Back to Lake Mattabesset

I returned to the same put-in that I started from yesterday. The water has come up about a foot and a half since then. The portage to the river is three feet shorter. The tree I leaned my paddles against is now surrounded by water. The forest on the far side of the river is canoeable. The Hartford gauge is at 15.3 feet. By the way, there is no Lake Mattabesset, but you wouldn't know it to look at the river today.

I head upstream. Above this put-in, the river is a bit unpredictable. At some levels, one paddles right past the gravel bars, and at some levels the funneled water is too swift and I have to wade past. Today, the water is so backed up by the high level of the Connecticut River that there is no current for the first mile and a half, and the gravel bars are several feet below the surface.

This section of the river is forest or swamp, and a swamp, by definition, is a marsh with trees. It is easy and pleasant going with a couple diversions out of the main channel just to see what is out there.

The old rail trestle

The old rail trestle is easy paddling. In normal conditions, it is a short and awkward portage. Not far above that are the two highway bridges. This can be too fast to paddle against in most conditions, but today the current is slow. Above that the river is narrower with more deadfalls. No more than a quarter mile up is the furthest that I have ever reached. It is swift water, but not rapids. Some eddy hopping and one or two short wades gets me above my previous high point.

It is straight forward paddling with not much of notice except for the unusual amount of pottery fragments on the bottom. This is pretty common, anytime I can see bottom. I spot a mink as it swims over to a large deadfall in mid channel.

Just above the bridge on Berlin Road

I call it a trip when I get to an old broken dam just a bit past the second bridge above the highway. There is smooth water above, but I would have to do a contortion portage to get past the dam, and perhaps repeat it on the way out.

Back at the put-in, I turn right and paddle out into the forest to link up with an open marsh that lies about a half mile downriver. I spot a mature Bald Eagle and a pair of Osprey.Then, it is time to return.