River Paddling!

Today was cool and cloudy, perfect day for the river. This is a river that snakes through the lower half of Rhode Island and comes out to the ocean. We only did a portion of the river, it was 4 miles one way, so 8 miles is a lot for me, wonder why I am so tired.

This is also why I get so tired, Bill just paddles at his rate, forgetting that I am half his size and strength:) That and the fact, that I had my big camera case which weighs a ton and I am basically pushing that too. I never did get to use my good camera, too hard to take out while paddling, so these are with my pocket camera.

This is our first stop, it is a wilderness campground for kayakers. The water was too cold and icky to swim in today. This is me waiting for Bill to get his skirt back on, he is sooooo slow.

This is where we stop, I don't do rapids, even small ones.

This is the old pump house area, someone actually lived here, at one time.

On the way back, we spotted this blue heron. They always fly away if you get close, but this one kept trying and stumbling, so not sure if it was hurt or a baby who hasn't learned to fly. We also saw lots of turtles and a hawk who flew over us, down the river in search of fish, but he was too fast to get a shot of. 

A drive to the rivers

Today was beautiful and I wanted to get out and see how the rivers and areas that we kayak in, were doing.
The flood waters have been receding and the upper half of the state is below flood level now, but our half is still a foot above.

We started by going down the side road we take to the rivers. As you can see, the dam here is running full force and there is even a side duct pushing water to the other side. Not a good place for a building.



A little further down is another dam from this area. The whole area was a mill town in the old days. The road was flooded here, but the main road was passable.



On the other side of the road the river runs downward and as you can see, flooded it''s banks. The house had been hit but the waters have subsided in the last few days.



We went along route 91 which is where the ponds and main rivers converge. The first pond was ok now, but when we got to the next pond and dam outlet, we were greeted with this site. I can only imagine how bad it is at the next section, but all the side roads are also flooded since there are a lot of smaller outlets in this area.



We turned around to head home and on the way back went a different route. This area is called Usquepaugh. It is an old mill village and where the Kenyon grist mill is. It is the only corn meal I will eat, makes the best breads. This is the original road to the mill, but the main road behind it, was still ok. It is a shame to see all the damage in the areas and I thank God for living in a dry area. I don't think we will be paddling on these rivers for awhile. Even the residents in those areas are still stuck, using boats to get to dry land.

River Kayaking

Today, I decided it was a good day for a river paddle, so we paddled a section of the Pawcatuck river in Bradford, Rhode Island. I say a section, but it was 3 miles one way and we had to come back too. This is a nice launch, sandy and open with lots of parking, so it is a good place to start.



It is a long windy river. The river itself runs from Wardens Pond out to the sea. It is a long and windy river, but a beautiful place to paddle with long stretches of untouched wilderness.



Our favorite place to stop is a wilderness camp owned by the state park system. You can camp here, but we find it a great place to rest and cool down in the cold waters.



Our destination was the rapids which was once the site of an old mill.
It was a long paddle for me and we still had to turn around and head back.
It was a tough paddle for me, but it was fun and nice to get out on another beautiful day.