Submitted by Belinda on Tue, 07/10/2018 - 11:18
This is our first kayaking trip on the Connecticut river, taking our 10 year old. We're looking for a wilderness experience, 2-3 days, 20-40 miles. Any recommendations on what section (ideally between miles 268-176)would be much appreciated!
Rae
Tue, 07/10/2018 - 13:41
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Shuttle? And Bedell Bridge to Orford Landing trip
Did Bedell to Orford July 7-8, overnighting at Underhill Campsite. 15 easy, beautiful miles; no rapids, but hardly any current either. Campsite was well cared for, complete with clean porta potty, freshly chopped wood, and its own wilderness mailbox. It is on a great little swamp with a beaver dam for exploring...and had a good breeze. You have to tromp through some mud to land the kayaks, but that was part of the fun.
The night before we started we stayed at an Air B and B in Bradford-- See "Beautiful views from full bedroom" with Don and Jennifer. There is no Uber (maybe Lyft?) in the area but Jen offered to pick us up at our car and drop us off at our put-in (for just gas money.) 'Local' outfitters may be too far away to do such ferrying, but may be worth a call.
Hope this helps.
John
Wed, 07/11/2018 - 10:53
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17 Miles Above Rae's Trip Are Nice Too
Starting at the Ryegate Dam (Mile 272) down to Bedell Bridge (255) is another nice stretch. Ryegate has a large field where you can park your car. There are a few houses along the route and farms that may give away that you are not in deep wilderness, but there is very little if any motor boat traffic all the way down to the Harkdale Farm campsite because of lower water levels. There is some quicker water after Wells River, but it is certainly not challenging and most of the trip is on flat water. The Howard Island and Harkdale campsites are nice.
Belinda
Thu, 07/12/2018 - 15:24
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Hi Rae and John! This is
Hi Rae and John! This is definitely super helpful. I saw that an outfitter is offering shuttle services further south between Wilder Dam and Ashley Ferry State park. This would be logistically very easy but it seems like it would also be more crowded which I am trying to avoid. Have you experienced the lower section of the river?
John
Mon, 07/16/2018 - 18:35
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Outfitters
Hi Belinda,
I had some buddies that used http://www.greatriveroutfitters.com/ to do drop off and pickup in the area I identified. I don't know if renting canoes was a prerequisite to get that service, but I can say the driver was very nice when he picked them up and they liked that they could camp by the business the night before the trip and there was a brewery around the corner. Good luck!
Belinda
Tue, 07/24/2018 - 10:26
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Passumpsic River to Bath-Haverhill Bridge
Thanks again for your advice, Rae and John! We combined both trips plus a little extra this weekend (7/21-24). This was our first Kayaking trip and we had a 10 year old with us, so we took lots of breaks for swimming and exploring and paddled at a leisurely speed. I'd say we spent about 4 hrs paddling on day 1 and 2, and about 2 1/2 on day 3. The river was very slow, so lots of paddling, except for the first mile after Passumpsic and the stretch from right before Woodsville to the beginning of the Oxbow / Horsemeadow. No rapids, but an easy swift current to move us along. The portages at McIndoe Falls and Ryegate were manageable even with full camping gear in boat.
Day 1: We drove up from Boston (2 1/2 hrs) to Ledyard Canoe Club in Hannover, rented three Kayaks and drove up to the Passumpsic River access (50 min). There was a dirt-road loop with enough space to leave the car. We started out at 1 pm, took plenty of swimming breaks and a picnic, and got to Stephans's Island at 7 pm. The island is beautiful and fun to explore. The campsite was very well maintained with space for 2 larger tents, great trees for hammock camping, fire ring, table, privy.
Day 2: We played on Fiddlehead island (insane rope swing!) until noon, then paddled to Howard's Island and arrived around 7, again, with many breaks for swimming and a picnic. The campsite is scenic with a large meadow, a bit older then the first one. This one had tons of super-resilient mosquitos, so bring a mosquito spray with high DEET!
Day 3: We started out early (8 am)due to forecasted thunderstorms and paddled on to Bath-Haverhill Bridge by noon. We used Dave's Taxi to go back to our car (they service a large length of the river, needed a 45 min notice). We returned the boats, had an early dinner in White Water junction and got back to Boston at 7 pm.