Since May, I’ve had my sights on a 10.5 mile section of the Connecticut River - it represented the last part of a continuous, 98-mile section between Woodsville (NH) and Bellows Falls (VT). During the recent “Paddle the Border” event, my friend Jared offered to join me in getting this section, located between Bradford (VT) and Orford (NH), completed and we made plans to finish it today! I was up early and then tinkered around the house until about 0815. Next, I drove (via Hanover, I-91 and VT-25) to Jared's house in Bradford (arrived just before 0900). To "get ‘er dun", we packed up his tandem kayak and then used two cars to shuttle between Bugbee Landing (located near the mouth of the Waits River) and the Orford Boat Launch. I'd taken the route that followed US-5, VT/NH-25, NH-10) - when we arrived at the launch, Jared pointed out that it might have been quicker to use US-5 on the Vermont side... After I was in the car with him, we drove back to Bugbee Landing (via Fairlee and US-5). We were blessed with nice weather (low 70s, partly cloudy, very little wind) and had the glassy water all to ourselves. Starting at 1000, we paddled down the Waits to the Connecticut and headed south. There were many kinds of waterfowl all along the route and we also spotted raptors in the trees above us. Foliage was pronounced in some places and muted in others but it is clear that Fall has arrived! At our first bridge (Bradford-Piermont, VT/NH-25), the river made an almost 90 degree turn to the east and took us along the southern edge of Robie Farm. We passed a small herd of goats in that area and later saw a huge dust cloud that I later determined was the result of corn crop harvesting. There were some nice views of the Palisades (high rocks that dominate the skyline above I-91). In two places, we had to choose our channel/route - there were some large islands in the river south of the Piermont-Orford (NH) line. Since there really isn’t any public land in the whole section, we got to see sides of private homes that are usually inaccessible - some were quite pretty. Passing our second bridge (Fairlee-Orford, VT/NH-25A), we marveled at summer places and fancy boat slips. Not long after that, we found ourselves arriving at our end point - 11 miles of paddling in three hours. We had set a great pace, enjoyed some nice conversation about local news and events in the Upper Valley and spent quality time in the outdoors of our beautiful New England “backyard”. Afterwards (1300), loaded the kayak on my car and crossed the bridge to Fairlee. Our reward was a delicious meal at Jan’s Fairlee Diner (arrived at 1320). When we were finished (1400, as they closed), we drove north on US-5 to Bradford and dropped off the kayak at Jared's. Next, I drove him to retrieve his own car from Bugbee Landing. We both felt great and high fived after a great day on the water. Before leaving Bradford, I did some shopping at Hannaford (done at 1435). I later crossed the river (VT/NH-25) to NH-10 for my drive home from there (used River Road). Arrived at my condo at 1530. Full 98 mile section of the Connecticut River completed!
