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Summer Paddling Schedule - 2008The Brattleboro Outing Club will host eight (8) canoe and kayak outings from May to October. All paddles are free and open to the public, and all are suitable for family canoeing and kayak touring. Life jackets (PFDs) are mandatory. No advance reservations are required, except for the overnight camping trip to Maine, in July. Reservation priority goes to BOC members. Membership information is available at the BOC Website. The Club does NOT provide boats. Rentals are available locally through the Vermont Canoe Touring Center, Putney Rd., Brattleboro, 254-5088 (discounts to BOC members); or the Green Mountain Flagship Company, Rte 9, Wilmington, VT. 464-2975. Warm summer rain will not stop these trips; however high winds, storms or cold rain will. If in doubt, or for more information, contact Larry McIntosh at (802) 254-3666, or Lmacyak@yahoo.com. Three (3) of this year’s trips are described in more detail in a guidebook by John Hayes and Alex Wilson; Quiet Water, New Hampshire & Vermont, 2nd Ed., published by The Appalachian Mountain Club. Information regarding the Connecticut River trips is found in The Connecticut River Boating Guide, Source to Sea, 3rd Ed., published by The Globe Pequot Press, for the Connecticut River Watershed Council. Both books are available at local book and outdoor stores, as well as most libraries. You can read brief descriptions of each trip on the BOC Website at BOC Paddling Schedule. Four (4) of our outings are of special significance to local birders, and are designated sights along the Connecticut River Birding Trail. For information on this unique trail, visit www.ctriverbirdingtrail.org. NOTE: Our Annual Canoe and Kayak Consignment Sale/Swap will be on Saturday, May 9th – location TBA. Call/Email/ check the Website for more information, as the date nears.
SUMMER PADDLING SCHEDULE Meet at 9:30 a.m. in the Wal-Mart parking lot (Rte 119 in Hinsdale) for a peaceful paddle and picnic lunch in the setbacks of the Connecticut River. This often overlooked wildlife area is the home to hundreds of spring birds, and huge fish. Bring water, lunch, snacks and something warm to drink. We were snowed-out on this trip in May 2002, but it’s usually warm and beautiful. (See “What to bring”) The Quiet Water Guidebook calls this “a real gem in southern Vermont”. Lowell Lake State Park includes most of the shoreline and several islands. This is a shallow, productive body of water, surrounded by tall hills and trees, with a great variety of surface, sub-surface and shoreline vegetation and bird life. “Huge beaver lodges” and bald eagle sightings are the norm. We’ll meet at the West Townshend Common, Rte 30, at 9 AM. Bring snacks, lunch, water and binoculars. (See “What to bring”) Sunday, June 7th – Connecticut River; Bellows Falls, VT to Westmoreland, NH Meet at 8:30 a.m. at the Westmoreland General Store, Rte 63, or at the Bellows Falls canoe launch, Rte 12, on the NH side of the river, just below the dam, at 9:30 a.m. We’ll catch the 10 a.m. water release and paddle downstream with a good current, passing Hubbard Farms Wildlife Management Area (WMA), Westminster Station, Green Island WMA, Boggy Meadows, and the confluence of many rivers, streams and brooks. We’ll take out on the NH shore about 3:30 and make a stop at Burdick’s Chocolates, in Walpole, as we shuttle cars and boats. Bring lunch and plenty of water. (See “What to bring”) Saturday, June 20th – Sunrise on Lake Whitingham (Harriman Reservoir), VT This is our famous sunrise “paddle & nosh” trip. We meet at 5AM at the Chelsea Royal Diner (Rte. 9, West Brattleboro), or 5:30 AM at the VIP Coffee Shop in Wilmington (Jct Rtes. 9 and 100S). We’ll enjoy a potluck breakfast on a warm, sunny secluded beach, before the motorboat crowd wakes up. Bring light breakfast snacks to share; OJ will be provided. Also bring whatever makes a picnic breakfast more enjoyable. We’ll be off the water by 10 a.m. (See “What to bring”) Come celebrate the start of SUMMER! Friday/Saturday/Sunday, July 17, 18, 19 – Cape Porpoise (Kennebunkport) METhis is a repeat of our 2006 trip to the cold saltwater of Maine. We’ll camp at a full-service campground in the area (NOT the same as last time) and make day trips to the many islands of Cape Porpoise, Biddeford pool, Drakes Island Beach, Rachel Carson N.W.R., Parson’s Beach, Kennebunk River, etc. Daily paddle schedule will be determined by tides and weather. Cape Porpoise is the southern terminus of the Maine Island Trail. Visit their website at www.MITA.org for more information. Maine water is always cold! Dress for the water temperature, not the air temperature. This is not a trip for short, wide, slow kayaks or overloaded, underpowered canoes. Kayaks must have spray skirts! This is a reservation-only outing. Register by phone or Email by Friday, June 19th, at (802) 254-3666 or Lmacyak@yahoo.com. After June 19th, you may register only by Email. No reservations will be accepted after Friday, July 3rd. Reservation priority to BOC members. More information will be sent to registered paddlers. Meeting location will be in southern Maine. There will be a fee associated with camping, but not paddling. Grafton Pond is reported to be one of the finest paddling destinations in New Hampshire. This will be our first trip to this quiet, well-protected, remote pond. Lots of islands and nooks & crannies to explore. Almost the entire 235-acre pond is protected by the Society for the Protection of NH Forests. Since this will be a bit of a trek, we’ll meet at 8 a.m. in the Bickford’s parking lot, to car & boat pool. Paddlers from the north are welcome to join our convoy as we drive north on I-91, or meet us at the put-in off Grafton Pond Rd., at the dam. (From Enfield Center, NH, take Route 4A South for 2.2 miles and turn left onto Bluejay Rd. After 0.9 miles, bear right at the fork onto Grafton Pond Rd. Go another 0.9 miles, turn right and you’ll end at the dam in 0.2 miles). (See “What to bring”) This was last paddled in 2006, and it’s back by popular demand. Gale Meadows is a 195-acre pond just north of Bondville, off Rte. 30. An ideal spot for a relaxed fall paddle and picnic, it offers seclusion, easy access, birding and quiet water paddling. The pond and surrounding land are protected from development, and managed by VT Dept of Fish and Wildlife. A great blue heron rookery existed here for many years, but was almost totally destroyed by storms a few years ago. Bald eagles have been sighted here, as well as loons and other waterfowl. We will meet in Jamaica, on Rte 30, at the Jamaica Country Store, at 9AM. (See “What to bring”) Sunday, October 4th – Sommerset Reservoir, Sommerset, VT This is an all-day, fall foliage paddle on a very special out-of-the-way, protected body of water, at a special time of year. We chance to see loons and migrating waterfowl, feel the crisp late season air and witness fantastic fall colors, on this favorite outing. Bring snacks, lunch, water, and something warm to drink. We’ll meet at 9AM at the VIP Coffee Shop (Jct of Rtes 9 and 100S) in Wilmington. (See “What to bring”)
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