Connecticut River (VT, NH, MA, CT)

Submitted Trip Report 1:
Length: Overnight 9pm - 10pm next day
Distance: 30miles

Sometime in the middle of the summer of 2007 me and my river buddies Joe and Ben went to the Connecticut River. This river is long and has tendencies to change its water level a lot throughout the summer.

We started out around 9pm. The water was dark and everything around us was shrouded in a thick fog of blackness. As we pushed off the shore and started to make our way down the river we had to go under a bridge. This didn't seem too difficult but due to the low amount of light we couldn't tell the speed at which we were going, the current around the bridge support was stronger then what we expected. This current started to drag our canoe sideways at the support, with a lot of energy and adrenalin we managed to steer the boat straight and push off the bridge support with our oars. After this we continued down the river, due to it being dark all we could do was listen to the rapids that were approaching and passing us on either side of the boat, for about 40 minutes we managed to avoid one loud rapid after another. Until we came to a really loud one, this rapid was roaring and sounded as if it was going to kill us, but us being who we are we decided to wing it. Our canoe spun around 360 degrees at least twice as we tried to keep it upright and not flip all of our equipment into the fast flowing river. Somehow we managed to get past this set of rapids and enjoyed another 50 minutes of relatively easy boating. A sound started to approach us, it didn't seem very loud so we thought that the next rapid was a pussy one, we continued on. But as we got close and closer to the sound it grew louder, after a while we realized that the sound was quite at first because the rapids that it belonged to were really far off, by the time we approached them we almost tipped 5 times and finally were washed up on a rock in the middle of the darkness that we were boating. We got out and using only a small key chain flashlight found out how far from the shore we were. Joe and Ben went to explore the rapids up ahead and I had to stay with the canoe so that it would be anchored, the cold water was flowing around my legs making it hard to stay still, the sharp rocks on the river bed were inching their way through the skin on my feet. Finally after what seemed like an hour Joe returned, he told me about a waterfall about 4 feet high and another one next to it that was about 3 feet.

This knowledge brought our trip to a halt, the next 4 hours we spent trying to get the boat to the side of the shore which was made really difficult by all the large boulders, and changed within the water level that this boulders created. In the end we ended up just getting having a few drinks and falling asleep on the shore. When we woke up we saw the river for the first time in full light. During the day it was obvious that we couldn't have made the waterfall so we walked around it carrying the canoe. This story didn't end bad but the trip was a lot of hassle and could have been made much simple if we just went in the morning, but it was a lot more challenging at night so it's still up for interpretation if it was a good idea or not.

Overall river characteristics:
The first 6-7 miles of the river from White River Junction are pretty fast but with no rapids. After this the river greatly slows down and becomes more of a lake. However at parts it is very shallow, sometimes you can even touch the bottom while in the middle. The consistency is sandy and muddy so if you go swimming you will likely be covered by a small layer of so after.

Start Location: There is a spot here for 2-3 cars and easy access to the water.
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End Location: This is about 30 miles down river. NOT an easy paddle. There are many access points along this river, this is just one of them, and the one we used.
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Connecticut River (VT, NH, MA, CT)

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