Pawcatuck River Overnight/Bastille Day Campout - June 27-28, 2026

Heading out from Bradford

I was up early yesterday to finish packing for the Pawcatuck River Overnight/Bastille Day Campout at the Burlingame Canoe Campsites on the on the Pawcatuck River.

Back in the old days, RICKA held an annual summer camping trip – the Bastille Day Campout. Bastille Day is a national holiday in France that celebrates the Storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789. Why Bastille Day was chosen as a theme for a RICKA camping trip has been lost to history. The connection to summer is obvious, and maybe it was a simple as that.

Camp is set up

The event was originally held on Dutch Island. When the DEM prohibited camping on Dutch Island in 1991, it moved to the Burlingame Canoe Campsites on the Pawcatuck. It was celebrated with an assortment of French and French-Canadian delicacies – mostly wine and beer.

Reviving this RICKA tradition seemed like a worthy challenge, so for the past few years we have been organizing a summer overnight trip at the Burlingame Canoe Campsites. This year, we met at the Bradford Landing at 12:30 to load up our boats. The group included Bill, JD, Chuck, Cindy, Roberta, Jose, Danny, Tim, Terrie, Jay and me. It would be the first trip with gear for my new Mad River Explorer - it paddled great and carried a ton of gear.

Sausages for dinner

The forecast called for a slight chance of showers in the afternoon, but otherwise warm. When we arrived at Burlingame we found that the wooded site at the top of the steep bank was occupied, but the field was empty. We hauled up our gear and set up camp in the field. We started the dinner fire, then cooled off taking turns on the rope swing as the fire burned down to coals for cooking.

As always, the food was plentiful. We had hummus with flat bread and fruit salad as appetizers; Cesar salad, lasagna, mac and cheese, sausage and peppers and hot dogs for dinner; and apple crisp, carrot cake and chocolate macaroons for desert. After dinner, we settled in around the campfire for a night of tall-tales and war-stories. I finally turned in at around 10:00.

Bill and me in the Explorer 17

Before I knew it, morning light was streaming through my tent. I got up around 6:00, started the fire and got the coffee perking. Terrie was already up, and Danny was up shortly after. I fired up my Dutch oven to make a batch of cinnamon rolls; Terrie grilled some brown bread, and we had egg-in-a-hole with home fries and bacon. No one ever goes hungry on these trips.

After breakfast we packed for the trip back to Bradford. I was on the road by 11:00, and I was home by 12:00. We will definitely put the Bastille Day Campout on the RICKA calendar again next year.

The crew at the take-out at Bradford

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Diamond Hill Managment Area - June 24, 2026

Diamond Hill Management Area

Today’s hike couldn’t have been much closer to my house. We hiked at the Diamond Hill Management Area in Cumberland.

Diamond Hill is a 400-foot outcropping of white quartz located in Cumberland on the border with Wrentham and Plainville. In the 1930's the Civilian Conservation Corps acquired land on both sides of Diamond Hill Road and established the Diamond Hill Reservation. Eventually, the land was transferred to the State of Rhode Island. The Town of Cumberland now owns Diamond Hill Park on the east side of Diamond Hill Road. The state still owns the Diamond Hill Management Area on the west side of Diamond Hill Road. 

Navigating the trails

The Diamond Hill Management Area includes about 400-acres bounded by Burnt Swamp Road to the north, West Wrentham Road to the west, Nate Whipple Highway to the south and Diamond Hill Road to the east. It is a wooded area with rolling hills and granite boulders that has a maze of hiking and mountain biking trails.

Our intention was to follow the Scout Trail - about a 5-mile loop. Bill and Al had the map downloaded on their phones, but it was tough even with the map and we were often off on side trails. There was a lot of discussion about how to get back to the cars, but teamwork and a good sense of direction got us through. Nice hike and a lot of fun.

The Scout Trail - not sure how much of this we actually followed

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Diamond Hill Scout Trail from AllTrails

Diamond Hill Park from RI Blueways

Diamond Hill Park Trial Map (Town of Cumberland)

Rice City Pond with the BVPC - June 23, 2026

It had ben raining for two days, but it stopped in time for my Blackstone Valley Paddle Club trip at Rice City Pond. We put-in at the Tri-River Medical Center and paddled under the Stone Arch Bridge and up an old section of the Blackstone Canal. Then we paddled across Rice City Pond and up the Blackstone River before shallow water forced us to turn around and head back. I forgot my camera, but fortunately Mike brought his.

The crew at the put-in

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Wickford Backwaters - June 20, 2026

Heading out into the
Wickford backwaters

I had originally planned to do a RICKA trip on the Sudbury River today, but with the ongoing drought the water was low and the water quality didn’t look great. Instead, I moved the trip to Wickford. Unfortunately, there was a small craft advisory on Narragansett Bay with winds from the west at 15 to 20 kt, gusts up to 25 kt, and 2 to 3 ft waves.

Since we could stay in the protected backwaters of Wickford Harbor, I decided to run the trip anyway. We had a small group of hardy paddlers – 1 canoe (me and Bill in the Spirit II) and 4 kayaks (Sharon, Bob, Paul and Fran). We headed out from Wilson Park into Mill Cove, up to Mill Creek, back past Calf Neck and over to the beach at Cornelius Island. Since the wind was pretty strong in more exposed areas, we decided to call it a day. It was just a 3-mile trip, but it was still nice to get out. Bill, Bob and I stopped for ice cream on the way home at the Inside Scoop, which is always a treat.

The crew - Bob, Paul, Fran, Bill, Sharon and Erik

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Blue Hills Reservation – June 18, 2026

Top of Buck Hill

I joined Bill, Al and Nancy for another nice hike – this time led by Nancy at the Blue Hills Reservation. The 7,000-acre Blue Hills Reservation stretches from Dedham to Quincy and includes more that 120-miles of trails. There are 22 hills in the Blue Hills chain with Great Blue Hill being the tallest at 635-feet. We would be climbing Buck Hill at 493-feet

We met at 8:30 at Triboro Plaza to carpool up to the Houghton’s Pond Recreation Area. I couldn’t help thinking about all the times I drove by the exit for Houghton’s Pond on the way to work. It was nice to be able to stop and visit. After a quick stop at the Visitor Center to pick up a trail map we headed out.

View of Boston from Buck Hill

Nancy led us on the Buck Hill Red Dot Trail to the top of Buck Hill. We then came down the Summit Trail, to the Forest Path White Triangle Trail and back on to the Buck Hill Red Dot Trail – about 5-miles. The trails were moderately strenuous with some rocky sections and lots of hills to climb, but the view of the Boston skyline from the top of wind-swept Buck Hill was pretty amazing. Again, I was glad to be on the hilltop looking at the office buildings of Boston rather than working in them.

We stopped for lunch at the Hillside Pub in Canton. Next week we will hike at Diamond Hill, but I would like to come back here again sometime. 

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Blue Hills Reservation Trail Map and Guide
Blue Hills Reservation Color Coded Hiking Trail Descriptions
Friends of the Blue Hills Guide

Lackey Dam - June 16, 2026

Me and Danny in my new Explorer

I was looking for an opportunity to paddle my new Explorer 17, so I reached out to Danny and he was happy to join me on the Blackstone Valley Paddle Club trip at Lackey Dam on the Mumford River.  

The Mumford River arises at Manchaug Pond and flows 18-miles east until it joins the Blackstone River in Uxbridge. We put in just above Lackey Dam and paddled upstream into Lackey Pond. This time of year the pond is starting to get choked up with water chestnut. The open channel is to the right, but we went a little too far left and had to fight our way through the weeds. Once back on the river we paddled under Route 146 and upstream until it was blocked by trees. The Explorer paddled great.

Me and Danny with my new Explorer

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Mad River Explorer 17

I’ve been looking for a tandem river tripper in Royalex that can carry a big load. Now I have one - a Mad River Explorer 17.

Mad River’s most popular canoe, the Explorer, was introduced in 1975. With its shallow-V hull for stability, moderate rocker for maneuverability and symmetrical shape for solo paddling, the 16’ Explorer has been called one of the most versatile canoes ever built.

My new-to-me canoe is a royalex Explorer 17 built in 1991. The Explorer 17 was designed for wilderness tripping. It’s a big boat – 17’ 2” long, 37” wide, 15" deep and 2" of rocker. It should hold a lot of gear. I can’t wait to try it out, but first I need to figure out where to store it.