Paddling in Wellfleet - August 15-22, 2026

Heading out from the cottage in a light wind

We just finished up a week-long vacation in Wellfleet on Indian Neck Beach. There are several great paddling location nearby, but I only got out twice due to tides and weather. In the protected bays and salt marshes you need to get out around high tide since the water retreats significantly at low tide exposing huge mudflats. You also need to be careful about the the wind since it can change quickly and kick up significant chop on the bay. I also like to paddle early in the morning so I have time with the family later in the day. Getting all three of these to align turned out to be a challenge. I did get out twice - Wellfleet Harbor and Great Island and Blackfish Creek.

Blackfish Creek - August 20, 2026

View to Great Island

Conditions were perfect this morning to get out and paddle – light winds and tide just going out. It was my second time paddling this vacation (the first was Wellfleet Harbor and Great Island), and I decided to head south from the cottage to Blackfish Creek.

The Blackfish Creek is named for pilot whales, known locally as "blackfish". Even before Wellfleet sent whaling ships into the North Atlantic, local residents were “shore whaling”. Blackfish Creek was one of the places that whale carcasses were brought ashore for “trying” – the process of stripping and boiling the blubber.

Lieutenant Island Bridge

I launched from the Barton Baker Beach Access (Michelle got some pictures) and headed south along Indian Neck Beach. The views over to Great Island were amazing.

There are three coves off Blackfish Creek – Paine Hollow, Drummer Cove and Loagy Bay. I got confused and rather than paddling down Blackfish Creek to Drummer Cove as I intended, I paddled down Loagy Bay. Along the western shore is Lieutenant Island and the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. I made it down as far as the Lieutenant Island Bridge before paddling back.

Back at the cottage

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My Pictures
Michelle’s Pictures – Launching at Burton Baker Beach Access

Where to Paddle in Wellfleet

Paddling the Cape Cod National Seashore

Wellfleet Harbor and Great Island - Auguast 18, 2026

Cottage at Indian Neck Beach

We are renting a cottage on Indian Neck Beach in Wellfleet this week. The good news is that there are several great paddling locations just outside my door. The bad news is that the wind and tides have been conspiring against me when it comes to paddling.

Paddling here is very dependent on the tides. At low tide, the water retreats significantly dropping by 8-10 feet and exposing huge mudflats. While Wellfleet Bay is protected by Great Island to the east, a southwest wind (typical many mornings and most afternoons) can kick up significant chop in the bay.

Boats in Wellfleet Harbor

Since I am paddling alone, I’m pretty particular about where and when I paddle. I'd prefer to launch early in the morning, in light winds and around high tide so I will have a couple of hours of paddling before water recedes. I woke up yesterday to near perfect conditions – tide just going out and light winds from the east, so I decided to explore Wellfleet Harbor and Great Island.

I launched from the public beach access at Burton Baker and headed north along Indian Neck Beach. After rounding the breakwater I headed into Wellfleet Harbor. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Wellfleet was home to a large whaling and fishing fleet. As tourism grew in the 1870’s a dike and railroad bridge were constructed across Duck Creek, which cut off much of Wellfleet’s inner harbor. As the inner harbor silted up and turned into salt marshes, commercial fishing moved out leaving Wellfleet to become a quiet seaside town.

Chequessett Point and Great Island

Today, Wellfleet Harbor is filled with small recreational boats. I paddled around the harbor, past the pier, along Mayo Beach and past Chequessett Point to Great Island.

Great Island is no longer an island but rather part of the 6-mile barrier beach that separates Cape Cod Bay from Wellfleet Bay. The peninsula incudes two former islands (Great Island and Great Beach Hill), two salt marshes (the Gut and Middle Meadow Marsh), and a narrow sand spit at the end called Jeremy Point.

Middle Meadow Marsh and Great Beach Island

As I paddled past the towering cliffs of Great Island I could see seals feeding just off shore. I landed at the bottom of Great Hill Island at Middle Meadow Marsh to check out the cliffs and the salt marsh. Unfortunately, there was no clear path across the marsh to the Cape Cod Bay side. The wind was starting to pick up so I decided to head back.

My original plan was retrace my route along Great Island, Chequessett Point and Mayo Beach before crossing the bay. When I got to the bottom of Great Island I got confused and started the crossing. It ended up being a crossing of about a mile rather than a quarter mile, but it cut two miles off the trip. I made it across fine.

Sandbar at Middle Meadow Marsh with
the cliffs of Great Hill Island in the distance

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My Pictures

Where to Paddle in Wellfleet

Paddling the Cape Cod National Seashore

Snow Peak Amenity Dome Medium

Two openings in the vestibule

Now that I am retired, I will finally be able to join the RICKA Adirondacks trip. I’ll be canoe-camping for 3 nights with Aaron on the Oswegatchie River, and then join Bill and the RICKA crew for day-trips based out of Eaton Lake State Park.

I dug out the old Eureka Mountain Pass 3XTE that I usually use for base-camping and found that the plastic windows in the fly had degraded and cracked. It's noting that can't be fixed with duck tape, but it wasn’t quite as big as I wanted, so I decided to look for a new base-camping tent.

View from the front

I wanted a tent with plenty of interior room for a cot or large air mattress and a large vestibule to get out of the rain. I ended up with the Snow Peak Amenity Dome Medium. Since it was a discontinued model the price was right.

The Snow Peak Amenity Dome Medium is a 3-season, 4-person, Japanese-style tent that trades some interior standing room for durability in challenging weather. Spec’s are:

• Fly including Vestibule: 16.6' x 9.2’
• Sleeping Tent: 8.8’ x 8.8’
• Peak Height: 4.9’

Front flap set up as an awning

The packed size is 29" x 9.8" x 8.7" in its carrying case with a total weight of 19.6 lbs. It’s a big tent that takes up a lot of room in the canoe and the campsite.

While most car-camping tents prioritize stand-up ceiling height, this Japanese-style tent is intentionally built low to the ground to survive severe wind and heavy rain. The tent is divided into two distinct zones – a sleeping area and a front vestibule or “porch”. The front vestibule extends the length of the fly by 7.8 ft and can be used as an outdoor kitchen, lounge, gear garage, or a dry entryway during downpours.

All closed up

The front vestibule can be opened from a large front flap or zippered side panel. This allows you to close off the side facing the wind or rain while keeping the other side open for ventilation. The front flap can also be set up with poles to become an awning.

I still need to get an 8’ x 8’ ground cloth for the tent, and I want to get a cot and small folding table to put inside, but I think it is going to work out fine.

Plenty of room inside with a twin-size air mattress

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Snow Peak Amenity Dome

My Tents

Lincoln Woods - August 13, 2026

I tore the meniscus in my knee back in December, and haven't been able to kneel in my canoes since. I have been very good about doing physical therapy, and today I decided to give kneeling in my whitewater boat another try. I was able to paddle from the boat ramp down to the beach for a swim and back - not too painful, but a good NSAID helps. It might be time to try a Fife run.

My solo canoe at the beach at Lincoln Wood

Woodward Forest - August 12, 2026

Heading out

The mid-week hiking crew (Bill, Al, Danny and me) was out again. This time at the Woodward Forest in Norton, MA.

We met at the trailhead at the end of Gateway Lane. The trails are mostly compacted ground through Hemlock and Beech trees. We hiked about 2.5-miles, and then went out for breakfast at the Hanger 12 at the Mansfield Airport.

The crew - Bill, Al, Danny and Erik

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Land Preservation Trust of Norton
Trail Map

Echo Lake - August 12, 2026

Heading out

I did last night's Blackstone Valley Paddle Club trip on an lake that I had never paddled before – Echo Lake.

Echo Lake, also known as the Pascoag Reservoir, is a 325-acre lake located in Burrillville and Glocester. It is popular for boating, fishing, and paddling with a state-maintained boat ramp off Maroney Road. We put in at the boat ramp and headed out to circumnavigate the lake. The shoreline developed with houses, but there are lots of coves and islands to explore. Boat traffic can be heavy, but it wasn’t too bad last night.

Paddling with Cheryl in the Spirit II

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Echo Lake from RI DEM

RICKA Meeting on the Water - Lincoln Woods - August 10, 2026

Skye, Steve and Danny enjoy
snacks at site 45

During the summer, RICKA’s monthly meetings are replaced with “Meetings on the Water” – paddles that are intended to get people together who might not normally paddle together, or to get people out to venues that they might not normally visit. In July, the Sea Kayak group led a Full Moon Paddle at the URI Bay Campus in Narragansett. This month, the flatwater group led a paddle at Lincoln Woods State Park. 

Paddlers launched from the boat ramp for the trip around Olney Pond. We also got a permit for picnic sites 45/46, which has a nice beach for landing boats. We got a campfire going and had snacks for anyone who stopped. Bill brought a homemade blueberry pie, Skye brought home-grown tomatoes, and I made monkey bread and brownies in the Dutch oven, and quesadillas on the fire. It was a nice night.

Hiking at Lincoln Woods - August 5, 2026

I found a walking stick

The mid-week hiking crew with Bill, Alan, Danny and Nancy was back at Lincoln Woods State Park yesterday for a 5-mile hike.

Lincoln Woods is RI’s oldest state park. It opened in 1909 after acquiring farmland and woodlots from the Olney, Arnold, Comstock, and Mitchell families. Over the years, it has grown to 627-acres around Olney Pond bordered by Route 146 to the west, Breakneck Hill Road to the north and Great Road/Route 123 to the east.

Danny at the stone steps

This time Bill took us further out into the woods out near Breakneck Hill Road. In addition to large boulder outcroppings, we found old foundations, stairs carved into the bedrock and other remnants of the old homesteads from the days before this became a state park. And we didn’t get lost - too often.

Breakfast after the hike was at the 9 Twenty Cafe in Lonsdale.

The crew - Alan, Bill, Erik, Danny and Nancy

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Stump Pond - August 5, 2026

Giving the safety talk

I led my second Blackstone Valley Paddle Club trip of the year last night at Stump Pond.

At 300 acres and 2.3 miles long, Stump Pond in Smithfield (also known as the Stillwater Reservoir) is the largest pond in the Woonasquatucket River watershed. The wooded shores, islands, and scenic hills make it a great place for a paddle.

Heading out

The Stillwater Reservoir was built in 1910 to provide a reliable water supply through the summer for the mills down river. It was never a drinking water reservoir. The local name “Stump Pond” came from the many tree trunks that remained standing in the water after the dam was built.

We put in at the Stump Pond Fishing Area and paddled across to the Pleasant Avenue Bridge. The pond was too high for us to paddle under the pipe under the bridge, so we then headed north to the dam, and then east to the where Woonasquatucket River enters the pond, and then back to the put-in - about 3-miles. Nice night.

Back at the put-in at sunset

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Fife Brook - Deerfield Riverfest - August 2, 2026

I made arrangements with Aaron to do a tandem run at Fife Brook on Sunday. It was Deerfield Riverfest weekend, so I expected there to be a lot of people around - there weren't. With the heavy rain last week there were other rivers were running, and the Fife Brook dam released at over 2,000 cfs on Saturday, which may have scared some people off. Fortunately, Conrad was leading a Boston AMC trip, so we were able to hook up with him.

There are two sections of the Deerfield with summer releases that are popular for whitewater paddling. Advanced paddlers often head to the Dryway in Monroe Bridge. This is a class III-IV section for experienced whitewater paddlers. We would be paddling the Fife Brook section, which is mostly class II, with the exception of Zoar Gap at the end that is class III. This would be my 24th run on Fife Brook, and my second paddling tandem with Aaron.

Heading downstream

We met the group at 10:00 at the Zoar Picnic Area to arrange the shuttle. With high water conditions, the release from the Fife Brook dam continued throughout the night, so we didn’t need to wait for the water to come up. The original release estimate was 1,500 cfs, but it was actually releasing closer to 1,000 cfs for most of the late morning/early afternoon.

We got on the water around 11:00 and practiced ferries and eddy turns/peal outs at the put-in before heading downstream. Just downstream from the put-in is the first rapid known as Hangover Helper - a ledge extends across most of the river resulting in a 2-foot drop followed by a long wave train. We ran the drop and played in the waves before moving downstream.

Jeff on his Paddleboard

The next rapid - Carbis Bend - is similar but smaller. A ledge extends out from the left side of the river producing a couple of easy surf waves. Aaron and I got there first and were able to do some surfing before the kayaks arrived.

Just downstream from Carbis Bend is Freight Train, which is a long wave train that ends with a large surf wave. The rapid takes its name from the speed that many people build up running through the waves, and the railroad bridge just downstream that carries freight trains across the river. We were able to drop into the big surf wave below the railroad bridge for some surfing.

Running the Island Rapid

After Freight Train we took a break at the Bridge to Nowhere before running Pinball. Pinball is a rock garden that’s a great place to practice eddy turns, peel outs and ferries. Aaron and I ran the rapid backwards ferrying from rock to rock until we needed to head downstream to stay with the group.

After Pinball is the Island Rapid. As the name describes, the river is split by an island. The usual route is to the left with large waves and fast moving water where the river reconnects at the end. Aaron and I were able to catch the eddy on the left and get some pictures of others coming through.

Below Zoar Gap

After the Island Rapid comes Zoar Gap – the largest rapid on this section of the river. We scouted it from the road and confirmed the usual line - just right of center down the shoot at the top, then left down the shoot at the large boulder.

Aaron and I went down last. We caught an eddy on the left on the way down, and then ferried out before turning downstream into the Gap. Aaron guided us down the first shoot and lined us up perfectly for the second drop. Always trust your bowman. My record at Zoar Gap is now 22 attempts with 14 successful, 6 swims and 2 walks. I have been successful on my last 7 attempts. Here is Aaron's video of the run.

Here are the major rapids as best I can identify them.

• Surfing Carbis Bend – 0:00
• Running Freight Train – 1:11
• Surfing below the Railroad Bridge – 2:02
• Running one of the unnamed rapids – 2:28
• Back ferrying/surfing down Pinball – 2:40
• Close call on a rock in Pinball – 3:30
• Miami Beach – 3:55
• Planning from the eddy above Zoar Gap - 4:33
• Running Zoar Gap – 4:54
• Below Zoar Gap – 5:36
• Mini Gap – 5:55
• Train goes by – 6:15

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Two views of our run through Zoar Gap

Aaron's Video

Rob's Video of Zoar Gap Runs 

Zoar Gap runs over the years

Fife Brook Release Schedule

Charlemont Gage
River Description from American Whitewater