From the Gifford Pinchot Sycamore

An early morning start was sabotaged by a minor plumbing repair that needed to be taken care of so that there would be a pot to piss in.  With that done, I headed to the Farmington River.

I paddle different sections of the Farmington perhaps once or twice a year.  At most water levels, the river between its confluence with the Pequabuck and the town of Tariffville makes for good out-and-back trips with a 2:1 ratio (2 hours up, 1 hour back). It is good paddling although it has wildness limitations.  There is nothing worse than a riverside golf course to rip the wildness out of a river.

I put in at the Gifford Pinchot sycamore and head upstream. The water level is in the normal range.  The weather is somewhere in the upper 40's, mostly sunny, with a wind out of the northwest. There are just enough trees and hillsides that the wind is not a factor other than a little extra coolness on the back of my neck.

I flush a couple small flocks of ducks, Mallards by the calls. Otherwise, I just paddle. It is a nice river, but not the most exciting.  Somewhere near one of the golf courses, I spot a beaver.  I've never seen any beaver sign in this stretch of the river, let alone the animal.  The Pequabuck and Tariffville areas have obvious populations.  The only sign of beaver that I see during the trip is the beaver.  I wonder where it is going.

I turn back after a bit more than an hour and a half, and I am back to my put-in almost exactly on that 2:1 ratio.