AMC Paddle - Squannacook Groton

A relaxed paddle close to home.  What a joy for a mid-September Saturday!

The Squannacook is a tributary of the Nashua, and information about paddling it can be found in the paddle guide from the Nashua River Watershed Association. I have paddled this river before, but it was way back in 2003.  It was April, and I was in the only boat I owned at the time, my 15'6" Cape Horn, which is actually a little too big to be paddling in this river, especially for a novice paddler.  Back then, we launched from West Townsend and during the course of the day I overturned into the river twice.  That was the day I decided I needed a smaller boat and better cold weather clothing (Geeez, that water was cold!).

Today we are launching from the West Groton Water Supply District, heading upstream to the rapids and back.

I'm paddling the Pungo today, along with 5 other kayaks and 1 canoe. 
The day is starting out a little cool and foggy, but the water is still pretty warm.

Right near the start, we see a great blue heron, who stands for a long time before flying off.

In this short stretch of river, we had quite a few blow-down's to navigate around.

Some were more difficult than others.  Fortunately, someone with a chain saw had been through here earlier.
Nonetheless, we still had to go through one at a time.

We reach our lunch spot near the rapids at around 11:15am.  It would be difficult coming the other direction.  There was not an easy path through.  Despite the recent rains, there were still many exposed rocks near the surface.

Walking up along the shoreline, I got a much better view of the rushing water.  The overall drop was probably about 3 feet.

The sun peeked out a bit on the way back.  Of course, we still had to maneuver under trees from time to time.

We got a little push from the current on the way back.

As I said, it was a leisurely paddle.  We covered 5.36 miles in about 3:19.  We were off the river by around 2pm.  Plenty to time to get to the 6th Annual Holy Family International Food Festival in this busy September.