Finally, it's spring. Well, almost. Although paddling season can begin as early as March, winter hung on for a long time this year. Moreover, the activities schedule has been jam packed not leaving a lot of time for outdoor adventures. But finally at April's end, the clouds and the schedule cleared for long enough to get out on the river.
This day we're traveling on the Contoocook River up in Peterborough, NH. The temperatures are in the 50's with a mostly cloudy sky (warmer than back in December, for sure). We met a the Eastern Mountain Sports headquarters store before dropping the boats and shuttling the cars. DaveM again led a fairly large group: 9 kayaks, 5 canoes, and 18 participants. We had some recent rains and were expecting the current to be fairly fast. But no one knew what kind of obstacles we would face on the river.
We put in a bit late at 11:31am.
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| Lots of boats including 2 yellow Pungo kayaks (down front): mine at 12' and the other at 10'. |
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| Just beyond this bridge on US 202 is a dam and beyond that the town of Peterborough. |
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| The current is helping propel us down the river quickly, sometimes necessitating us to pull over and wait. |
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| After navigating under a particularly tricky tree overhanging the river, we take an early lunch break. |
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| Then we set off the longer leg of our journey. |
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| This photo is just to show you that it's really me out on the water. |
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| Filtered sunshine and a swift current make for a fun afternoon on the river. Along the way, we had one canoe and two paddlers overturn and take an unexpected swim. Thank God for that filtered sunshine. |
Our takeout was at
County Bridge in Hancock & Greenfield (stock photo below, not mine)
We had parked at
Powder Mill Pond Wildlife Management Area. One could take a leisurely paddle around the pond without even working as hard as we did.
Our trip covered 7.48 miles in 2:58 with an average speed of 2.51 mph. In truth, though, I got up to a top speed of 7.7 mph with the help of the swift current.
Finally, it's spring. Well, almost. Although paddling season can begin as early as March, winter hung on for a long time this year. Moreover, the activities schedule has been jam packed not leaving a lot of time for outdoor adventures. But finally at April's end, the clouds and the schedule cleared for long enough to get out on the river.
