kdaanen-nfct: 07/01/2019

Jul 6, 2019

Map 7, Day 32: The Upper Ammonoosuc River (Downstream)

Trip Date: May 26, 2019
Miles: 18.9 in 8.5 hours including a stop for lunch back at the Stark Village Inn halfway
Portages: 3

Map 7
Paddling Partner: Laurie Chandler
Boat: Borrowed 12' recreational kayak, Laurie paddled here Wenonah Fusion
Weather: Sunny and pleasant
Overnight: Back to Stark Village Inn

Overview

Paddled the entire length of the NFCT's Upper Ammo section. Sam again assisted shuttling Laurie and I today--dropping us off by the West Milan General Store and put-in, then meeting us at the end of the day at the Weston dam. The water was high and the paddling very pleasant. Able to run the rapids above Stark. We checked out both Upper Ammo NFCT campsites: Cordwell and Frizzle.

Took a lunch break back at the Inn before finishing the day in Groveton. The plan was to meet at the Normandeau Campsite just beyond the Weston Dam, but the water was churning so violently at the put-in near the base of the dam, whirlpools were being created around the railroad abutment that we needed to round after exiting the pool at the base of the dam. In high water like this, a thru-paddle approaching the dam paddling upstream would have a lot of difficulties reaching the signed take-out and instead would need to access a gravel road at the top of the bank just prior to reaching the railroad bridge.

Sam was watching and awaiting our decision (and fates) from the opposite side of the dam, by a parking area. We instead put back in above the Weston Dam and paddled over to end our trip shy of the Normandeau Campsite where Sam had cold beer awaiting weary paddlers.

Paddling the river downstream was really fun--including running the quickwater around the braided islands above Red Dam.

River access point near Gord's in West Milan

River access

Upper Ammo is deeper and slow moving near West Milan

Below Red Dam (Laurie in her NFCT thru-canoe)

Signed Red Dam access (below dam)

Railroad crossing above Groveton

Groveton's covered bridge

Turbulent outflow below Weston dam and Normandy campsite

Jul 1, 2019

Map 7, Day 31: The Androscoggin

Trip Date: May 25, 2019
Miles: About 12.5 (out of 17 miles) in 4.5 hours including the shuttle along the way and a lunch break
Portages: 1 (4.5 miles by car bypassing the Mollidgewock rapids)
Paddling Partner: Laurie Chandler
Boat: Wenonah Minnesota II
Weather: Sunny and pleasant
Overnight: Stark Village Inn

Overview

Sam assisted us with our shuttling today, but while Laurie and I were on the water, he spent his time on the golf course he had noticed the day before during my antibiotic run to Colebrook. Both Laurie and I had scouted the rapids between Mollidgewock and Seven Islands Bridge on our drives en route to Errol and with the high water, neither of us were interested in tempting fate in my tandem open expedition canoe. We staged her car at Mollidgewock State Park which we would then use to shuttle the ourselves and the canoe to a wayside at Seven Bridges thus avoiding the most turbulent waters. Sam would then meet up with us later in the day at the take-out at Pontook Dam.

We parked Laurie's car near the park office, at a point where a small group of kayakers were getting set to launch. Just as we were about to leave, a man from the party rushed toward us. He had accidentally left his paddle in their shuttle vehicle downstream. While Sam took him back to retrieve it, Laurie and I visited with the group. Turns out it was an AMC outing led by Loretta Brady, an extremely active member of the NY-NoJ Chapter of the Appalachian Mountain Club's Canoe Kayak Committee. She was interest in hearing about both Laurie's memoir "Upwards" and my NFCT Thru-Paddler's Companion. And then she kindly wrote up an article about us in the August 2019 edition of the AMC publication Paddle Splashes.

After the AMC group was off, Sam brought us back to Errol. Laurie and I signed in at the NFCT kiosk and then launched below the Route 26 bridge. Even though we've known each other a few years--mostly via Facebook and email--this is the first time we've paddled together. We used my Minnesota II today, but tomorrow I'll borrow a rec kayak and she'll paddle her own kevlar boat for our trip down the Upper Ammo.

Seemed as if only a few minutes had passed and we were back at Mollidgewock strapping the canoe atop Laurie's car and off to put back in at Seven Islands Bridge, a little less than five miles downstream. The rest afternoon was spent flatwater paddling with only one little run through some rapids at the southern end of Thirteen Mile Woods. Could our continuous conversation be the reason we failed to see any wildlife?

Sam met us around 3:30 and took Laurie back to retrieve her car, then the three of us headed to Stark for the first of two nights booked at the Stark Village Inn.