Toy Ducks

I put in and cross the river, then head up under the drawbridge while following the west shore.  Then into the channel below Carting Island.  There are 4 islands here, and I sometimes call the the Quad Islands.  Pope's Flat (an old name for a marsh island) is in mid channel.  Long Island is west of Pope's but still in mid channel.  Carting is further west and the longest of the four islands. Peacock is nestled between Carting and the shore and both of those islands are separated from shore by narrow channels that can run too shallow at low tide for a canoe to get through.

It is colder than expected, still under 40F, and the predicted 5 mph wind is more like 10-15 mph.  It is somewhat raw.

I flush a few Mallards, a few Black Ducks, and a few Common Mergansers, as I go through the islands.  There is probably better feeding down in the Wheeler Marsh. I collect a little yellow toy duck, a remnant of some well meaning charity fund raiser that can't think of anything better than to race plastic toy ducks in one of the tributaries. 

I follow the west shoreline upriver.  About a half mile from the Windtunnel, the wind lives up to expectations and comes full in the face.  It is a crawl with the current also against me.  At the Windtunnel, I cross the river and start my return along the east shore.  I continue to collect toy ducks.  I end up with a dozen.  They are showing up probably because the winter ice conditions clipped off the spartina, which acts like a filter for all floating trash.  With the spartina down, the filtered trash begins to move to places where it can be seen.

What I am Here For

What I am here for. 

I go inland to the Mattebasset.  While ponds and reservoirs still have ice on them, the rivers have the assistance of a current to move and break up their ice.  In addition, the Connecticut River gauge is near 14 feet, about 10 feet over the typical level, and the big river dominates the Mattebasset.  The tributary backs up, flooding the bottom land forest and calming any current that might exist.

I set out downriver, resisting the temptation to cut through the flooded forest, at least until I pass the goat farm. I am doing what I am here for.  I think about that while weaving through the trees.  There are a good many Wood Ducks and Mallards, and they take wing as I move through the trees.

I find a lost PFD and collect it.  I find such things a couple times each year. This one is unusual in that it is a high end sea kayaking vest. Most lost PFD's are cheap models not worn by people who don't know better.  Anyway, this PFD has been in the water for most of a year, if not longer.

About a 1/2 mile down river, I find up upside down kayak about 20 feet out of the main river.  I paddle over and flip it, just to make sure.  It's a short and cheapish Wallyworld type, the favorite of people who paddle once a year.  It takes me off of my game, finding both a PFD and a kayak in the same area.  At first, the high-end PFD and low-end kayak don't seem to match, but then I consider that the PFD owner wasn't wearing the life vest, and that is a perfect match with people in cheap kayaks. I leave the kayak where I found it.

I head up the Coginchaug, a tributary to the tributary that I was in.  How far I can get up this river depends on the water level. I get through about half of the faster sections, but come up short of the RT 3 bridge by a couple hundred yards. A foot or two more on the gauge would do it. 

I head back.  I stop for a quick look at the old cabin near the power lines.  There are maple sap collection tubes running through the woods.  The cabin has 2x4 framing and might be 50 or 60 years old.  It has a stove pipe and might even have been used for cooking down maple sap. 

 Find recent beaver gnawings across from the Tepee Lodge site.

As I take out, a mature Bald Eagle descends, circling to a landing just down river a couple hundred feet. 

Out of the Industrial Revolution

I put in at O'Sullivan's Island.  It is 65F, sometimes cloudy, sometimes sunny, and there is a 8-10mph wind coming straight up the river.  There is a strong current with a lot of snowmelt coming over the Shelton Dam, and I figure the wind and current should just about negate each other.

I paddle this section every once in awhile, just to do something different.  The trip is one of paddling out of the industrial revolution and into something a bit wilder, although it is never wild. Close to the start, especially upstream, the river is lined with old mill buildings, some of which have been refurbed into apartments, and some that contain who knows what of light industry.  Water power put the mills here and if one goes upstream towards the dam, the old tunnels where water returned to the river are visible.

The current mellows as soon as I get to the bottom of the island where the Naugatuck and Housatonic meet.  There is a long wooden wall that was built to limit erosion.  It has been a long time since someone would have built an erosion structure out of wood.  There is a railroad above, and has been since the 19th century, and the wall may have been built to protect the rail line. It is held together with metal rods - some round, some square.  Although much longer, the square rods look like the same stock that a railroad spike might have been forged from.

I cross the river to get some shelter from the wind. There are several fishermen - some wading, some in boats.  They are looking for striped bass.

The wind dies down as I pass Two Mile Island. 

I paddle down to Wooster Island and turn back.

East River, Again

I headed back to the East River being pretty sure that the ice jam from March 4th should be gone with the warm weather that we've had.  It is sunny, calm and somewhere in the 60's, pretty nice early March paddling weather.

I put in at the old ford maybe an hour after low tide.  The water is deeper than I expected and there is a surprisingly good current.  No doubt this is from snow melt.  I expected to wade part of this upper section, but always have enough water, and with the current, I coast through the shallowest water in the Gravel Flats.

There are much fewer birds than what I saw yesterday in Lords Cove.  A couple chevrons of high flying Canada Geese, and a couple of solitary Ring Necked Ducks. I don't feel the need to count.  I can just paddle. Of course, with the low water level, I can't look out across the marsh, so there could be many more birds out in the spartina flats.

The current disappears somewhere around the sawmill dam. I will have slack water all the way to my turn-around point.  I pass the Sneak, way too shallow to make the shortcut passage into Bailey Creek.  

When I get to the turn-around, the water is still low and the flood current seems to be in no hurry to raise the water.  I head back on the main river, knowing that my timing would still get me to the Sneak without enough water to pass through. 

It is a beautiful day. 

Lords Cove Ice Breakup

From the highway, I can see huge sheets of ice backed up against the railroad bridge.

I put in at Pilgrim Landing, stomping over a snowbank to get to the water. There are some ice floes and I start out busting through skim ice that formed in the night. The tide is coming in and will be behind me.  I wonder if any of that ice will come my way.  Most of the bigger stuff will stay out in the main river.  As I head in I make sure to check out the possible alternate take outs, just in case.  I spot two immature Bald Eagles and gawk at the scenery - clear sky, dried marsh plants and a rim of thick ice on the shoreline. It's too nice to worry about the ice until I have to.

There are a lot of Ducks, far more than I have seen in here.  Birds are definitely on the move, although I don't think they are migrating, yet.  My guess is that they are moving back to preferred areas as the ice breaks up.  A couple flocks of Canada Geese fly over, very high up.

Ring Neck Ducks

Nearing Coutes Hole,  I spot a mature Bald Eagle, which flies west to link up with a second mature Eagle.  Then, I flush 40 Buffleheads, 15 Common Mergansers, and at least 50 Ring Necks. I head around the hole to the east, flushing about a 150 Ring Necks.  The channel is choked with big floes and while it might be possible to get through, it might not possible to return as the tide moves in.  I back out and head to the west side of the hole.

The west side is open for a longer distance. I flush about 200 Ring Necks and 20 Common Mergansers before getting blocked by ice.

Male Ring Neck

I head back out, crossing the shallow Goose Bay to get to the main river.  What had looked like a rim of ice on the north side of Goose Bay is actually a sheet some 200 feet across.  I'm stretching my legs near the river when the Coast Guard comes by - a buoy tender/tug work boat.  They seem to be busting up ice sheets, but they might also be looking for buoys that got dragged off by the ice.  

Common Mergansers pretending to be a herd of Penguins

I head downriver and round Calves Island, mostly to make the trip last a bit longer. 

 

The Fog of Weather

It is a seasonably warm day only made unseasonable by the spate of cold weather that has preceded it. The sky is overcast and there is little wind. I head down to the marsh.

I enter the maze with the water lower than I expected. As I begin to drag bottom in the silt, I pause to think about whether I remembered the tide chart correctly, especially with the Daylight Savings time shift.  I don't want to be in any further if the water is dropping.  I pick out two nubs of grass that are sticking out of the water a half inch, and I watch them for the next few minutes. The water is rising, so I continue in. (The tide is about 1.5 ft)

On my first couple times through the maze, I had a longer more circuitous route than the one I currently use.  At that point, a 50 foot long deadfall tree drifted in and blocked the channel.  Curious, I turn towards the old route to see if things have changed.  The tree is still in place, but there is 30 inches of space underneath it, more than enough to get under.  I follow the old route to the bottom of the island.

I continue on a little past Milford Point before turning back.  I re-enter the maze and take the newer route that bypasses the deadfall, knowing that there won't be clearance anymore.  I flush two Harriers at the top of the island, and spot an immature Bald Eagle way off as I cross Nell's Channel. 

Two Rivers

The day will warm from near freezing to the lower 40's.  It will be sunny and near calm.  A good day for canoeing. 

I figured that that the East River might be open now that we have had a week of warmer weather.  I stomped through the snow from the edge of the road down to the river bank. The snow was hiding the uneven ground and I had no inclination to lose my footing and get pile driven by the canoe during my short carry.  

The river was open with thick slabs of ice stranded on the bank and in the cattails.  This part of the river is tidal freshwater and just like in the salt marshes, the tidal water saturates any snow that collects on the river ice, building a thick layer of soft ice in short order.  The snow on either side of the river made for a spectacular scene.

There were quite a few ice slabs in the Gravel Flats, but it was no problem to weave through them and continue.  The Gravel Flats is a ice choke point due to shallow water an slow currents.

The other choke point in the upper river is the Sawmill Bends, and here the ice was jammed and impassable.  It would be possible to portage on the right side through the cattails, but I knew that the ice would be jammed up against the Clapboard Hill Bridge.  That would be a 1/4 mile drag that would have to be repeated on the way out, likely with a dodgy exit and entry from the canoe to the river bank. It is better to give the rive another week.  

I headed back up and continued above my start point to check out the narrow upper section.  The water was ice free and I made it most of the way to the next bridge.  That made for an hour of paddling, so it was time for the 20 mile auto-portage.

I made the 20 mile auto-portage to the put-in under the highway on the Housatonic, then headed downriver at near peak tide.  

There is significantly less ice than on my last trip 4 days ago.  I made a clockwise circuit, using some interior channels that had cleared of ice since then.  I paddled the Nell's Island Maze in the upstream direction.  With the spatina down, it looked completely different and I was surprised to make it all the way through without making a wrong turn.