Campsite.

Roaring Brook is a popular grassy campsite on the VT side where Roaring Brook joins the river. It is close to the road and the railroad tracks, so there can be a lot of traffic noise, but it was big enough for us to spread out a little.  

Bill takes the stern

After a short break, Jonathan did some work rebuilding the fire pit while the rest of us spread out to collect firewood. The area was pretty picked over, but we soon had a pile that would last us through the night and into the morning. With that done, we set up the tents and started thinking about dinner.  

Jonathan would be cooking fried fish and “Maine Guide” potatoes. He originally planned to cook on the fire, but it ended up being easier to cook on the stove. As it was, it was dark before we sat down to dinner. After that, we settled in around the fire for the night.

Taking a break at Patchen's Point

I finally headed into my tent for the night at around 10:00. We didn’t have a hard frost, but temperatures were in the 30’s. I buried myself in the sleeping bag and tried to stay warm. I should have put on another layer.

We woke Saturday morning to cloudy skies and a beautiful sunrise. Bill got up first and started the fire. I followed and started the coffee. Soon everyone was sitting around the fire. I cooked breakfast – omelets, home fries and bacon – and then we broke camp for the 10-mile trip down to Patchen’s Point.

A well loaded canoe

This section of the river is wide with lots of boat docks and vacation houses. We stopped for lunch near Wilson’s Landing before continuing down to Patchen’s Point.

Patchen’s Point is a pretty site on the VT side below a stand of huge pine trees. Surprisingly, there was no picnic table or fire pit, but there was a privy. We made due. We went through our usual routine – gather firewood, set up camp, cook dinner and settle in around the campfire for the night. Bill cooked spaghetti and meatballs for dinner, and it was great. I called in a night at around 9:00 - yup, broke that rule.

Ledyard Canoe Club

The night temperatures were again in the 30’s, but this time I added a second layer, so I was much warmer. We awoke the next morning to mist on the river. Once again, Bill started the fire, and I got the coffee going. Breakfast was pancakes and sausage, except for Jonathan who had fried eggs and tomatoes. We packed up camp and headed downstream for the last 5-miles of our trip. 

This section passes though Hanover, and Dartmouth College’s famous Ledyard Canoe Club. As we paddled by some Dartmouth students were heading out for a trip in 8-person Clipper canoes.

At the take-out

After passing through Hanover we stopped to check out the Gilman Island Campsite before continuing down to our take out at Wilder Dam. It is a nice, big campsite maintained by the L.L. Bean Outdoor Discovery Schools.

As always, it was a great trip, and we have many miles to go before we hit the ocean. Time to start thinking about a trip for the spring.

Camping on the Connecticut River from Erik Eckilson on Vimeo.

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Connecticut River Paddlers Trail

Blackstone Gorge Foliage Paddle - October 13, 2019

I did a leisurely paddle with the RICKA Flatwater crew from the Blackstone Gorge up to Millville - foliage was beautiful.

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North Branch of the Pcat

A video with a couple of runs from Brooke on the North Branch of the Piscataquog River, which is part of the fall draw-downs in NH. The major drops on this section are Slab City Ledge, Woodbury, the “Big One”  and Buzzell’s - maybe sometime.

Pawcatuck River Overnight - September 28-29, 2019

Putting-in below the Alton Dam

I put in below the Alton Dam, and paddled down the Wood River to the bootleg campsite at the convergence with the Pawcatuck River. I thought I would be the first to arrive, but when I got there I found the RICKA crew already there and busy setting up camp.

Each year the RICKA Wilderness group does an overnight trip on the Pawcatuck to give members a chance to experience “wilderness” paddling in an easy setting. I did my first “wilderness” trip with RICKA back in 2012, and I've been hooked ever since. This year we had 10 folks on the trip including 6 newbies.

The tents are set up

The rest of the group met at the Jay Cronin Access in Richmond at around 10:30 for the paddle down to the campsite. That was a little early for me, so I put-in at around 2:00 below the Alton Dam. The group was well along setting up camp by the time I arrived, so I started gathering firewood for the evening fire. Before long we had a large pile that looked like it would last through the evening, with plenty left-over for the morning. 

After gathering wood (a sweaty job), I set up my tent and got cleaned up for the evening. When Bill arrived about 5:00 we got the fire started and enjoyed appetizers until around 6:30 when dinner (spaghetti and meatballs) was ready.  After that, we sat around the fire until around 10:00 when the last of us called it a night.

The crew ready to leave Sunday morning

I woke up at around 5:00 but didn’t get out of the tent until around 6:30 in order not to disturb others who might still be sleeping.  As it turned out, almost everyone was awake anyway. I started the coffee and the fire (in that order), and then started cooking breakfast – potato, onion, pepper, sausage and cheese frittata in the dutch oven. Some of the group took a hike over to see the osprey nest after breakfast (no osprey in residence), but I started breaking camp.

We go on the water for the trip down to Bradford at around 10:30. The river was low, but Bill and I were still able to do a relatively fluid run through the broken dam at Burdickville.  From there it is a short paddle down to Bradford.  Fun trip.


Camping on the Pawcatuck River from Erik Eckilson on Vimeo.

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Westfest – September 21, 2019

Below the put-in

I headed off with Paul for our annual trip to Westfest. I was looking forward to getting my new Outrage out in some real whitewater.

I met Paul at the usual place at the usual time – McD’s at 7:00. I decided to follow Paul’s advice and take the back roads up to VT. Our route took us up Rt. 140 to Keene and then across Rt. 9 to Brattleboro. One of the reasons that I prefer the highway is that you don’t have to worry about speeding tickets as speed limit gets reduced though residential areas. Well, it happened – I got nabbed with ticket somewhere south of Keene on a short section of road where the speed limit dropped to 35 mph.  

Running the Dumplings

Our slight delay meant that we were late getting into Jamaica State Park. We got in line for the shuttle at around 10:00. Others were already lining up for a second run. The line was long, and we got on the water around 11:00. The new Outrage felt a little twitchy at first, but soon settled down. It does a great job of bouncing over waves (seems dryer than my old Encore), but I found that I needed to hold the lean longer on eddy turns and ferries.

My first run through the Dumplings was a little low, and I just missed the big hole on the left, but I made it through fine. The line for the shuttle was even longer for our second run. We ended up doing four runs total. We did our third run with Dave D, so that tradition continues. The river peaked at 1,500 cfs. at around 1:00, and started its slow decline. It was noticeably lower by our last run at around 3:30.  Good time as always. 

Happy paddler

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West River Gage

My old Impluse has a new home – September 2, 2019

Glendale Rapid on the Branch in 2006

With the purchase of my new Outrage, it was time to make room in the boathouse by passing on my old Impluse to a new paddler, and Danny seemed like the perfect choice. I met him this morning at Lincoln Woods and he took it for a spin – deal done.

I bought the the Impluse in the fall of 2005 after taking the NHAMC Whitewater School in the spring. The first trip that I did in this boat was the fall draw-down at the Pcat, which I have done many times since. The next trip was the icebreaker trip on the Upper Winni the following spring, and then I did my first trip on the Branch with Bill Luther in June. The first picture that I have in this boat is running the Glendale Rapid on the Branch.

Shepaug in February 2008

In the fall of 2007, I started paddling with Matt and Scott, and took many trips to CT to run the Farmington. One of my favorite pictures in the Impluse is a winter shot from February 2008 on the Shepaug.

In 2008 or 2009 I bought my first Encore, and the Impluse became my spare boat. I used in for a few months in 2011 when my original Encore got stolen. Fortunately, I was able to purchase another Encore from Tommy, and the Impluse went back to being my spare. I think the Impluse will have a good new home with Danny.

Danny in his new boat - have fun!

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