Paddle Log #31 - Cockermouth River with LRCT

I'm a big fan of the Lakes Region Conservation Trust (LRCT) in New Hampshire.  They preserve a lot of natural lands around Lake Winnipesaukee and make the property available to the public through walking trails and provide information on kiosks at the trailheads.  They also conduct organized hiking and paddling excursions.  Back in 2010, the boys and I went on the LRCT guided-paddle on Squam Lake (see Paddle Log #20) and had a great time.

This summer, our vacation week coincidentally lined up with a LRCT guided paddle on the Cockermouth River and Newfound Lake.  Now, my wife's aunt and uncle live right on Newfound Lake just around the bend from the Cockermouth River, so twice before I've paddled up the river on my own (see Paddle Log #19 and #27).  I enjoyed going this time with a guide who was able to teach me something about the local plants and animals along the river.

We met up at the site of an old marina that's been gone for some time.  We had a safety brief and an introduction to the history and ecology of the area here before we got out on the water.

Getting underway.  YB decided to stay home for this one, so just ES and I took the Emotion Tandemonium out for her second voyage.

There were almost 20 boats in our group.  That's our guide, Rick, on the left.

Rick explained the significance of a white oak being here in the wetlands.

Rick used his paddle to show how deep and what type of bottom there was, and what that told him about the river.

We saw several turtles and lots of small birds along the way.  There was quite a temperature difference between the lake and the river, too.  It was 62.5F on the river, but 74.8F in the lake.

ES relaxing.

Father & Son photo.

Near the end of the trip when the group stopped for lunch on the beach and then planned to go back up the river to the marina, ES and I just paddled around the Paradise Point Nature Preserve back to my wife's aunt and uncle's house.  We went back to get the car a little while later.  

Overall, we paddled 3.1 miles in about 2 hours and 45 minutes.  It was a little slow and boring for ES, but I thought it was very informative.  I was glad we went, and I look forward to joining LRCT on future guided excursions when we can make it back up to NH again.

Paddle Log #27 Newfound Lake

We took a day trip over to visit my wife's aunt and uncle on Newfound Lake.  As I mentioned in my last post, I didn't have my kayak since we flew across country. 

Conveniently enough, the NH Audubon Society rents kayaks at the Paradise Point Nature Center.  The staff there was very friendly and helpful.  The process of renting the kayak was very quick and painless, and the rates they charge are very reasonable - probably the least expensive kayak rental I've ever had (and I've rented kayaks at two places in Pearl Harbor, on Maui, in DC, and Lake Winnipesaukee before this).  Lemme tell ya it was money well spent, because I had a beautiful afternoon on the water!

The rental gear was in good condition.  They set me up in a single-seater Perception kayak.  Like the loaner Wilderness Systems Pamlico 100 I used a few days ago on Lake Winnipesaukee, it was a little on the small side for me, and my knees were sticking up out of the cockpit, but it wasn't bad. 

I paddled out onto the lake and it was pretty darn choppy.  There was 5-10 knots of wind coming out of the south, and the fetch was allowing the wind waves to build up to 2 feet or so.  I paddled south and then west, clockwise around Paradise Point and into the Charles L. Bean sanctuary.  In the picture above, my boys are speeding by in that boat crossing my bow on their way out tubing.  There's also a family of mergansers in the foreground on the left.

Once I entered the shelter of the sanctuary, it was absolutely peaceful and the water was like glass.  I almost felt guilty disturbing the peace as I glided through the lily pads.  I would have loved to just hang out there a while, quietly gliding along the shore.  Unfortunately, the only downside of renting a kayak from the NH Audubon Society is that they all have to be turned in by 4 p.m., and I still had to paddle up-wind to get back to the dock at Paradise Point.  As a result, you'll see in my trip stats that I was moving for 1 hour 11 minutes but only spent 32 seconds not moving.  Even so, it was still money well spent, good exercise, and a beautiful afternoon on the water. 

When I got back, I was pleasantly surprised to find that family of mergansers sitting on the rocks, and they actually cooperated with letting me try to take some pictures as I paddled by.

Stats for the paddle log:

• Date: Tuesday, 31 July 2012
• Time In: 2:36 p.m.
  
• Time Out: 4:00 p.m.
• Elapsed:  1 hrs 11 min
• Moving Time (GPS): 1 hours 11 min
• Stopped Time (GPS):  32 seconds
• Mileage (GPS): 2.87 miles
  
• Sea State: 1 on lake, 0 in sanctuary.  There were ~2 foot waves on the lake with a steady wind from the south and plenty of fetch.  Once I paddled into the sanctuary the water was like glass.
• Winds: 5-10 kts SE
• Air Temp:  81F
• Water Temp: 79.4F
• Current:  None.
• Gauge Height: 
• Avg Speed (GPS):  2.4 mph
  
• Max Speed by (GPS):  4.5 mph
• Rapids?  None. 
• Hazardes?  Not much.  Wake from an occasional passing boat.
  
• Kit: Perception rented from NH Audubon Society.  Flop hat, NRS paddling gloves, short sleeve swim shirt, swim trunks, Keen Newport sandals.
• Configuration:
• Route:  Put-in at the Paradise Point Nature Center run by the NH Audubon Society.  Paddled clockwise (south then west) around Paradise Point into the Charles L. Bean Sanctuary.  
• Other comments (such as wildlife spotted): 1 adult merganser with 4 juveniles in tow, many ducks, water bugs and water lilies.