Nomad Life - Day 297

Today was going to be my last full day working in Keene and I hoped to take advantage of several interesting opportunities for outdoor activity and beer tasting before it was over.  Fortunately, I was awake at 0515 and started teleworking immediately.  At 0800, I went to breakfast in the lobby of the Days Inn (Keene).  After returning to teleworking, I had a series of meetings - that made for a more interesting day at "the office" than I've seen recently...  I ate lunch (that I'd made myself) in my room at 1245.  I then kept working until my day was complete at 1500.  Fifteen minutes later, I departed from the Days Inn.  Outside, it was very sunny (partial eclipse was earlier in the day) and the temps were again in the low 80s.  Instead of doing my walking exercise first, I decided to take advantage of one more day with Tequila Sunrise.  To reach the paddling location, I took NH-9 to the west and crossed the Connecticut River.  In Vermont, I used US-5 and back roads into to Downtown Brattleboro - from there, it wasn't hard to find the Retreat Meadows Access (boat launch).  When I arrived at 1545, I found the parking lot to be VERY steep - somehow, I managed to park in a place where I could unload my kayak.  Nearby, an older lady (with red hair) was doing the same thing, although she was accompanied by a little dog who excitedly got into the kayak when she launched.  I got my boat in the water right behind her (1550) and started paddling east towards the mouth of the West River.  The large estuary where I was had so many kinds of vegetation chocking it and the water was very shallow.  As a result, I had to veer very far to the south (i.e., away from the river) to reach the exit.  Actually, the lady with her dog was very helpful in this scenario - I followed her and soon found the narrow channel that led to the Connecticut River.  When I reached the main channel, I immediately started paddling south (downriver).  As I'd seen during the previous two days, there were lots of motorboats (and jetskis) and people didn't seem to care how much of a wake they kicked up (this made for some tough paddling for me at times).  Also, it started to get much more windy as I continued and I started to wonder how hard it would be to get back to my car...  I hugged the Vermont shoreline initially (nice and shady) but eventually had to cross the river to the New Hampshire side because the river basically forked near an island on the south end of Brattleboro.  In this way, I reached Norm's Marina (NH) at 1640.  Since I'd been rushed before, I hadn't put on any sunscreen - as a result, I go out of the water here to apply it.  As I was getting ready to launch again, a little red boat (it looked like the one in the movie "The African Queen" and seemed to be steam powered) passed by and tooted its "train whistle" in greeting.  Taking his cue, I paddled due west (from NH to VT) for almost a mile until I was again hugging the Vermont shoreline.  In the shade again, I paddled back to the north.  When I passed the outflow of the West River, I didn't stop and, instead, made my way to the area near the NH-9 Bridge (where I'd been yesterday).  My turnaround point ended up being the opposite side of the river from the "Great Gulf" (just south of the bridge itself).  When I started my backtrack, I had to contend with lots of motor boats and wakes - ugh...  Otherwise, though, it was mostly smooth water.  I finally reached the opening for the estuary (West River) and paddled carefully through the shallow water and vegetation choked estuary.  My (probably) last paddling event of 2026 was finished at 1810.  Like it has been during the last few days, the mileage calculation was difficult.  Even though I only paddled (per my map) about two new miles of Connecticut River, I had all the extra paddling in the West River and the river crossings (twice) to get to the shoreline I wanted.  As a result, I think it is fair to say that I paddled for eight miles this afternoon.  What a great three days - 10 new miles of CT River and lots of good memories!  After leading up my kayak, I left Brattleboro (1825) and used a backtrack route (mostly NH-9) to reach Keene.  For the walking portion of my outdoor activity today, I parked at the trailhead for the Cheshire Rail Trail (North Section) on Whitcomb's Mill Road at 1845 and started walking east.  It was only then that I remembered that some rain had been forecasted and I quickly retrieved an umbrella from my car.  This turned out to be a great decision because the water started falling about five minutes later.  This made for a soggy slog through the wooded area west of town.  However, I still made it easily to my last turnaround (from Monday) on the trail (Pitcher Street, about 1.5 miles from my car) and then backtracked without incident.  Even though I'd walked three miles when I finished at 1745, this might have been the least eventful hike of my entire summer in New Hampshire...  To cap off my evening, I headed into town (following back roads to the north of NH-9) until I arrived at the Elm Street Brewery & Pub (on Island Street).  It ended up being inside of one of the old mill buildings (huge smokestacks) I'd seen on my first day of Cheshire Rail Trail hiking in Keene.  I sat down just after 2000 and ordered a light dinner of soup & salad, accompanied by a flight of four beers (including one called "Peachy Keene").  The bar was very busy so I wasn't able to sit there - the nice server I ended up with more than made up for the "rejection".  After getting done with my beer and food (2040), I drove back my hotel (arrived within 5 minutes).  For the rest of the evening, I did paperwork and planning for the next few days (including touring Toronto with Monte).  Even though I didn't watch any movies, I still didn't got to bed until 2315.  I've enjoyed my time in Keene - it is a nice city that deserves another visit!  Connecticut River Today = 2.0 miles / All Time CT River = 135.5 miles (125 continuous from Woodsville to NH-9 Bridge)