Freshet

My break is called by an animal sliding off the river bank some 10 yards ahead of me. I did not see it - just the disturbance in the water. There is a short trail of bubbles from the submerged animal, and I make the call, beaver. The bubbles are air being squeezed out of the fur. I back in to a slot in the river bank and watch. I spot it again, twenty yards downriver. My call was correct. It eyeballs me, a typical beaver behavior, swimming slowly and hoping that I will move so that I can be identified with the beaver's poor eyesight. I get two tail slaps, which are not warnings, but rather an attempt to startle me and make me move. It swims past me, and then another tail slap downstream of me. There's a pair.

I planned to paddle on the Connecticut River with a start at the Rocky Hill ferry. When I got there, I found the river running at least six feet above normal. The recent rainstorm has put the river in a freshet. But, this day is fine with a temperature of 60F, light winds, and a partly cloudy sky.

 Not wanting to deal with the spiffy current, I headed to the Mattabesset, which I knew would be backed up and well flooded.

I head down the Mattabesset. The river is up in the trees and staying in the river channel is not required. I cut through the trees and flooded cattail marshes. There are quite a few Great Blue Herons, lots of Flickers and Red Wing Blackbirds, and I spot one mature Bald Eagle.

Dinosaurs

I paddle out of one of the marshes towards where the Tepee 2 beaver lodge should be. There is no sight until I am almost on top of it. Only a couple inches of this five foot tall lodge are above water. 

I turn up the Coginchaug when I get to the confluence. It is up this river that I spot the two beaver, I find their lodge about fifty yards from where I saw them. It is a bank burrow and although the brush pile that guards the air vent is high and dry, I'm sure that the living space is flooded.

Flooded beaver bank burrow

I get up to the highest paddleable spot - where the river becomes a narrow and fast running creek. There, I turn and head back, following the main river channels, just in case I missed something on the way out.