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Connecticut River - Woodsville, NH to Orford, NH

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Woonsocket, RI
With work and family, it’s tough for me to get away to do long trips. Instead, I have been doing more long-weekends. One of the perfect rivers for these trips is the upper Connecticut – it’s not too far away (at least for me in RI), the river is pretty (but not exactly wilderness), and there are lots of well-maintained campsites. On this trip we were paddling the 28-mile section from Woodsville, NH to Orford, NH.

Bill showed up at my house at 6:00 a.m. on Saturday morning for the drive up to New Hampshire. We planned to be at the boat launch in Orford, NH (mile 240) by 10:00. When we arrived Al and Jonathan were already there, and Conrad arrived shortly after. With the crew complete, we consolidated our gear for trip up to Woodsville (mile 268). We put-in at the Woodsville Landing - a small beach off Connecticut Street just below the Route 302/Railroad Street Bridge.

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Before heading downstream, we paddled upstream to the mouth of the Ammonoosuc River to see the Bath-Haverhill Covered Bridge. Built in 1827, this is the oldest covered bridge in the State of New Hampshire. The bridge was closed in 1999 and restored for foot traffic in 2004. After checking out the bridge, we started our trip downstream.

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About 2 miles below the Woodsville we came to the Howard Island Campsite (mile 265) on the New Hampshire side – a nice grassy site, but not where we were staying on this trip.

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We continued downstream to our destination for the evening - Harkdale Farm Campsite (mile 259). Hartdale Farm is a wooded site on the VT side. We set up the camp, gathered firewood, and had a nice supper of fried fish and Maine guide potatoes before settling in around the campfire for the night.

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We awoke the next morning to drizzle, so I took my tent down early to try to keep it dry. I got the fire lit and the coffee started, and Jonathan prepared a tradition English breakfast with eggs-in-a-hole, sausage and fried tomatoes. After a leisurely breakfast, we packed up and headed out for our 13-mile paddle down to the Underhill Campsite.

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After 4-miles we took a break at Bedell Bridge State Park (mile 255) – the site of an old covered bridge. As we continued past the Newbury Boat Launch (beside the Haverhill/Newbury Bridge on the VT side), we noticed lots of boats heading downstream. We learned that this was the Paddle the Border event sponsored by the Upper Valley Land Trust, which maintains many of the campsites on the VT side. About 100 participants were headed down to Bugbee Landing for a cookout and music by the Strawberry Farm Band. It sounded good to us, so we joined in.

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We paddled past the Vaughan Meadow Campsite (mile 253) – a wooded campsite on the VT side about a mile below the old Bedell Bridge abutment. After another 4-miles we came to the Waits River on river right. We paddled a short way up the Waits River to the Bugbee Landing in Bradford (mile 249). We had our fill of hamburgers, hot dogs and pulled pork, and enjoyed the bluegrass music before heading out again.

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From there, we had about 4-miles to paddle to the Underhill Campsite (mile 246) - located just west of Piermont Village at the mouth of Eastman Brook. It is a wooded site up a steep bank on the New Hampshire side of the river. We lugged our gear up the stairs and followed our usual routine - set up camp, gather firewood, cook supper (pasta and sauce prepared by Bill), and then gather around the campfire for the night.

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We awoke the next day to foggy skies and mist. Once again Jonathan prepared breakfast, and then we packed up for the final leg of our journey. The Connecticut River is not known for its wilderness feel, but this section seemed a little more remote with hemlocks lining the banks in several sections. We also paddled past the steep cliffs of Saywer Mountain and the Palisades in Fairlee, VT before taking out at Orford Boat Launch (mile 240) near the Pastures Campground.

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The rain started just as we pulled out of the boat launch for the ride home. Perfect timing.

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I love the Connecticut. I enjoy the Howard Island campsite, definitely take a look if you do a similar trip in the future
 
Very nice. A couple of more days on the river and you could have stopped in for a drink. Also, well timed for leaf season.
 
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