First 2024 day on the water with “Tequila Sunrise”! Because it was Memorial Day, I didn't have to work and hoped to get a good bit of time outdoors. I started my day by checking the trails in the Greensboro Ridge Natural Area (volunteering for Hanover Conservancy, 0800 to 0900). After that, I did some chores and other paperwork at my condo until about 1230. I had made plans to meet up with Denis I. at Jakes in Enfield and used the back roads through Etna (including King Road) to reach that location. After I arrived (1300), Denis showed me the home where he'd grown up. Next, we drove to the Oak Grove Cemetery, where we visited his family plot and honored some veterans in his family. As promised, Denis showed me some techniques for cleaning old cemetery stones (I'm planning to employ some of them during my next visit to Montreal). We said goodbye at 1330 and I drove east on US-4 until I reached the Enfield-Canaan town line. For the last few years, I've eyed a parking lot there - the cartop boat launch area, located next to the Northern Rail Trail bridge across the Mascoma, seemed to afford a nice paddling place and I wanted to try launching from there. This turned out to be a good decision! Unlike most of the other sections of this river, the water nearby was mostly calm and easy to paddle - in other words, there were only a few rocks. The trade off, though, was lots of shallow areas and sandbars. Even worse, a large number of downed trees made sections nearly impassable. Between 1400 and 1500, I paddled through all the accessible areas on both sides of US-4. Encountered some curious calves (fenced) along the way and also found an abandoned RV/Trailer. Overall, not a big workout but the weather was pretty good for a paddle. Just as I finished getting my boat back on the car, it started raining. Feeling lucky, I made my way back home (via US-4, I-89 and NH-120) and was inside my condo by 1530. Glad I got out on the water earlier than 2023’s First Launch date of June 30th...
