Animal Farm

It's Memorial Day weekend. Rule 1 - start early. Rule 2 - Avoid where the motorboats go.

I put in at the Green Chimneys launch with a plan of paddling up to Patterson and back, a total of 13 twisting miles of prime beaver habitat. I is about 65F, but will rise into the lower 80's. There is a threat of thunderstorms in the afternoon, but right now it is absolutely clear skies and the air is still.

Rule 3 - first one up the river sees the most wildlife. There are a couple of cars in the lot, but they have kayak racks. Kayakers generally don't get very far in the Great Marsh. Great Marsh Rule  #1 - You have to get out of your boat if your going to get anywhere. This is beaver territory, so dams and fallen trees are standard, and kayaks just don't work well for clambering onto beaver dams or over logs.

I start off. Before I get to the first pond, the word is peaceful. It is still and quiet, and the swamp is lush with spring growth. A Great Blue Heron watches me approach. The sunny clear sky casts deep shadows from the surrounding forest. Yellow irises are in bloom all around. I find only one small stand of purple irises.

I pass six people. Three are fishing, three are wandering about just below the forest section. They warn me of a couple Swans as they head out. I paddle through a low spot  in beaver dam and find the Swans soon enough. They have seven Cygnets - quite a good hatch!  The Cob hisses at me while the Pen keeps the Cygnets behind her. I swing as wide as I can and move on.

The forest section is fairly open and although I have to weave around a few deadfalls, there is no need to step out of the canoe. I spot two pairs of Canada Geese with a total of seven Goslings. I also find a hen Wood Duck with 13 Ducklings. Woodies clutch nest - hens will dump their eggs in an established nest leaving that hen to tend all of them. This one has one or two broods that weren't hers.  I ease up and they find a side channel to head up. The hen will feign broken wing and decoy predators (or canoes) away from the ducklings. I try not to get that started whenever possible. I spot two muskrats and one mouse, which was swimming surprisingly fast across the river.

The powerline portage is still required - a large pile of fallen trees block the river. It's just a muddy 30 footer, but it will stop 99% of the people that paddle this far. Then, it's a quarter mile to the only bridge.

The portage

The upper marsh starts with the bridge. After a hundred yards of forest, it opens up into a broad marsh where the only trees are dead grey sticks - a forest that the beaver started drowning out at least 20 years ago. But first, I am greeted by a black bear swimming across the river about 50 yards ahead of me. It looks like it might be 2 years old or so, just old enough that mom isn't with it anymore.

Clean bear

There's no one other than me in this section of the river. I see four snapping turtles, sized from small to almost big. The bullfrogs are twanging away as well. I find a solid beaver dam about a mile below Patterson. Most people won't get past it even though it has to be one of the easiest beaver dams to cross. It is solidly built and easy to get out and stand on. I meet some people on the water between here and Patterson. 

I have a nice talk with a guy at the Patterson put in. He is here working his hunting dog, but he knows his way around canoes. With that, I head back. I find everyone I had met on the water parked at the beaver dam. They ask if there is a way around it, and I shake my head.  I cross over and head on.

At the portage, I surprise a dozen people as I emerge from the weeds. They ask if there is a way around it, and I shake my head. I tell them it is just 30 feet of grassy mud, but I know they won't go any farther. I climb back into my canoe and head off.

I find the Swans inside the forest. I get hissed at twice this time. I pass a few more people on the way out. There's not much wildlife near the river with all the traffic. But it was an exceptional day.