Pequabuck

I headed to the Pequabuck River, which I haven't been to in a bit over a year.  It is cloudy, and mid 60's with little wind.

The put-in is on a steep bank that looks more problematic than it actually is due to some old rip-rap that creates good solid footing at the water's edge. The water is higher than I've ever seen although it is far from being a problem.  The current is also moving faster than I've seen and looks, and turns out to be, a 3:1 ratio. That makes for some work going upstream, but it is completely doable. 

The Pequabuck is a small river, a tributary of the Farmington, which is a fraction of a mile downstream of my start point. The river is usually about 2 canoe lengths in width and it is a meander-fest with hardly any straight sections.  The paddling is finicky with sharp bends in current every 30 or 40 yards.  At most bends, the current grabs the bow and fights the turn.  Sometimes it is easiest to head to the far bank and let that current push the stern around.  I flush several Wood Ducks and push a Great Blue Heron upstream.  Herons seem to be territorial when one is feeding it will often fly short hops ahead of me until, finally, circling wide around and returning to near where I first saw it.  

A beaver dove off the bank - a big splash.  Although I did not see it, the splash was too big for a muskrat, too fast for a turtle and the critter stayed submerged... beaver.

Leaves are mid-way into changing, especially the maples that are farther back from the river.  Catalpa trees grow at the bank and they are still green.  Catalpas are twisty trees with hardly any straight limbs and when they fall into the river they form a messy tangle to get through.

The fast water at the Route 6 bridge requires a 75 yard wade, just as it always has in lower water.  Fortunately, the bottom is firm and sandy.  I get another 2/3 mile before running into a pair of messy blow-downs.  It's the same high point from my last trip.  I have to remember next time to bring a saw.

Due to the twisty nature of the river, the 3:1 ratio doesn't quite work out.  It's just not possible to speed down the river with the tight turns at each bend.  I continue past the put-in down the convergence with the Farmington.  Collecting a mussel shell from the shallows, I note how cold the river is.  I've been in tidla waters on my last several trips and the big ocean water cools off much slower than the inland fresh water.