Expeditionary Field Study

Nine adventurous middle school and soon to be high school students ran the upper Connecticut River in early August!  We embarked in Canaan with a relatively short paddle on DAY ONE. Paddlers soon were racing for neon green softballs bobbing along the river from the past weekend’s tournament held at Canaan Memorial High School.  The gravel bar we were to camp on was submerged, yet our trusty guide Parker Castle had planned ahead and secured a spot at the edge of a hay field thanks to the kindness of Nelson Farms.  We not only had a dry spot to camp, but had a great place to for impromptu softball after making a bat of driftwood.  High water would prove to be both a problem and opportunity on our trip!

DAY TWO consisted of some nice rips, fast flowing water and a minor sprinkle on our seventeen mile paddle to Lyman Falls.  We were joined by Executive Director of the Northwoods Stewardship Center, Maria Young, for the afternoon. We had the full run of Lyman Falls Campground, including a wonderful fire pit at the upper camping area, field for more softball and the luxury of an outhouse! 

On DAY THREE we woke up after heavy rains and a substantial dam release from the Connecticut Lakes that resulted in water moving at 4500 cubic feet per second (CFS).  Well beyond the 1800 CFS we had on day one and the typical August flow of 800 to 1000 CFS.  Ironically, our concern back in May was whether the water levels might be too low.  Given the high water levels through this summer, we set 3000 CFS as our max with the experience level we anticipated.  We determined we would have to wait and see if water levels came down after holding up for a day at camp.  We made the most of it with birch bark weaving and nature studies, team challenges, exploring a nearby stream to cool off, and of course soft ball! It was also hard to beat woodfired pizza on a camping trip! 

Reviewing our plans for DAY FOUR, we adjusted our take out from Guildhall to Maidstone Bridge.  6:00 am Thursday morning the CFS was at 3180. Parker and his assistant Kendra Pepin paddled the approximately three mile stretch between Lyman Falls and Debanville’s Store in Bloomfield, our most challenging section.  Confident the kids could handle the class I rapids, we broke camp and were on the water by 9:00 with the CFS below 3000.  We took out at 1:00, as planned, after four awesome days, both on and off the water, thanks to a great group of students and the NEK Guides team of Parker, Kendra and Sy.  We especially thank Casella Waste Management Systems for their sponsorship of this program.