I was surprised to see that my last post did not even include our completion of the Susquehanna River last summer. I think it is a result of the blur that all of our lives have been for a few years…and the reality that we post updates on Facebook and then forget to create a post here. With a bit of back peddling (or paddling, as the case might be) perhaps I can catch up on the later. But for now, we turn our minds to the Connecticut River whose headwaters are in the North Country of New Hampshire. That is the bit of New Hampshire that looks like it should be Canada as it juts up into Quebec.
This trip was a little different from others. We brought along our spouses. We arranged a couple of days in an Air B&B and lucked out with a nicely appointed log cabin overlooking one of the lakes. The furniture lent itself perfectly to a place for Mark and John to chill while Karen and I tackled the first waters of the river.
It is gorgeous there. Mountains and lakes and rivers. Everyone likes the outdoors there in all four seasons. Well, does anyone actually like mud season and is there really anything you can do in mud season that is fun? Maybe you have to be a New Englander to know what I am talking about. Mud season aside, it is stunning, and we went to explore it at the best time: autumn. The leaves were starting to turn and made lovely reflections in the lakes. The loons called out and flapped their wings. The bald eagle soared above, and the heron swooped across the sky like the pterodactyl from which it appears to be descended.
The only thing that disappointed us was the lack of moose. We are convinced that it is a PR ploy of New England when you see moose crossing signs. They are just luring us to spend money in the region and get up at the crack of dawn, drive miles down the road to wait and watch and maybe see a moose. No go. Do they really exist? Are the pictures photoshopped? Are the locals laughing at us as we leave the house in the dark of the morning with hope in our hearts? One has about as good a chance at seeing a moose in New Hampshire as winning a big lottery jackpot!
So, commencing a trip on the Connecticut River means paddling on a series of small lakes. The river bubbles up from the ground near the Pittsburgh/Chartierville border crossing on Rt 3. That is called Fourth Connecticut River Lake, and it is accessed via a hiking trail that zigzags across the US/Canadian border. No passport is necessary as you hike over brass markers in the ground telling you which side of the border you are on. We took a photo of our feet in two different countries. The views from the steeply inclined path are amazing. You can see for dozens of miles. Fourth Connecticut River Lake is a swamp created by water from springs. I suppose one could paddle on it, but you would have to carry your canoe or kayak up that steep incline for 45 minutes in order to do that. There is no car access.
So, the actual journey of paddling the river starts on, you guessed it, Third Connecticut River Lake. This was the most crystalline of all the lakes. There we saw and heard our first loons of the trip. We had imagined paddling each of the lakes…there are three more to describe…from north to south. However, we discovered when we arrived that most only have one access point so in order to do that we would have had to paddle to the far end and then south and then back to the access point. Not enough time nor inclination for that. Instead, we settled our sights on just paddling some part of each lake over the two days we had allotted for the trip. We managed our hike and paddling on the Third Lake on our first day there. That evening we tried moose sightings at Scott’s Bog because, according to the locals, early evening is when to spot them. Again, it’s a ploy. But the bog was beautiful, and we stayed, eyes glued on the water’s edge, until the lack of light made our eyes hurt and we began seeing things that weren’t there. Karen is still pretty sure she saw a moose…or some deer…but in the waning light boulders can resemble just about anything.
On day two we headed out to Second Connecticut River Lake. The lakes are numbered in descending order which has a tendency to confuse the brain. Each of the lakes is either naturally (First Lake) or artificially dammed. You can read more about that here. We paddled out and around what looked like an island but, perhaps due to dropping water levels, was no longer an island. We managed to push through some shallow water and made our way back to the access point. Again, stunning fall colors and gentle waters.
The wind started kicking up as we pushed out onto the waters of First Connecticut River Lake. With headwinds and high waves, we decided to make is a very short paddle just to say we had paddled on that lake. Unlike paddling the Ohio River, which offered fierce headwinds on a regular basis, and required us to keep up the paddling as long as we could despite the winds, we opted for the wise way out this time. We went back to the cabin for lunch, naps, and reading in the afternoon.
Later in the afternoon, we headed out for ice cream with John and Mark…and then another moose hunt. A sucker is born every day. Again, a ploy but we enjoyed the beauty of East Inlet Lake and were advised by two photographers that the moose were rutting and hard to spot but if we wanted to try to see one, come back in the early morning.
Yep, we succumbed once again to the search for the elusive moose and set our alarms for 5:30 am and headed out in 37-degree weather to put our canoe in the lake and paddle in the mist. And yep, you guessed it again. No moose. But we enjoyed a gorgeous sunrise through the morning mist.
Lake Francis was the last stretch we could do before getting to the shallow parts of the river that are best left to brave kayakers or folks tubing in the summer heat. I wonder why they didn’t name it Fifth Connecticut River Lake? At the base there is a 100 foot dam. There were two access points on Lake Francis, so we were able to paddle about 3-4 miles. John and Mark dropped us off at the state park at the north end and spent some time enjoying the antics of loons. Karen and I continued to marvel at the beauty of the hills and mountains and changing colors of autumn. The guys picked us up at the south end of the lake near the dam, and from there we headed home, passing the access point in Canaan, Vermont, where we will put in next spring and begin what we are imaging to be a “paddle through” of the river…perhaps three weeks of adventure at one time, instead of doing it in short stints. This is the advantage of us both being retired now. We can plan for trips that are longer than our usual 6 days. Time will tell as to whether we manage that or not, but we have learned that setting goals always, always, gets us down the rivers in whatever time we have.
Here’s to a new adventure and something to look forward to next spring.
Paddles ready for Third Lake
Second Lake
Paddle With Us 