History Trip

November 17

The fall winds would let up for the day so I planned a canoe trip with a bit of history for M, who has a possible art project coming up in the town of Farmington.  

We started at the remains of the aqueduct that crossed the Farmington River.  In the United States, The ability and reason for building such canals developed just a few years before the development of railroads.  Except for short canals that bi-passed rapids or other impassable water, these longer canals quickly fell out of use.

Farmington Canal

The Farmington

I shoulder the canoe and we follow the old tow path for about 200 yards down to the river.  The stone foundations that supported the 50 foot high aqueduct remain on either side of the river.  I'm sure there are a couple of pilings in the river as well, but they were demolished well enough to not be seen, at least today.  The stone pillars stood until the mid 1950's when they were badly damaged in a flood and had to be taken down.

Aqueduct ruins

Recent rains have provided just the right amount of water.  I let M know that this is a 2:1 current and that our return trip will take half as long as our paddle upstream.

After a half hour M comments that the river lacks wildlife.  We talk a bit about patch ecology.  Some birds and animals like marshes, some like forests, some like rivers and others prefer the boundary where those patches meet.  Additionally, the birds and animals require a patch to be of a certain size before it is habitat.  In this case, the river is a patch, but the trees that line the river are not as those "woods" are usually only 10 or 20 yards in width with farms, golf courses or housing behind.  The trees are, however, an edge between patches, so it can be an okay place to spot birds that like edges such as Hawks.

We reach the old mill dam ruins in an hour.  The last 1/4 mile up to the dam is shallow fast water and we have to pick out the slower current and sometimes just places with water deep enough for the paddles.  It's a 50 yard portage around the dam remains and we put into the slower water of the old mill pond.

Up at the next bend we have the option of continuing up the Farmington, which from past experience is a bit dull, or heading into the smaller Pequabuck River.

In the Pequabuck

The Pequabuck was one of my first explores when I moved to this area.  It drains a large marsh, meanders often, and runs through low land that is unsuitable for development.  So, the quantity of bird life multiplies many times over what we'd seen in the Farmington and the comparative lack of tameness is obvious.  A half mile short of the second bridge (which is fast water requiring some wading) we pause for coffee. 

Our return is easy, our speed more than doubles as we ride the current.  In the mill pond we talk to the only person that we've seen today, a fisherman casting from a gravel bar - hoping for trout but expecting small mouth bass.  Then a quick portage around the dam ruins and a easy paddle down back to the put-in.