How many days with temps in the teens does it take to freeze a river? Based on this weekend’s experience, the answer is three.
For the past couple of years, our local club has been doing a winter overnight at the Burlingame Canoe Campsites on the Pawcatuck River in Charlestown, RI. It’s been a lot of fun, and this year we had nine joining in, with one coming from as far away as NY.
In past years, temperatures for this trip have mild (days in the 30’s, nights in the 20’s), but this year we were having a cold snap. Day time highs were struggling to get out of the 20's, and night time lows were in the teens. Average temperatures had been in the 20’s for a couple of weeks, which is unusual for RI. We did have one of the locals check the river for ice on Wednesday, and he reported that the put in was ice-free. It is tough to see much else from shore.
When we arrived at Bradford Landing on Saturday morning the put in was open, but there was solid ice downstream to a nearby dam. There was an open channel upstream so we loaded our boats and headed out. We didn’t get far. We paddled upstream a couple of hundred yards to find the river frozen solid – good half-inch of ice for as far as you could see. No way we were getting through that.
We paddled back to the put in to try to figure out our options. Was there a different section of the river that wouldn’t be iced-in - nope. Was there a campground or picnic area nearby that wasn’t closed for the season – nope. Unfortunately, we were out of luck. Best we could do was a picture and lunch at a nearby restaurant.
Paddling in southern New England I get spoiled. Lakes freeze, but rivers with even a little current usually stay open all winter. Not this year, or at least this week. Forecast is for temps to go back in to the 40's next week.
For the past couple of years, our local club has been doing a winter overnight at the Burlingame Canoe Campsites on the Pawcatuck River in Charlestown, RI. It’s been a lot of fun, and this year we had nine joining in, with one coming from as far away as NY.
In past years, temperatures for this trip have mild (days in the 30’s, nights in the 20’s), but this year we were having a cold snap. Day time highs were struggling to get out of the 20's, and night time lows were in the teens. Average temperatures had been in the 20’s for a couple of weeks, which is unusual for RI. We did have one of the locals check the river for ice on Wednesday, and he reported that the put in was ice-free. It is tough to see much else from shore.
When we arrived at Bradford Landing on Saturday morning the put in was open, but there was solid ice downstream to a nearby dam. There was an open channel upstream so we loaded our boats and headed out. We didn’t get far. We paddled upstream a couple of hundred yards to find the river frozen solid – good half-inch of ice for as far as you could see. No way we were getting through that.
We paddled back to the put in to try to figure out our options. Was there a different section of the river that wouldn’t be iced-in - nope. Was there a campground or picnic area nearby that wasn’t closed for the season – nope. Unfortunately, we were out of luck. Best we could do was a picture and lunch at a nearby restaurant.
Paddling in southern New England I get spoiled. Lakes freeze, but rivers with even a little current usually stay open all winter. Not this year, or at least this week. Forecast is for temps to go back in to the 40's next week.
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