Goal distance: 10.5 (to Lussier campsite)
Actual distance: 8 miles to Sheldon Springs Hydro Plant
Weather: Hot, sunny
Portages: 2
#1: .5 miles (?) around Highfall Dam
Carried from take-out/campground area up the path to gravel, then wheeled along road to put-in.
#2: .5 miles (?) around East Highgate ledges and old dam site
Didn't see any portage sign to take-out, but there is one at the put-in. Guidebook suggests tracking is possible, but the water was really low, the rocks looked too pointy so we opted to pull up on the shoulderless, busy road. I have an orange bike flag and this is the second place I REALLY felt it needed to be used. In fact, I held it out as we walked facing traffic. A few blind curves coming into the residential area that keep you on your toes!
Wildlife: Osprey, muskrat, ducks, herons
Dinner: Rice and black beans with lemon/pepper tuna steaks sauteed with dehydrated soup vegetables
If I haven't already emphasized this to the through-paddler community, let me state how important it is you GET ALL THE WATER YOU CAN WHEN YOU CAN. Paddling upstream is thirsty work, but that happens a bit later in the day.
We may have slept in a little later that we should, and I made a big breakfast while Beckie packed up the tent and sleeping bags. Even though we had just eaten (ostensibly to lighten our food bag of course), we still wanted to hit Joey's Bakery which was mentioned numerous times in the campsite notebook. After portaging our gear over to the put-in above the dam, and taking some pictures, we walked up to the Hwy 78/Hyw 207 intersection where we found some incredible bakery, coffee and iced drinks as well as artwork. After such an arduous morning, we had to have something to sustain us. They were out of maple custard, so we had to make do with a barvarian cream donut, iced coffee and lemonade slush. We also had our gallon jug of water filled for us. Sat for a while in the Adirondack chairs, made a few phone calls including wishing my grandmother a happy 103rd bday, got a few refills and finally left around noon. We had good paddling until East Highgate and made an initial attempt to track up the ledges, but decided to take the Hwy 78 road that followed the river. The banks were pretty high that would have made it more difficult to change our mind if we had gone much farther. No shoulder. Saturday afternoon traffic. Put back in and did successfully track the next set of rapids just upstream of the bridge that probably took us 20-30 minutes. Paddled toward Sheldon Springs Dam and hit MORE rapids along the jeep trails that I don't think are mentioned in enough detail in the guidebook or on the maps. Again, may be due to low water, but we spent a long time tracking up toward the portage which is shown at the base of some rapids. Was a little confused about what this set of rapids was. Definitely was more than just getting out and dragging over low areas. Half the time we could track from the shore, the other half we were in the water. At one point we had to take the gear out of the canoe in order to lift the boat over the rocks/ledge. Estimated it took 1.5 hours or more to go 1 mile or less.
We did stop at a campsite that turned out to be by the jeep trails, but the firepit was full of beer cans even though the owner had asked "Please Do Not Litter." I guess this qualifies as a tidy littering. Apparently empty beer cans are heavier to pack out than pack in.
After checking out the jeep trails, thinking they might lead to the take out, we put back on the river and arrived at the real take-out (didn't see a sign) at the Hydro plant and decided to make dinner before tackling the portage. The Hydro plant area has a nice grassy area that was starting to look more and more inviting as a camping spot. Two parties arrived to go fishing who both said it was safe as well AS okay to camp there. I hung out with a mom and daughter (the same ages as my own daughter and I) and got my dog fix playing with Brooklyn, their Jack Russell/Beagle/mix seven-month old puppy. They totally rocked fishing against the three other guys who were fishing the same pool. (Secret weapon: Nightcrawlers on French Spinners that landed some really nice bass and perch.) Scored a beer off the guys and had nice conversations about the area with all of them. This trip is definitely making me expand outside my comfort zone. I don't think I've ever struck up conversations with strangers as much as I have been doing thus far.
We set up the tent and slept in the glow of the Hydro plant halogen lights that night. Forgot to return our empty beer bottle to the guys, so we ended up portaging it for the next two days. Beckie spent a long time with the guidebook discovering just how many more upstream miles she had agreed to do with me over the next week.
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| Looking downstream just below the East Highgate ledges |
