Doing the Wash - Great Swamp

I put in on the Great Swamp from the Patterson launch.  It is partly sunny going to overcast with a temperature of 65F and a light wind coming up the river. The water is a little high, but still within the banks.

I head upstream.  Upstream from Patterson is always an iffy plan.  Few people head this way, so there is always a lot of dead wood in the river.  A year or two back, I made it all of the way to the beaver meadow at the "height of land".  The meadow has plenty water, but at the point it is in channels that are too small for a canoe.  The small pond just below the meadow is formed by a 2-3 ft high beaver dam.

Wood Turtle

Things go pretty much as expected for the first 2/3 of the upriver trip.  I end run or slide over all of the downed wood.  It is a slow paddle because I am constantly making tight turns either because of the channel or to avoid the logs. There are a lot of turtles out.  I am pretty sure that many of them are Wood Turtles -  a species of some concern. I flush Wood Duck pairs quite often.

Nearing the high point

About 45 minutes up, the river starts braiding into 2 or 3 smaller channels. The channels are more twisted and usually only one of them is clear of obstructions. Quickly enough, I can't continue without climbing over logs.  I get in three moderately awkward log hops before I get to a spot where I can walk a few yards up and look over the scene.  I can see more logs and an increasingly thinner channel. This isn't going to go today. This part of the river is in the "between" stage - beaver marsh moving towards becoming a beaver meadow.  I turn back.

I pass my start point and continue down river. I have not seen anyone since putting in.  It is peaceful and, as I've said before, one of the most beautiful places that I have paddled. The sky is bigger than in the upper section. The gray sticks stand farther back from the river.  I flush more Wood Ducks.  I don't count but it must be 50-60.  See a couple Great Blue Herons.  Pass a Canada Goose nest that has been built right at the river edge.   There are three very well maintained beaver lodges in this section, and some recent scent mounds.  I usually don't spot too many scent mounds in this area, unlike farther down in the forested section where scent mounds are everywhere.

I turn back when I am a bend or two up from the Rt 22 bridge.  I can hear the traffic and would just rather not look at it.   

I return to my start point thoroughly washed out.  

The Wheeler

I put in at noon.  The tide has been dropping for an hour and a half, it is 60F or thereabouts, there is a 5 mph wind out of the SE and a partially sunny sky is becoming a high and thin overcast.

The blocking drift log in the maze

I head into the top end of the maze, guessing that I have at least an hour to get through before the tide gets too low to pass.  A couple Willets are at the entrance, a few Yellow Legs as I continue, a couple of Yellow Crowned Night Herons, and a Canada Goose sitting on its nest.  I spot my first Marsh Wren, who gives away its position by singing. It is the only Marsh Wren that I see today. The water level is at the sweet spot where I can slip under the drift log that usually blocks the main, or most obvious route.

I exit at the bottom of the maze and head toward Milford Point.  Then, I paddle steady across the lower marsh, which will become mud flat in about an hour.  Quite a few Brandts in the marsh, usually see them closer to the point.  Pass an Oyster Catcher, and when I get to the east shore, either a Red-shouldered or Red-tail Hawk in a tree near the refuge launch. It looks like a young bird, and I'm not good enough to ID with the single view of it.

Brandts - a beautiful Goose

I cross the shallowest section with more than enough water, and head back up river. 

Oyster Catcher

In the Big Meanders

It is in the 60's and sunny with a light and pleasant wind coming down the river. The water is not particularly high and the current is perfectly do-able.  In fact, during high water the current in this section can be scary fast.

I head upstream.  This section of the river is three or four BIG meanders surrounded by flood plain farm land, which it has been for a few thousand years according to the archaeological record that has come out of those fields.

This stretch probably isn't big on most canoeists list, but it reminds me of the upper midwest rivers that I grew up near - the lower St. Croix and the Mississippi.  It can be a very peaceful place.

When I wrote, "BIG meanders", I meant turning slowly to the left for 50 minutes, then turning to the right for about the long, then back to the left.  

I spot a Wild Turkey not long after starting.  I chat with some fishermen - smart alec jokes back and forth.  Midwest humor translates completely here, one of the reasons I like this area.

I spot a pair of Bald Eagles as I near Glastonbury.  One is mature and the other is a first year and they are in a minor territorial spat.  When I cross the river over to the mouth of a big lagoon, I spot an Eagle nest at the far end of the lagoon, with a mature Eagle standing watch.  

There is a 1/4 mile stretch of willow saplings on the river-right bank just below Glastonbury.  I find a set of small beaver tracks as I approach.  The hind feet tracks and tail drag are fairly clear, but they come with the unmistakable scent of castoreum.  The willows are a popular feed zone and anything larger than a 1-inch diameter is rare with hundreds of beaver cut stumps and a lot of peeled sticks.  

New Beaver Buildings

Yesterday, I was blown out by unexpected wind in an area that didn't have any 2nd choices.  So today, I put in on the Mattebasset, which can be paddled in anything short of half a hurricane, if a tree doesn't fall on you, of course.  It is calm and overcast and about 50F, pretty much ideal canoe weather.  The water is a little high, but still well in the banks - there won't be any forest paddling, but I also won't be digging in the mud. 

I start upriver.  A pair of Wood Ducks, a few Mallards, two Great Blue Herons, and a few beaver peel sticks that probably drifted down as I don't see any obvious feed zones.  I get almost to the abandoned trestle.  The water is shallow and fast at this point and while I could get higher, the extra distance isn't worth the amount of work required to get there.  I turn back down.

I continue past my put in.  Another Great Blue Heron, an immature Bald Eagle, a few Mallards.  The Point Lodge has been refurbished.  The lodge has been flooded out a few times in the last year or so.  It was totally submerged on one of my trips.  Usually, beaver abandon a lodge that is flooded for any length of time, and the lodge begins to collapse.  The lodge looks like it has been rebuilt, a good sign.

The refurbished Point Lodge

There is a new lodge at the former Tepee Lodge site.  This is an all new construction put in since my last trip.  Tepee Lodge 3 stands just a few feet downriver from what little is left of the original.  The bank burrow on the opposite bank might also be in use, but I'll have to check back to be sure of that.

The brand new Tepee Lodge #3

I head up the Cognichaug getting almost to the power lines.  I forgot my saw or I would've been able to go higher.  Found another new beaver lodge near the high point.

On the way back I divert down to the meeting with the Connecticut River, just to see what is going on.  Then I begin my return. 

I find a gps watch that has been in the water for a few days at the put-in. 

Blow Out

I planned on a trip up to Lover's Leap.  It is sunny and in the 60's.  

I put in near the steel truss bridge that spans the river. It is windier than the weather forecast.  The wind is coming down the river and it looks dubious, but if I can find enough shelter along the shoreline it might go.

A half mile out, the river bends slightly.  The marginal shelter of the forested shoreline disappears altogether.  The wind is a steady 15-20 mph head on. My speed drops to something like a mile or a mile and a half per hour.  It will take a full half day to do the 6-1/2 miles to Lover's Leap.  If I had to get there, I could do it, but I don't have to get there.  

Time to call it a day. 

The Soak

I put in at Pond Brook to head up to the Shephaug cascades.

It is mostly sunny and mostly calm. Coming out of Pond Brook, it is positively still - a quiet that encourages me to clean up my paddling technique and move as silently as possible. The forest is beginning to bud, but it is still wide open for peering far up the hillside into the trees to ponder on the layout of the old stone walls. In some places, shadows of long fallen trees suggest the direction of the wind in some long ago storm.

I pass a round point - a low bench of maybe 2 acres with nearly identically sized trees - all 6 - 8 inches in diameter.  Something must have cleared the area at one time - perhaps a fire. There aren't any roads, so I doubt that it was cut. Continuing, I pass back into normal healthy forest with all size trees, from saplings to 30 inch diameter maples and sycamores.

After stopping to view the cascades, I pull into shore at the first bend below and sit for a while. It is just too special in all ways to not let everything soak in.  The sound of a small brook at my side and a woodpecker calling off in the trees.  

National Not Living Up to the Expectations of Others Day

I set out on a day I dedicated to "not living up to the expectations of others." But in case you were wondering, S thoroughly approved of this adventure.  

I put in at the old stage crossing.  The tide is coming in, but it hasn't reached this point of the river yet, so the water is shallow with a so-called natural downstream flow. I have to one-foot it a couple times to get past Foote Bridge (stepping with one foot onto a river boulder to un-weight the canoe, which then glides over other rocks). The air is calm, so far, with a temperature in the 40's and a mostly cloudy sky.

I float through the Gravel Flats, just enough water to do that.

Second Year Little Blue Heron

Just below Clapboard Hill Road, I start spotting a good number of Great and Snowy Egrets - an even distribution of maybe ten each before reaching the Big Bends.  The sighting of the day is in the Big Bends - a second year Little Blue Heron.  It is the same size as a Snowy Egret (and first year birds are white) but with piebald white and blue-gray feathers, and lacking the bright yellow feet of a Snowy.  There are also a number of Yellow-Legs, and a few Osprey.

Below the Big Bends I start spotting Willets.   

Willet

There is enough water to make it through the Sneak and so I route down Bailey Creek, then Neck River, and back into the East River.  Willets are fairly plentiful although I don't think they are all in, yet.  I'd guess maybe 3/4 of the full nesting population.  I would think that they started showing up about a week to ten days ago.

The wind comes up and I get some circular gusts (mini-tornadoes).  The weather has definitely got an attitude. It is in my face when I turn back up the East River. Fortunately, the flood current is with me and while I don't speed upriver, I still make good progress.

The wind has really picked up by the time I get back to the Big Bends.  It is 15-20 mph with gusts, and my hands are cold enough that I pause to put on gloves.  Then, it starts to sprinkle.  It is a light rain by the time I get to Clapboard Hill. And it is calm and sunny by the time I get to the Gravel Flats. It feels like I have been out all day, but it is only 3 hours, which is a typical round trip time for me on this river.  It was a good day, and I failed to live up to the expectations of a great many people.

Garbage Picking

I put in under the highway bridge, cutting directly across the river and turning upstream.  It is mostly sunny, near 70F with  light wind that comes from the SW until I get farther upriver where it comes out of the north - go figure.

I take the channel between Peacock and Carting Islands.  The tide is high and there is a lot of visible plastic trash in the reeds and grasses along the shore.  Today turns out to be a garbage collecting trip.

The clouds are spectacular - cumulus, sometimes puffs, sometimes mountain ranges. 

My first Snowy Egret sighting of the spring occurs when one overtakes me as I head up.  I also see a couple Great Egrets and an Osprey.

I cross the river at the wind tunnel, follow the east shore back down river until recrossing near Peck's Mill, just because I would rather paddle through the islands than along the post-industrial east shore.  I managae to collect another dozen yellow duckies that the United Way insists on dumping into the water somewhere up the Naugatuck River. I have over 50, have seen at least 50 more. I'd conservatively guess that there might be a thousand of them out there caught in the reeds, brush, rocks and spartina that make up this section of the river.

National Leaf Blower Day

The plan is to put in at Elys Ferry and head upriver to Selden.

It is mostly sunny and near 70F.  There will be a southwest wind developing later. 

I put in at Elys Ferry.  The water is a little high, most of the beach that is here below the surface. It is very calm, and very quiet.  I step into the canoe and make a wide gentle u-turn to head upstream.  No sooner than finishing the turn, a beaver swims across my bow.  It is a surprise and while it isn't far to beaver friendly locations, this is not one.  I suppose it is on the move, looking for a new territory to colonize. It is about that time of the year when 2 year-old beaver are kicked out of the parent's lodge.

An immature Bald Eagle crosses the river.

Nearing the entrance to Hamburg Cove, a Pileated Woodpecker arrives and begins working over some shoreline trees and deadfalls. It has been a pretty good half mile.

As I continue up from Hamburg Cove, I start hearing an annoying amount of machine noise from the opposite side of the river near the former Brockway Ferry landing.  Several versions of Mr. Moneybags live in that area and it seems that one o them is having a tree removed.  It is a mix of wood chipper, chainsaw and leaf blower and it sounds like hell when everything else is so peaceful. Continuing to Selden means a good chunk of an hour listening to that shit. 

I turn up Joshua Creek.  It has been a few years since I've paddled up this short tributary and besides the exploring, it will give me time to ponder on whether to continue to Selden. The creek meanders through a narrow marsh hemmed him by forested hills with a few well-space houses. Joshua Pond is at the end, which is held back by a 5 foot high dam.  The dam is mostly earthen with a concrete spillway and sluice gate at the south end. The actual sluice gate seems to be missing, but it has been replaced by what appears to be a beaver dam.

When I get back to the river, the wood chipper is silenced, but it seems that all of Brockway is celebrating national leaf blower day.  I'm heading back to Hamburg Cove.

The cove is quiet.  I follow the northern shoreline in. It is peaceful and no one else is about. There are several damaged docks - bent metal, tipped pilings, and missing raft sections.  The cove freezes even when there is no ice in the main river and with this winter's cold snap, one can imagine that there was some pretty thick ice that started to move around and smash stuff as the weather warmed.

I paddle up Eight Mile River to the usual high spot - about a half mile in.  The river above is shallow, fast and choked with downed wood.

I head back following the southern shore of he cove. The wind has come up, somewhat higher than predicted, and the south shore has some protection. Once at the river, I hug the shore again until reaching my start point. 

 

Wood River

Really, I forget how beautiful this river is.  A few months goes by and I return, and I am stuck by beauty of this landscape. It is a 75 mile drive to get here and worth every bit of it.

It will soon be in the low 70's with sunny skies and little wind.  I put in on Alton Pond, just above the dam which holds the river back. A couple guys are fishing, the nearest one tells me that he just caught a 8-inch trout, which he released even though he could keep it.

I head upstream.  Usually when I am here, there is a good crop of pond lilies, which can be used to locate the deepest channel.  In fact, the pond lilies more or less force one to stay in the deep channel.  Today. it is open water with just a few lilies reaching for the surface but still underwater.  

At the top of the pond, an Eagle glides 20 feet over me unseen until it overtakes me.  It is a large mature bird, and it takes a perch in a tree a 1/4 mile ahead.  Occasionally, I flush a pair of Wood Ducks or Mallards.  I see one Great Blue Heron, on the wing and heading upriver over at the far side of the marsh.

Lots of turtles sunning.  They have climbed up on drift logs or dried grasses at the edge of the water. All of the ones I see are eastern painted turtles.

I do the portage at Wilsonville and continue upriver.   Route finding while going upstream is more difficult in this section.  It is a best bet to follow the current, but there are places where the river flows through dense and impassable brush.  I go astray just once, which is about normal. I spot a second large mature Bald Eagle.

I decide to turn back when I am about an hour and a quarter up from the portage. There is a real current up in this section, and I have noticed that the wind is picking up - it sounded like road noise, but it is the wind running through the tops of the tall pine trees that line the river.

It is an easier cruise back with a nice current, at least in parts of the trip.  The wind is no big deal, only noticeable once I am back on Alton Pond.  What a fine day! 

 

Back to Salmon River

In the morning, S tells me that she wants to go canoeing.  She wants to look at birds, and I want to paddle where there is no road noise.  It will be just under 60F, mostly sunny with a light wind developing in the afternoon.  We head to the Salmon River.

There are two active Osprey nests at the bottom of Salmon Cove.  One of them was there last year, but the other is brand new.  Each nest has a pair of Osprey working on them.

Continuing in, spot a distant Bald Eagle out beyond Dibble Creek. 

Dibble Creek dam and lodge (right of canoe)

Our first stop is the Dibble Creek beaver dam.  I figured out through Google Earth that the dam is about 10 years old. We paddle right up to it and S gets a good look at the current beaver lodge.  The dam is about 200 feet long and being 10 years old it is root bound with saplings that have planted themselves, although the current residents have eaten most of those saplings.

We head up the cove crossing over to the far side to enter the Moodus.  We flush several Common Mergansers and a few Mallards.  The Mergansers are the most common Duck today.  

The Moodus

There is a very active beaver colony up in the Moodus and I want to show S all of the cuts and drags.  We cross the first beaver dam easily, but get blocked before the tight bend by a deadfall.  I think I paddled over this deadfall last week, but the water is a good 8 inches lower. It is also possible that the beaver are using the deadfall as a foundation for a new dam.  I'll have to check back later.  There is a Red Tail Hawk in trees about 50 yards away.  It is easier to spot the partially cut trees on the way back, and they are very classic school book cuts, exactly what anyone might expect to see.

The wind is coming up.  We cross the top of the cove to the Salmon River.  There is an immature Bald Eagle perched at the bend. It seems a little small and scruffy, but it has second year feathers.

It is a stiff paddle down the cove.  By some trick of geography, the wind seems to be funneled into the middle section of the cove.  Once we get farther down, it is calmer, even though there are no trees or hills to explain such stuff.  

Catching Oyster Catchers

I got a late start, noon by the time I put in from under the highway bridge.  The current is slack, low tide having passed less than an hour back, light south wind, temperature in the 50's and sunny. 

4 gomers are messing with a huge catamaran and trailer at the boat launch.  I cannot tell if they are coming or going, which makes 5 of us.  A northeastern palooka - oversized, over middle age and perched on a too small motor scooter observes it all. I, with my usual efficiency, put in and skedaddle. 

I find the Red Throated Loon right at the upper end of Nell's Channel. 

For a change, I stay in the main channel following the edge of Nell's Island.  There's no motorboats around, which usually keeps me in the marsh.  I forgot how nice this side of the island is.   If one keeps their eyes toward the east, there are no houses to be seen and it looks positively remote. The other side of the river is an entirely different story, however.

Near the bottom of Nell's Island, I pass a flock of Brandts with 2 Oyster Catchers hidden within. The Oyster Catchers actually blend in as the two bird species have similar coloring and patterns - except for the enormous bright orange bill of the Oyster Catcher.

I go a ways out past Milford Point, then return through Nell's Channel, after finding a couple more Oyster Catchers mixed in with another flock of Brandts on the point. 

Bird Check

It seemed like a good day for a bird check.  Osprey are mostly in, a few Great Egrets have been seen, Yelow-Legs returned after the cold snap eased, and I spotted a single Yellow Crowned Night Heron on my last trip in here.

I put in from the usual under-the-highway-bridge spot.  The tide is about 15 minutes past low, so there is little if any current.  There is little wind in the river although I know that won't be the case when I am in the open.  It is sunny and just under 50F. A crew is putting the floating docks in at the boat ramp, so that the motorboat types don't have to get their feet all wet and icky.

It's an easy paddle down to the marsh and when I get there I find the wind.  It blows out of the east and there is a definite wind-chill.  It feels as if the night stored up its cold air until I arrived, and then released it to blow on me. 

Low Tide

The tide is low and my sight lines are limited.  I pass some Red Breasted Mergansers and a single Red Throated Loon at the top of the marsh.  Then, I make my way down the center of the marsh towards Milford Point.  I flush some Canada Geese and Ducks every so often, but there is not much else to report.

From Milford Point, I head back via the Nell's Island maze, passing through a stretched out flock of Brandts on the way.  The immature Bald Eagle that I saw on the last trip is on a log on the island.  It is pretty recognizable as an individual - the head mostly white with only a few flecks of white on the tail.  I think this ages it as a 2 to 3 year old and I bet that it has a white head and tail by the end of the season.

The maze doesn't go, running out of water about 2/3 of the way through.  I'd have to wait about an hour for the tide to catch up, so I head back the way I came.  Once back in Nell's Channel, I head back up the river. 

Yellow Legs

First Great Swamp of the Year

The Great Swamp is one of my favorite trips during spring and fall. While there is nothing particularly difficult about the river - it is placid and narrow as it runs through a large beaver swamp, it can be a grind at certain water levels or if there are a lot of blocking deadfalls.  One never knows until one gives it a go. During very low water the beaver will put up a bunch of low dams to keep the water level.  It is sunny and moving from 60F to 70F, but the water temperature feels to my touch like something in the 50's.

I put in at Green Chimneys and head upstream towards Patterson, which is 6-1/2 miles away.  There is a steady current of maybe 1/2 to 1 mph.  It is about as strong as the current ever gets, and it happens when the river is high but just barely in its banks.  It's weird, but if the water is out of the banks, the current is much slower, as it is when the water is low.

The top of the first beaver dam just touches the surface, and I can just cruise through a low spot. I flush a half dozen Wood Ducks, several Mallards, and a few yards farther on, 4 white tail deer bound off into the swamp.

There is a lot of beaver sign, and it shows up steady all through the trip.  The lodges that I know from the past look good and seem to have recent additions of peeled sticks.  There are a few new lodges as well.

Approaching a flooded beaver dam

All of the beaver dams are crossed without getting out of the canoe.  The forest section is easy and it appears that no new timber has fallen into the river during the winter.  I still have to portage at the power lines where there is a massive deadfall jam from two or three years ago.  It looks like it will be another couple years before that section will be canoeable.  I've seen at least 50 Wood Ducks by this point.

About a mile up into the upper section, the current dies down. This is where the river is narrower and much more serpentine.  It's busy paddling. I pass a group of 4 kayakers when I am about a 1/2 hour from Patterson.  I'm pretty sure I will pass the again on the way back.  They ask and I tell them that there aren't any blockages. I pass two bends where the bullfrogs are making a racket - croaking and belching, like an amplified stomach growl.  There are a lot of bullfrogs in here and this is just the tip of the iceberg.

I turn at Patterson, and the current is really obvious - my return speed clearly faster. A Pileated Woodpecker speeds across in front of me and sets up in a nearby tree.

I pass the 4 kayakers again at the lower end of the forest section.  Father on, I pass three idiots in two canoes, telling them that their bodies will be easier to recover if they actually wear their PFDs. The idiots laugh, thinking it to be a joke. Maybe they'll figure it out in few minutes, or an hour, or never.  

It has been a fine day.  I am tired.

First Birds

I planned to put in over in Bridgeport and visit a marsh in Stratford that has been going through some restoration. Unfortunately, the launch site that I have used in the past is now behind a set of no trespassing signs.  I divert my attention to the familiar Wheeler Marsh, setting out from under the highway as I often do.

There is a stiff wind coming from the southwest - a direction that is up the river mostly. It is cloudy, about 65F with the tide almost high. I question starting out due to the wind, but once I am in the canoe I find that it is not bad at all.

I spot my first Yellow Crowned Night Heron of the spring.  It is perched on a rock at the water's edge just upriver of the drawbridge.  It seems quite unconcerned about me as if it is tired from a long flight. It will probably set up residence on the nearby Charles Island.

A tired Yellow Crowned Night Heron

Nearing the marsh, I spot a Red Throated Loon in mid-channel of the river.  With the wind chop on the surface of the water, I was lucky to see it.  It is migrating to the north although it might hang around for a couple weeks before continuing.  I see them often during migration in the bottom of the rivers near the sound. Red Throated's are a bit smaller than Common Loons.

Red Throated Loon

I spot some Yellow-Legs as I head over to Nell's Island. They often winter over, but this year with the big freeze, they must have moved farther south for awhile.

The maze of Nell's Island is not at all a maze.  I collect a lost oyster basket that I can fill with plastic garbage as I proceed.  With the spartina down, this is a good time to see that the so called island is not really any different than the rest of the marsh, and in fact, it seems to only be called an island because there are navigable channels on either side of it. I flush an almost mature Bald Eagle. It has some white feathers on the head and tail, but still has a season to go.

I cross over to the Central Phragmites Patch, again without having to follow any channels due to the tide level.  There is a large flock of Green Winged Teal on the east side of the marsh.  I keep my distance and let them rest and feed. The wind is dying down to something not worth griping about.

I pass behind Cat Island, the water deep enough to make the narrow channel. It just takes some weed mat pushing to get through. 

There are ten Great Egrets in sight at the upriver end of Cat Island. 

The Yellow Crowned Night Heron is in the exact same spot when I get back to the draw bridge - definitely tired after a long flight.