Dam to Dam

 I put in some distance above the first dam on the big river.  It is a pleasant summer day with light wind and just enough clouds to provide some occasional shade.

I wanted some distance today and realized that I had never paddled this entire section of the river at in one trip.  The sign at the launch site informed me of a portage on the east side of the river 2.7 miles downstream.  I set out down river following the somewhat more forested west bank and the 2.7 miles went by in record pace.  Apparently the sign maker posted the round trip distance to the portage.

From a safe distance above the dam I turned and headed back upstream.  It is a good uninterrupted paddle, with only a couple of fishing boats and a few kayaks that move aimlessly like waterbugs, not sure where to go and not willing to go too far from where they start.

I filter out the road noise and do my best to ignore houses that have been built too close to the water.  They are all either shoe horned in to the space between a busy road or a rarely used railroad line.  In between those minor developments are tall forested hillsides of state land.

I spot a mature Bald Eagle.

There has been no current until I get up to the Ramp.  The Ramp is a bank to bank shallow spot with, I suspect, a rock shelf as river bottom.  In high water during winter or spring the current here is fast enough to stop me from ascending any higher.  Bank to bank, there are no eddies to tuck into and no exposed beach to line the canoe.  One either muscles through or they call it a day.  Today, the current is a cake walk.

The Rock Garden

As I get to the rockier areas just below the next dam I start sighting Common Mergansers.  They are all first year fledglings with coloring that is a bit like the adult female.  As usual, they are grouped together, safety in numbers.

Hitchhiker on the nose of the canoe

I turn back from the top of the rock garden.  It's about a quarte mile below the dam, fast water but with lots of boulders that form eddies. Paddling up through it is a series of short sprints out of one eddy and into the next.  It's entertaining canoe play time.  Then I turn and pick my way back through using as little effort as possible - a backstroke here, a short back ferry to avoid a rock, then line the canoe up through a gap and let it run.