Pawcatuck River

The heat broke last weekend at the perfect time since I was leading a (RICKA) club trip on the Pawcatuck River in Charlestown, RI. With the nice weather we had a good turn out – 17 boats – 3 canoes and 14 kayaks. We ran the section from the Jay Cronin Access in Richmond to the Bradford Landing in Bradford. I paddled tandem with Jonathan in his Explorer,

Erik and Jonathan above the Burdickville Dam

The trip is about 8 miles, but is like two different trips. For the first four miles the river is narrow and almost jungle-like as it twists and turns trough the woods. We had to maneuver around or over 8 blow-downs – it was slow going.

Lifting over - Jonathan and Jim

At about the halfway point, the Wood River joins the Pawcatuck, and the river opens up.

The kayaks are coming - Erik

The main feature on this section is an old broken dam at Burdickville, which can be portaged or run to the right.

Burdickville Dam - Erik and Jonathan

It was low and rocky, and we did have a couple of swims.

Burdickville Dam - Danny

From there it is flatwater down to the take out. Four hours to run 8 miles, but it was still a fun trip. Few more pictures here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/eckilson/albums/72157668892225807/with/42362201635/