Upper Valley Rendezvous

It's been a long time since I last slept on the ground when camping, and I confess to having become quite accustomed to the comfort of a cot inside a spacious cabin tent...aka "car camping".  When a friend, Erik, mentioned a multi-day paddling/camping trip on the Connecticut River's Upper Valley section, I wondered if I'd be able to handle "roughing it" once again.  In joining canoeists Conrad, Erik, Bill, and Jonathan (above) this past Columbus Day weekend I put my smallest tent and sleeping pad to the test.

We launched from beneath the Route 302 bridge in Woodsville, NH and, before beginning our downriver trip, paddled a short distance upstream to where the Ammonoosuc River passes beneath the Bath/Haverhill Covered Bridge before its confluence with the Connecticut...

The confluence of the Ammonoosuc and Connecticut rivers played a tragic role back in 1759 during the French and Indian Wars.  According to this sign located 2 miles downriver and alongside Route 10 ...

...the confluence was the designated rendezvous location where a rescue party would await Major Robert Rogers and his desperate/starving Rangers.  The rescue party under the command of Lieut. Stevens had paddled canoes loaded with provisions some 60 miles upriver from Fort No. 4 in Charleston, NH.  After waiting a few days at the appointed rendezvous, Lieut. Stevens for some reason decided to leave and in doing so took all the provisions with him.  All he left behind was a smoldering campfire which Rogers came upon a few hours after his departure.  Rogers stated in his journal "Our distress upon this occasion was truly inexpressible; our spirits, greatly depressed by the hunger and fatigue we had already suffered, now almost entirely sunk within us, seeing no resource left, nor any reasonable ground to hope that we should escape a most miserable death by famine."

Major Rogers would ultimately decide to leave most of his men here while he and 3 others floated a crude raft down to Fort No. 4.  Like Shackleton, he promised his men he'd get help to them and within 10 days time he was true to his word.

So, if we could've suspended the rules of time and space, we'd have seen Lieut. Stevens and his men paddling the provision-laden canoes back down to Fort No. 4 followed several days later by an extremely dejected and most likely pissed-off Major Roberts.  Needless to say, Lieut. Stevens's military career ended at a subsequent court-martial.

We, however, having adequate provisions aboard our vessels began our trip down the Connecticut passing through a short riffle below the mouth of the Wells River and a few hours later arrived at our first campsite, where a post-supper campfire provided warmth and good conversation...

Once underway again on our second day we soon began encountering numerous other canoes and kayaks that were participating in a "Paddle the Border" event.  Our plan was to stop at the Waits River in Bradford and this was also where all the "Paddle the Border" folks were heading.  Arriving there we found quite an event in progress with live music and hot food...

  

This happy accident resulted in us having access to hot dogs, hamburgers, and pulled-pork sandwiches. 

Oddly this spot hosted another "happy accident" back in October 1759 for one of the starving Rogers Rangers.  A Captain Waits came down to an island at this confluence and had the good fortune to shoot a deer saving him and some others from starvation.  It's said that he hung the remains of the deer from a tree within site of the Connecticut River in the hopes that other starving Rangers might come upon it.  In his A History of Bradford, Vermont Silas McKeen wrote: "That there might be no misunderstanding, he cut his name Waite, on the bark of a tree from which he had suspended a portion of his life-saving venison; and as this tree stood on the bank of a small river, just above its union with the Connecticut, the grateful men, in remembrance of their kind benefactor, called it Wait's River, by which name it has ever since been known."

Post-lunch, a short paddle was made a little further up the Waits River to The Bradford Mill where navigable water came to an end...

We reached our second campsite after covering about 14 miles where another meal, campfire, and good night's sleep were enjoyed.

Our last morning found us paddling upon a very calm Connecticut...

...past Sawyer Ledge...

...and beneath the Palisades...

...before passing under the last bridge above our takeout at Orford...

While we didn't have an overabundance of sunshine we were fortunate to have fairly warm temperatures, minimal rainfall (which is always appreciated when camping) and good company.

On my way home the next day I stopped to paddle a bit of the Contoocook River in Hancock, NH and found plenty of sun and temperatures in the upper 70's.  The fall foliage seemed to like those conditions...

At one point the distinctive sound of bagpipe music was heard drifting in the wind.  Shortly while peering through the trees I watched as the silhouette of the piper traversed a riverside path.