Now I know for a lot of you winter is a lot of snow and -20 degrees, But here in Maryland it isn't quite that bad. In spite of a "winter storm" warning this past weekend three of us decided to go canoeing. I am planning a two week paddle down the Connecticut River next July from the US/Canadian border, close to the headwaters of the river, south to Massachusetts. I normally solo but since Ralph and I are doing this one together we will do it in a tandem. The impetus for this weekend trip was to test paddle a tandem with Ralph to see if the tandem canoe we will use would work for us AND to see if our friendship would survive paddling in the same canoe. We have been on many trips together in kayaks and have known each other for a good ten years. I have a Wenonah Seneca available to me that is 19.5 feet by 39" with about 2" rocker. It looks huge but proved to paddle well and carried a load. We planned to paddle the Patuxent River and arrived at the Selby Landing just below Jug Bay for a 10 AM launch. We originally had 6 other lunatics lined up to go with us, but a decaying forecast reduced it to us and solo canoeist Chip Walsh in a Hemlock SRT. The morning was mild and sunny, so things looked all right for Friday the 13th…FRIDAY…the 13TH??? I guess I missed that during the planning!!
We launched with me taking the stern and Ralph paddling bow, and after an initial period of adjusting to the new boat and each other, started to make good headway against the remained of the incoming tide. We easily left Chip, who is a very strong and experienced solo paddler, behind as the power of two paddlers and a 19’ waterline ate up the miles. We stopped for a gam with Patuxent Riverkeeper out on his dock at the offices in Nottingham. After a bit, he wished us well and we headed downriver, now with a slack current. We pulled out on the far shore at Ferry Landing for a quick break and lunch, then were underway again.
We pulled into our destination, the Milltown Landing paddle-in campsite, after a 10 mile paddle at about 2 PM.
We pitched camp, scrounged for wood, and got a fire going as the sun quickly sank about 4:45. The sky was alternately banded with cloud and then crystal clear, letting the nearly full moon shine down as the Canada Geese settled in for the night with many cluckings and honkings. After dinner we chatted around the fire. Ralph baked a pineapple upside down cake in his dutch oven for dessert and life was good! We retired to our tents (or bivy sack as the case may be) about 9:30, and when we turned in, my thermometer reading 27 degrees F (-2.8 C), I took my stove fuel canister into my sleeping bag (iso-butane gets cranky below about 30 degrees).
A watery sun greeted the dawn and the temperature rose into the low 30’s as we got up and had breakfast. I feasted on eggs and corned beef hash, while Chip and Ralph had brought oatmeal and hot drinks. We packed up and were on the water by our 10 AM departure time, catching the incoming tide as we headed north. This time, I took the bow and Ralph had the stern. We made very good time as the air filled with flights of ducks, eagles scrounging for breakfast (this area is a big bald eagle nesting area and we were lucky to see a dozen or so this trip including 4 at once), cormorants cruising up the river, and many, many Canada Geese moving out to glean for the day. Having the current with us made a difference, as we pulled into our next camp at White Oak a little after 1 PM. This campsite is off the river about a half mile up a creek named the Matoponi. Four creeks join to make this one and they re named The Ma, the To, the Po, and the Ni. Somebody had a fun time when they named stuff in this area.
Ralph and I set up camp on the bluff. On one trip up top, I spotted Chip paddling into the creek, but a half hour later, after we had camp up, no Chip. We began to wonder what happened to him, so decided to walk up the dirt road to the wooden bridge over the creek and see if he’d paddled up for a little sight see. No Chip. We walked back to camp intending to hop into the tandem and search the river for him. When we got there, he was just unloading. He’d taken a cut-off through a marsh area and missed the bend on which White Oak is located only finding camp after turned around and paddled back down the creek.
Despite all the cargo capacity, Chip decided to spend the weekend under a 12’ Noah tarp and with a bivy sack. Friday had been fine, but tonight forecast promised rain and/or snow. We pitched a big blue tarp over the picnic table and got dinner going as it started to rain and by 6:30 it was pouring down! No fire tonight—we were all in the bags by 7 PM as the temps hovered around freezing. One rule for winter camping: bring TWO books and make sure your MP3 player is fully charged or you will spend a lot of time staring up at the tent.
The rain finally let up about 2 AM (we never did have snow). In the morning we let the weak sunshine dry what would dry and packed up, loaded the canoes and paddled out for the short trip back to Selby Landing.
All in all, we decided the Seneca would do for our Connecticut River trip and we were sufficiently compatible in the tandem that homicide could probably be avoided. It was very nice winter weekend on the Pax, my favorite backyard river.
Ralph's photos here: https://plus.google.com/photos/102459087707170525949/albums/5957750318316647057
My photos here: https://picasaweb.google.com/101178211036772879744/2013DecPaxCanoeTrip#
Dave
We launched with me taking the stern and Ralph paddling bow, and after an initial period of adjusting to the new boat and each other, started to make good headway against the remained of the incoming tide. We easily left Chip, who is a very strong and experienced solo paddler, behind as the power of two paddlers and a 19’ waterline ate up the miles. We stopped for a gam with Patuxent Riverkeeper out on his dock at the offices in Nottingham. After a bit, he wished us well and we headed downriver, now with a slack current. We pulled out on the far shore at Ferry Landing for a quick break and lunch, then were underway again.
We pulled into our destination, the Milltown Landing paddle-in campsite, after a 10 mile paddle at about 2 PM.
We pitched camp, scrounged for wood, and got a fire going as the sun quickly sank about 4:45. The sky was alternately banded with cloud and then crystal clear, letting the nearly full moon shine down as the Canada Geese settled in for the night with many cluckings and honkings. After dinner we chatted around the fire. Ralph baked a pineapple upside down cake in his dutch oven for dessert and life was good! We retired to our tents (or bivy sack as the case may be) about 9:30, and when we turned in, my thermometer reading 27 degrees F (-2.8 C), I took my stove fuel canister into my sleeping bag (iso-butane gets cranky below about 30 degrees).
A watery sun greeted the dawn and the temperature rose into the low 30’s as we got up and had breakfast. I feasted on eggs and corned beef hash, while Chip and Ralph had brought oatmeal and hot drinks. We packed up and were on the water by our 10 AM departure time, catching the incoming tide as we headed north. This time, I took the bow and Ralph had the stern. We made very good time as the air filled with flights of ducks, eagles scrounging for breakfast (this area is a big bald eagle nesting area and we were lucky to see a dozen or so this trip including 4 at once), cormorants cruising up the river, and many, many Canada Geese moving out to glean for the day. Having the current with us made a difference, as we pulled into our next camp at White Oak a little after 1 PM. This campsite is off the river about a half mile up a creek named the Matoponi. Four creeks join to make this one and they re named The Ma, the To, the Po, and the Ni. Somebody had a fun time when they named stuff in this area.
Ralph and I set up camp on the bluff. On one trip up top, I spotted Chip paddling into the creek, but a half hour later, after we had camp up, no Chip. We began to wonder what happened to him, so decided to walk up the dirt road to the wooden bridge over the creek and see if he’d paddled up for a little sight see. No Chip. We walked back to camp intending to hop into the tandem and search the river for him. When we got there, he was just unloading. He’d taken a cut-off through a marsh area and missed the bend on which White Oak is located only finding camp after turned around and paddled back down the creek.
Despite all the cargo capacity, Chip decided to spend the weekend under a 12’ Noah tarp and with a bivy sack. Friday had been fine, but tonight forecast promised rain and/or snow. We pitched a big blue tarp over the picnic table and got dinner going as it started to rain and by 6:30 it was pouring down! No fire tonight—we were all in the bags by 7 PM as the temps hovered around freezing. One rule for winter camping: bring TWO books and make sure your MP3 player is fully charged or you will spend a lot of time staring up at the tent.
The rain finally let up about 2 AM (we never did have snow). In the morning we let the weak sunshine dry what would dry and packed up, loaded the canoes and paddled out for the short trip back to Selby Landing.
All in all, we decided the Seneca would do for our Connecticut River trip and we were sufficiently compatible in the tandem that homicide could probably be avoided. It was very nice winter weekend on the Pax, my favorite backyard river.
Ralph's photos here: https://plus.google.com/photos/102459087707170525949/albums/5957750318316647057
My photos here: https://picasaweb.google.com/101178211036772879744/2013DecPaxCanoeTrip#
Dave
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