The Glorious Connecticut River

June 30, 2024

mile 314.3-337.2 (Normandeau Campsite) (0 miles of portaging)

The weather forecast changed overnight from thunderstorms all day to sunny all day so spirits were especially high this morning. Henry stood in the river this morning, coffee in hand, to scout out the rapids just downstream from the campsite to see if they were too shallow. After all the rain we got yesterday we should be able to cruise right over them and into the Connecticut.

We did just that after packing up camp and walking back up to the general store to fill up our water at the hose. Filtering water has quickly become our least favorite camp chore and we take full advantage every spigot possible. The flow was so fast on the Connecticut we were cruising 6 mph while barely paddling. We floated along, Henry fishing and me relaxing in the sun.

Around lunchtime we pulled off onto the perfect sandy beach and laid every piece of gear we had out to dry in the hot sun. We swam a few times, cooling down, then I sat in the shade of the trees and snacked naked.

We packed everything back up, organized the canoe and took off again after about an hour break. Before we knew it the easy 20 miles were done and we'd reached the confluence of the Ammonoosuc where it was time to head upstream. We'd planned on camping at the campsite in a few miles but it was so early we decided to push further.

The current wasn't bad to start off but the flow quickly became faster and almost impossible to paddle up. We zigzagged from shore to shore using all of our strength and would barely make any progress as the current pushed us back downstream. When we had only 0.3 miles left to get to the takeout we were literally pulling ourselves up the shoreline using bushes and branches. With the dam in sight, clinging to grass on the bank, we gathered our strength and paddled as hard as we could, finally reaching the opposite shore and the take out.

We thought we'd start our portage but the more we looked at the map the more we realized we'd have to walk about 10 miles to a bed and breakfast and we'd definitely be getting there after dark. We looked around for a stealth site, strongly considered sleeping by the river in a park, then wandered to the grocery store to buy some water. While I was inside Henry asked around and discovered we could get to the NFCT campsite by road! We could've paddled about 0.5 mile downstream to get to it again but I told Henry I'd rather die than fight that current again tomorrow morning going upstream.

This solved our problem though and we set off through town to the site. I was tired, dehydrated, hungry, hot, and covered in bug bites and could feel my rational mind and sanity slowly slipping away. My right hand is swollen to twice its size because of a fly bite.

I could feel myself breaking down and was trying to spare Henry from it so I walked far behind him. When we got to the campsite he could tell I was losing it, especially as even more mosquitoes swarmed me. I tried to take deep breaths as I set the tent up as quickly as I could, the buzzing of mosquitoes in my ears making me grit my teeth hard enough to hurt. Once I crawled inside I collapsed on the floor and stared at the ceiling. Henry came over with a bottle of water with electrolytes and encouraged me to eat a snack. I forced myself to drink the whole bottle and ate some fruit a nice lady had given us at the river earlier while I called Mom. I felt much better after and emerged sometime later while Henry was cooking some mac n cheese for dinner.