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.