Desmond made a request for Snake River the other day, so that is where we went this afternoon. As you can see in the map I posted below, we put in at the Scadding St bridge which is where I started the past few times to Snake River. There's another good put in for Snake River at the public boat ramp for Sabbatia Lake here. You will have to cross part of the lake to get to the mouth of the river at Scadding St which will extend the trip a little longer.
At the put in, I could already tell that the water levels were going to be real low on this trip. Last time I was at Snake River, it was early June and the water level was quite higher at that point. From the put in, a tangle of lily pads and river plants clogged the way to the clearing formed by the flow of the river. Once you get over by the bridge, there is a clear path to follow when heading up river. Though short cuts across the overgrowth will be tempting, you probably want to stick to the channel. Even doing this, there were parts in this mouth section of the river that the over growth left no clear channel to pass. Once you get a little further up river, this isn't as much of a problem.
Our first pit stop was at the walking bridge that is in the middle of nowhere as you go up stream. It's not too far after you pass under Rt 495. Des and I got out and walked over the bridge a few times. It's an odd place for such massive steel beams to be. There isn't much but a path leading into the woods from here. I've never made the walk to see where you end up, but looking at the map there doesn’t seem to be much of anything out there.
The water level was low enough for us to squeeze under the bridge today. This was the first time I had taken Des past the bridge, though I had paddled it when I paddle the Snake River from top to bottom at the end of last year. When you get past the bridge, it's more of the same river through a forest that much of the trip is. Just before you get to the wetlands at the beginning of the river where the forest turns to wetland grass and brush, there is a little pull out where someone had a camp site set up. It was abandoned, so Desmond and I explored around for a bit to stretch our legs before getting back in the kayak to head up stream to the start of the wetlands.
It was only a short paddle till we got to where the trees disappear and brush begins. At this point we turned around when I found a spot wide enough to do so. From here we took off back to the bridge. This area, as you will see in the video, is quite narrow. There are parts where it's nearly impossible to get your paddle in the water, or to get a full stroke in. In the 14 footer there were parts where we just ended up running into the brush. It was no big deal though, and we quickly paddled our way back to the bridge where Desmond jumped out again to walk about.
I squeezed under the bridge when he was playing around, and after a few minutes he jumped back in and we began our way back to the truck. Turtles were everywhere, as it should be this time of the year. With the cool air of the fall setting in the turtles were all laying on any they could to get warmed by the sun. With the water so low, you could easily see them swimming around in the channel, along with loads of fish from big too small.
Before we knew it we were back in the tangle of plants at the end of our trip. We followed the channel right over to the bridge where we got some speed and slid over the lily pads to the put in ramp. Des was pretty happy. He loves this river, and I really enjoy it too. I’d say it was a great trip for the first day of fall.
CLICK HERE FOR THE TRIP MAP
