How far would you travel for a day trip? For me, it was 3.5 hours on Saturday for a trip on the White River in VT. I don’t think that is the longest I have done (that’s 4 hours to the Mongaup in NY), but it is close.
There are two sections of the White River that are popular for spring trips – the lower Gaysville section from Stockbridge to Bethel, and the upper section from Granville to Stockbridge. Our original plan was the paddle the lower Gaysville section that has a few more exciting rapids, but due to high water levels the trip was moved to the upper section.
This would be my first trip on the White River, so it really didn’t matter to me which section we paddled. The group was all canoes. I’d be paddling tandem with my friend Jonathan, and the group included one other tandem, four solos (including DougD), and four polers. This section is 13 miles of quickwater that winds through the pretty farms and fields of VT’s dairy country. It rained on and off until around 2:00, but then the clouds lifted and we even saw some blue sky. Great trip and worth the drive. Few pictures here:
Hmmm, 13 miles of quickwater, you say? Yeah, That’d be worthwhile. 3.5 hours is about my limit too…But once it hits 4 hours, I draw a line in the sand, Buddy–Then it’s got to become an overnight!
Looks like it was highly worth the travel time(for like, only a 3-to-7 mile section of peppy paddling…Well, then that might not be so worth the while.) Even with the unseasonably cooler May we’re having, had I known, I’d have thrown a canoe on the van and tacked on an extra hour or so driving time just to meet up with you and the legendary DougD! It’s been raining here on and off all the past week, and looks to continue so for a few days to come. Money in the ww bank! (But alas, Saturdays are not always available to me now because of work, and this last Sunday I was headed the other way toward NYC to scout an urban paddle of the Bronx River(where one has to pay more attention to what’s going on around them on land, than what they might encounter on the water. If ya know what I mean;-)
Anyway, keep those cards, letters and paddling pics coming…They are much appreciated.
enjoyed the pictures, two and a half hours one way is my max for a daytrip, add a long shuttle and return trip home and you can easily end up with 6 or 7 hours of driving even at that
It is not always the distance that gets you but the road conditions- especially the shuttle roads that add the time
@spiritboat said:
Anyway, keep those cards, letters and paddling pics coming…They are much appreciated.
My sediments of spirited sentiment, too!
That does look like pushy froth. Enough that even the wee wallows have a bit of hydraulic bow brake to them, I’d suspect., Judging by that bow-to-the-bow transversal pole-to-gunnel balance it appears Marshall is executing. And, is that Scott B. opting for an Old Town rather than his usual sea kayak? And I guess Douglas’s back is still awack, thus him taking a seat in the Courier as opposed to hefting the deified Hogback Hernia off roof racks and into poler’s posture.
Matt (the “Hal’d I’d ever end associatin’ with a Scooter-type?”) seems in attendance, too. Shucks! I’d almost drive 6-1/2 hours to be amongst all these characters, and yourself, Erik. But then, guess I’m gonna need to make that a weekender. What with having to avail myself of hoppy elixirs to confront that muckle of mirth and madness. And who be the lovely auburn strider. So long I’ve had to stare at that craggy mug of Douglas’s. It’s nice to see the red-rider poler society has a countenance not as hard on my astigmatic orbs.
Finally, staring at all your fine images, I think I can ascertain, yea, it was worth the trip. Like that glint of gold beckoning beyond the gray-skyed portal to those Vermont green hills.
@magooch said:
My answer to the question is about one hour is my maximum.
There are some nice flatwater rivers within an hour of my house, but no real whitewater. I’d get pretty bored if that was my limit.
@tdaniel said:
two and a half hours one way is my max for a daytrip, add a long shuttle and return trip home and you can easily end up with 6 or 7 hours of driving even at that
I’d say most of the stuff that I do is between 2 and 2 1/2 hours away. The shuttle adds as least an hour, so it is a full day event. I’m an early riser, so I usually opt for trips that start in the morning, which leaves me out of a lot of trips with “crack of noon” paddlers.
@canoeswithduckheads said:
Shucks! I’d almost drive 6-1/2 hours to be amongst all these characters, and yourself, Erik. But then, guess I’m gonna need to make that a weekender.
Would have been great to have you. It was also nice to be in a group of all canoes - pretty rare for me these days. This fall, we should try to get a group together for a weekend.
In general, I like to spend at least twice as much time paddling as driving. And to be mindful any drive home at end of fun, exertive paddle in the sun makes me less than an alert and safe driver.
I don’t think driving is truly the barometer for me…Lakes, the Hudson, and Whitewater(when things are up enough)I get plenty of nearby…So it really boils down to what’s the main attraction. I grew up surfin’ the Atlantic, but the ocean is now 4 hours away from me(and that’s without hitting any traffic along the way). So trips to the seaboard are now few and far between. But when I get a notion, I’ll get up at dawn and drive all day to paddle something special(made it to the Chesapeake one afternoon, then Northern Florida the next day.) So it really comes down to the following combo of attractions:
Water-type and Scenery, Socializing with other paddlers.
(And oh yeah, and how much I want to spend on gas/tolls;-)
Some of our shuttle drivers on the last month’s Okefenokee trip spend 9 hours driving and no paddling. It was a screwed up paddle from the stories I hear.
Personally I prefer 2 hours paddling to every hour driving.
My favorite river, and a 7 hour paddle, are 3 hours away. I’ve done it several times, but my body has been strongly suggesting that we spend the night.
I often do 2.5 miles from Tucson to Phoenix. anything longer than I want to spend as much time on the water as I can. Preferably camping.
I will drive 4 yours to Yuma for a long weekend.
8 hours to Hoover Dam to spend a week on the Colorado.
But a day trip usually means an hour to Pena Blanca or Patagonia lakes, 90 minutes to Parker Canyon and the nearby after-paddle wineries. or the Phoenix trips.
Looks well worth the drive. I have done a number of 3 and 3 and 1//2 half hour drives to do a day paddle and then drive that same amount of time back home. I don’t enjoy driving , but the paddling and company are well worth it. Those type of drives work out to about equal amount of time paddling and driving. The first time I paddled out to Cape Romain to Lighthouse Island from McClellanville it was a day trip with about 7 and 1/2 hours driving round trip and 19 miles of paddling. I did this solo.
I am lucky I can get to the mountains in 3 hours or the coast in 3 hours from where I live, and then there are a number of lakes, rivers and swamps in between.
I’ve driven 6-7 hours total for day paddles. Last year I drove 8 hours total for a day hike. I guess that’s my new limit. Four hours there and four hours back.
Hmm. Technically, last month I traveled 7,300 round trip miles for two paddling day trips. But since I stayed overnight for 2 weeks (and did other stuff) I realize that doesn’t count. I’ve driven 3.5 hours each way for a 5 hour run down the Red Moshannon in northern Pennsylvania – I think that’s the most remote within one 24 hour period.
Yesterday I drove 257 miles and spent about six hours scouting boat ramps to go paddling in the future. Now I’m getting gas from some club members because I’m sending them to a pretty cool places “off the grid” because Google or Garmin can’t find it. … Rookies…
