19June2008
Began the day in Groveton, NH at the diner. Yum. We found a place to stay last night courtesy of the Caron family - the very same folks who own the laundry mat in town. They kindly let us throw our tent down behind the laundry mat in a fenced in area - they even let us use their shower!
Put in at a local spot known as the Birches upriver from Red Dam on the North Side Rd via a shuttle from the Caron crew (seriously, track them down if you are on the NFCT on your way through Groveton!) Began paddling upstream on the Ammanoosuc - water is about 6 to 12 inches deep and moving fast. Lots of rocks and shallows. We made it about a half mile before we got out and began lining the boat up the river (basically walking next to it in the water.)
After about another mile of that routine we came back to the North Side Rd where we got out and began to road portage around. We thought that this would be a short term solution, but we ended up portaging all the way into Stark, NH (about 4-5 miles!) The river was consistently low and shallow all the way up to about a mile or so from Stark.
We enjoyed our road portage though - saw some excellent wildlife (watched a fox playing on the side of the road during our lunch break and saw a perigrine falcon) as well as found some tasty wild strawberries. The weather was fair and we made it to town around 230pm where we decided to stay at the Stark Inn - a great little B&B right on the river next to a beautiful covered bridge right on the river.
It is a funny thing to be running into so many towns and finding great places to stop along the way - this is such a different experience from many of our previous adventures backpacking and paddling! We are going to enjoy it while the getting is good! Hey, we're on vacation...
Weather: fair, rain in the evening
Wildlife: vulpes vulpes, perigrine falcon, crawfish, hairy woodpecker, horses, stray dogs
"If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water." ~ Loren Eiseley
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