Farmington

I start upstream from the new bridge at Old Farms Road. It is the first time that I've put in here. There are several good spots to launch if one isn't too picky. This location is better than the nearby spots with a crushed rock trail leading down to the water.

When the new bridge was being built, an archaeology survey turned up an early Native American encampment dating 12,000-13,000 years old. That was a good find as that was near to when people were first entering the region as the ice age glaciers receded.

The day is mid-70's with a south wind that doesn't matter much as the river is fairly well protected. The sky is partly cloudy with large non-threatening cumulus clouds.

I don't paddle here as often as I once did, and I've forgotten just how pleasant and simple the river is; there are logjams or beaver dams to crawl over, it's just get into the canoe and go. The river has 10-foot high banks on either side with a thin veneer of forest to enclose it all. The veneer, of course, is rather poor habitat for anything other than song birds and it is backed by golf courses, play fields and some remaining farm land.

The river is a little higher than normal but not so much that it makes any difference. The current is a 2:1 (paddle 2 hours upstream, return in 1 hour), which is normal and about as good as it gets. 

The remains of the aqueduct pillar can just be seen back in the forest

It takes me one hour to get to the Farmington Canal Aqueduct ruins. The canal was finished in 1835 and the aqueduct was 270 ft long and 50 ft above the river. It was ready to go just a few years before railroads would make it obsolete. 

I reach the old mill dam ruins in 1-1/2 hours. There is a short 50 yard portage to get around the dam, but that is not in the cards today. I play for a few minutes in the eddies below the dam, and then turn back for an easy downriver return.