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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Pawcatuck “Wilderness” Trip – June 24-25, 2017

Steve

Each spring, The RICKA Wilderness group does an overnight trip on the Pawcatuck River.  The idea is to give people a sense of what it takes to do more extended wilderness tripping from a canoe or kayak.  The Pawcatuck has a bunch of nice paddle-in sites, so it’s the perfect place for this type of trip. 

I didn’t have time to pack up on Friday, so I was rushing around on Saturday morning to get everything together. Usually with meals it is “everyone for themselves”, but for this trip we decided to do group meals, and I agreed to take breakfast.  The remnants of Tropical Strom Cindy would be coming through as well, so I packed tarps, clothes, and rain gear that I wouldn’t normally bring.  I had two big drybags stuffed with food and gear.

Enjoying the campfire

Just as I was about to leave the rain started, and it pored until about 11:00.  Then, just a predicted, the storm moved off and the sky cleared.  It turned out to be a beautiful day.  We met at the Richmond Landing (now called the Jay Cronin Access), ran the shuttle down to Alton, and then got on the river for an easy paddle down to the campsite. 

We camped at the bootleg site at the confluence of the Wood and the Pawcatuck.  When we arrived, the site was a mess – littered with beer cans and broken glass. The first job was to clean things up.  After that we set up the tents, took a hike down to the osprey nest (no osprey in residence) and cooked dinner.  Bill joined us around dinner time, and we settled in for a relaxing evening around the campfire. 

At the take-out at Alton Dam

Most of us were up early on Sunday, so we got the fire going, cooked breakfast, and sat around the fire before packing up to leave.  Once on the water we paddle up the Wood River to Alton.  Great trip.

The crew gets ready to leave

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Paddle Across Rhode Island – Pawcatuck Camping – July 11, 2014

I drove straight from work to the Alton Dam so I could join the Paddle Across Rhode Island crew for at least one overnight on the river.  As I paddled out of the Wood River into the Pawcatuck River, it was great to see Chuck sitting on a rock waiting for me.  Actually, he was probably waiting for his cigarettes, but it was good to see him just the same.  Dave cooked fajitas for supper, and we sat around the campfire until it was time for bed.  The next morning, I cooked breakfast before the crew headed off on the next leg of their trip.

Cooking breakfast for the crew

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Wood/Pawcatuck Camping - May 19 - 20, 2012

Heading downstream

It only takes me a few minutes to pack for a business trip – throw a few cloths in the overnight bag and hope for the best. That was not the case as I prepared for my first canoe camping trip. I spent a couple of weeks getting my gear together.

The trip took place on a pleasant section of the Wood/Pawcatuck Rivers between Hopkinton and Bradford. The plan was to camp at the paddle-in campsites at the Burlingame Management Area. After running the shuttle, we put-in on the Wood River behind Dow Field. The river starts off narrow and we immediately had two large blow-downs to negotiate.

Lee running the first dam

Our first portage was also just downstream at the dam for the old Hope Valley Mill. We portaged on the left and put into the quickwater below the dam. Below the Hope Valley Mill is another low dam at the gauging station. Fortunately at this level (2.5 ft, 180 cfs at Hope Valley; 3.5 ft, 100 cfs at Arcadia), the river was high enough to run this dam.

By this time, we had been on the river for a couple of hours, but had only travelled a mile downstream. We stopped for lunch at the Switch Road Landing before continuing our trip.  Below Switch Road, the river is wooded and scenic. The river turned more marsh-like as it approached the second portage at the Woodville Dam. Below the Woodville Dam is river is deeper with good current.

Setting up camp

As we approached the final portage at the Alton Dam, we could see that a large group of boy scouts was already gathered at the take-out. We carried through the group, along the way learning that they also planned to stay at the Burlingame camp sites. We put-in down the steep bank at the bottom of the dam, and once we got back on the water, regrouped to discuss our plans for the night.

Knowing that the Burlingame camp sites would be crowded, we decided to change our plans and camp a little further upstream at a boot-leg site at the convergence of the Wood and Pawcaturck Rivers. Up a small hill we found a large fire ring and a pleasant pine grove. There was plenty of room for three tents and two hammocks. We set up camp, cooked supper and sat back to enjoy the evening campfire.

Running the broken dam

On Sunday, we broke camp early and began our trip down to Bradford Landing. We ran the broken dam at Burdickville and stopped to check out the Burlingame campsites. While there were some open sites, we all agreed that we made the right decision to camp upstream.

We continued downstream to Bradford which was the official end of our trip. Jim and I decided to extend the trip a little longer and continue down the Pawcatuck to check out the campsites at the Grills Preserve of the Westerly Land Trust just downstream. It was pleasant paddle down, but a little more work paddling back up against the current to our cars. I arrived home by 1:00 after a great weekend trip.

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Wood River gage near Hope Valley
Wood River gage near Arcadia