Farmington River Kayak - Simsbury, CT

Date Kayaked: Saturday, July 29, 2017
Estimated distance:  3.37 miles
Weather: 66°F, cloudy
Resources: Farmington River Watershed Association, Map and Access Information
Highlights of the trip:  green heron!


A friend joined me for a kayak trip on the Farmington River in Simsbury.  We put in at Curtiss Park (see intermittent access point #25 on map and in description) and headed up-river toward the center of town.

Oops.  Forgot to shut off app.  Ignore GPS trail on Route 315.

When we got to Curtiss Park, we saw a couple of people fishing.  Apparently, the woman was putting the man to shame and she pulled out a largemouth bass as we were standing there.

We put in and started paddling upriver toward Simsbury.  Before too long, we passed under the Route 315 bridge.  I told my friend to be on the lookout for herons in the little cove on the left.  I almost always see one there, but they usually see me first and fly away.  Sure enough, we saw one sitting on a large log, but he ignored us.  We were able to float and watch him for quite awhile.

There is a Great Blue Heron on the log just to the right of the leaves.

A little farther along, we saw another bird fishing along the shore.  He'd watch the water and then shoot his neck out and nab a little fish in his beak.  I wasn't sure what kind of bird it was, but the curve in its neck reminded me of a heron, though much smaller than the Great Blue.  When I got home, I looked it up.  I am pretty sure it is a Green Heron.  A new bird to add to my list!

Green Heron with small fish in its beak.

I needed to rest my backside, so we took a break on a small "beach" area.  It was more muddy than the sandy shore at Curtiss Park.  The mud made it easy for us to spot animal tracks and I think the ones below are from a racoon. 

Racoon tracks.

After our break, we turned around and headed back.  We went almost 3.4 miles in total.  It was a nice relaxing paddle and it was fun to get out on the river.

West Branch (aka Hogback) Reservoir - Colebrook, CT

Date Paddled: Tuesday, August 9, 2016
Estimated distance: 3.62 miles (not all paddling, as we got up and climbed up the spillway)
Weather: 81°F, scattered clouds
Resources:  MDC Farmington River, Colebrook Historical Society, Book:  Quiet Water Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island
Highlights of the trip:  views


My hiking partner and I decided to go for a paddle in our kayaks today.  I had heard about Hogback Reservoir from one of my neighbors and wanted to give it a try.  The weather was perfect - sunny, but not too hot (no swimming allowed).


My friend tried entering the boat launch into her GPS without success, so here are some directions:  From the center of Riverton (facing the General Store), go left/west on Robertsville Road.  This turns into Riverton Road as you enter Colebrook.  Turn right on Eno Hill Road.  Turn right again on Durst Road (sign for road on pillar).  The parking lot for the boat launch is on your left just before the dam.  Although the road over the dam goes all the way across to Hogback Road, I think it is gated.


There was a lot of construction going on and, at first, I was not sure whether we would be able to get to the launching area.  Then we noticed a gap in the silt fence with a driveway that went down to the launch.  You can not launch using a trailer.  We unloaded our kayaks and parked in the upper lot.  There is a port-a-potty available.

I know, it looks like we paddled over dry land.  For some reason the map doesn't show the full size of the reservoir.  We parked at what used to be called Hogback Dam, but has been renamed Goodwin Dam.  At the other end of the West Branch Reservoir is the Colebrook River Dam with Colebrook River Lake beyond. 

We paddled up the west side of the reservoir.  There were a couple of spots that looked kind of interesting and may have had trails that went down to them.

The only island.  Someone had stacked a rock cairn on it.

We paddled to the northern end where the Colebrook River Dam is located.  My neighbor has said that he climbs to the top and gets great views of both bodies of water.  Does he really climb these rocks?

Not too sure about climbing this.

Instead of climbing the rocks, we went around to the east side that had an area of exposed bedrock (and weeds) and climbed here.

Looking back down the reservoir.

Part way up the hill.

As we climbed, we realized we were not in the place my neighbor had suggested, and were probably in a place that we should not be.  We appeared to be in the spillway for the upper reservoir.  It has been very dry here this summer, so I doubted we were in danger of water coming over the top, and when we got to the top, we found that was true.  We were faced with a field with the water quite a distance away.

Looking across field to Colebrook River Lake from top of spillway.

We paddled back down the reservoir, this time along the eastern shore.  The wind was against us, but by sticking close to the shore, it wasn't too bad.  We could see a bald eagle soaring above.  We approached the spillway with no fear of being sucked over and then paddled back to the boat launch.

Looking back at the Colebrook River Dam.

In front of the parking area, there are tables with nice views of the reservoir.  I'll have to keep this place in mind and maybe come up here this fall for a picnic with some sandwiches made at the Riverton General Store.

One last look from picnic area.

Torrington - Burr Pond Kayak

The first day of October and it was spectacular!

I went with my son and a friend of mine over to Burr Pond State Park in Torrington.  We put our kayaks in at the boat launch and headed off counter-clockwise around the pond.   It's a great little place to kayak.  There are small islands to maneuver around and big rocks lurking just under the water.  It reminds me of the lakes you would find in Maine.  We saw a few mallards, a turtle, and some Canada geese in the pond, and turkey vultures soaring above.

Painted turtle.

The colors are just starting to show.

I love kayaking at Burr Pond because it feels so remote.  No houses along the shore.  The state park does have a small beach and picnic area, but in the middle of the week, in October, there were only a few people there and it was very quiet.  This has become a favorite place to kayak.

Looking north from the far end of the pond.

Salisbury: Kayaking on Twin Lakes

I forgot to post this back in May.  My friend, Lori, has a cabin in Salisbury on Twin Lakes.  She invited me to go out and go kayaking with her.  It was a beautiful day.

We paddled along the shoreline and were able to get pretty close to a Great Blue Heron. 

We watched the kids from Salisbury School out practicing rowing and paddled our way down to the area between the two lakes.  It is really shallow here and a couple in a small motor boat that had come through, but then got themselves in a bind.  There was a bit of that testiness that sometimes happens between spouses that was a little embarrassing to be witness to, but we've all been there.  We offered to pull them if needed and commiserated a bit to try and lighten the mood.  In the end, they managed to free themselves and were off.

We went briefly into the "twin" lake.  It is much larger and deeper than the one we came from and would be worth exploring on another day.

Burr Pond Kayak

On Monday, our homeschool hiking group had a fantastic stroll around Burr Pond in Torrington.  (Wrote about it here.) This afternoon, B and I went back with our kayaks.

The weather was absolutely stunning - clear, sunny, and mild.  We started at the boat launch and followed along the western edge of the pond.

There are a lot of water lilies and other vegetation growing from the bottom.  As long as I am in my kayak, I am fine with that.  I don't really want to touch stuff like that when I am swimming, though.

The great thing about kayaking is the different perspective it offers you.  When we were here the other day, we saw a lot of great things, but out on the water, we could get up close and personal with some of the inhabitants. In fact, one of the inhabitants was not too happy to see us.

Not quite half-way down the western shore, there is an island.  B had seen it the other day and wanted to explore it.  There is a very narrow, shallow waterway separating the island from shore.  B decided to cut through there while I went around.  I met him at a place near the cut-through where he could put his kayak ashore.  As I floated nearby, I heard a loud splash just out of sight, back the way I had come.  I assumed it was a hiker on the nearby path having fun lobbing rocks into the water.  It happened again.  And another minute later it happened again.  By now, I was curious and paddled to where I could see out into the pond.  At the same time, B noticed the sounds and we both realized it was a beaver!  It was swimming back and forth between the island and the shore and periodically it was diving and slapping its tail on the water.  Loudly!  Apparently, he was not happy to see us.

We headed out towards the main part of the pond and drifted a bit to see if we could see the beaver again (and I was hoping for a picture), but no luck.  I hadn't seen the beaver's lodge on the way past it the first time, but when I looked for it, it was obvious.  There was a large pile of sticks on the side of the island.  We didn't want to agitate it any more, so we left.

Beaver lodge.

We continued our paddle to the far end, where a peninsula juts out into the pond.  We didn't do this little out-and-back trail when we were hiking the other day, so we poked around in our kayaks a bit.  It was very pretty and the rocks and pine trees reminded me of Maine.

Again, the kayak allowed B to get up close and personal with wildlife.  This time it was three ducks.  Two seemed to be taking a nap in the sun, but the third was giving herself a cleaning.  They didn't seem to mind having him there until a slight breeze pushed his kayak and he bumped the rock.  He paddled away and they were soon back on the rock.

A little more exploring and we spotted a Great Blue Heron.  They are pretty skittish, so we didn't approach too closely.  While we were watching the heron, I saw an Osprey swoop down into the water.  He must have missed what he was aiming for because he wasn't carrying anything as he flew off over my head.

Great Blue Heron.

It was a great day for a paddle and B said he liked this much better than the Farmington River.  He thought there was more to explore here.  We headed back to the boat launch and took our kayaks out, making sure to check for any plant material and wiping the bottoms.  It was kind of funny then, when a few hours after we returned home, we went to take the kayaks out of the van, and a frog hopped off of the life jacket strapped to the back of B's boat!  Fortunately, we have a small pond just across the road.  We hope our froggy hitchhiker will be happy there.

Farmington River Kayak 8-24

B and I took our kayaks over to the Farmington River a couple of weeks ago.  We put in at Curtiss Park in Simsbury.  This, so far, has been the best place for us to use.  The beach area is wide and slopes gently to the water.  We kayak upstream toward Simsbury and then back to Curtiss Park.

The great thing about the kayaks is that we are able to get pretty close to wildlife.  I know when I have hiked in nearby McLean Game Refuge, I can never get close enough to the turtles at Spring Pond to get a decent picture.  They always hear me coming and plop into the water.  On this trip, we were able to get right up near the turtles without them going in.  In just one snag, we saw seven turtles.

Painted turtles (Chrysemys picta)

Can't keep that boy out of the water.

I know there are freshwater shell fish, but I can't say that I have ever noticed them before.  We came across a lot of small shells on one of the banks.  One side of the shell could fit neatly over my finger.  B was out in the water and could see some at the bottom.  All seemed relatively small.  I do not know what they are.  I'll have to pay closer attention next time.

Also along the riverbank, we saw Jewelweed.  I have seen a lot of this on hikes recently.  In fact, after being exposed to Stinging Nettle on our last hike with our homeschool group, we saw some Jewelweed and talked about using it as a remedy for our pain.  The leaves and juice from the stems can be used on poison ivy, too. 

Information from the Connecticut Botanical Society:

The ripe seedpods pop open at a gentle touch, hence the name touch-me-not. Water drops bead up on the leaves, and a leaf held underwater has a silver sheen.

Jewelweed or Spotted Touch-me-not (Impatiens capensis)

Some kind of tickseed sunflower?

The highlight of our paddle came when I was finally able to get some pictures of a Great Blue Heron.  We had seen one on our paddle upriver, but he had spotted us first and flew away long before we were within camera range.  Another time, we were looking at something else along the edge of the river and he was right there.  We just didn't notice until he flew off!

Then I saw him fly in for a landing around the bend in a little cove.  We very slowly and silently made our way there.  We did see him catch something with his beak before we were too close.  I was able to take quite a few pictures.  None that really show that shaggy plumage, though.

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

In flight.  Ungainly at first, but look at the size of those wings!

It looks like the Cornell Lab of Ornithology has a camera set up on a Great Blue Heron nest in Sapsucker Woods.  When I looked, there was no one there, but maybe you'll have better luck.

We were out on the water for nearly three hours!  What a great way to spend the morning.