Exploring

The little creek (Falls Brook) has been on my list for a while.  I'd gone a little ways up before and it showed some promise, it just needed high water.

I put in at the Ely Ferry Road talking briefly with a guy who'd brought his dogs down to the beach.  Just as I got started Admiral Mimosa steamed past in the PT-73 throwing two and half feet of wake my way...summer Friday on the big river.  Fortunately, I only had a half mile of big river before heading back into protected waters.

A tiny cement bridge - more of a culvert from my point of view, took me into a large pond. The next bridge was low enough that I had to lay down in the canoe - my high water timing was accurate.  From there I headed up the creek, a clear channel through a hundred yard wide wetland which in turn was bordered by forest.  It is quite a good paddle.

After a half mile or so, the creek braided a bit although the main channel remained obvious.  A  hundred yards of that and in brushed in.  But I could hear running water, so I pushed through.  The sound was water filtering through a well maintained beaver dam some two feet high. 

First dam

I crossed over the dam into a small pond and found a second dam at the head from where I could see a condemned one lane concrete bridge.  So, I crossed that dam and paddled up to the bridge to see what laid ahead.  The beaver lodge was on the far side of the dam, but unfortunately there wasn't canoeable water in the upstream marsh. All in all, it is a pretty good side trip.

 

Second dam

Back at the cove with plenty of time left, I headed deeper into the cove for a visit to Eight Mile River.  Normally, there is a current at the Joshuatown Bridge, but the high water had the river backed up, deep and no current.  It was an easy flat water paddle up to the white cabin where the river makes a sharp ninety degree turn.  The water above was fast and shallow as it always is.  With that, I headed back out.