Sunday, February 27, 2011

Paddling Bennetts Branch in late February

We are so lucky to have several choices for paddling in our area.  I talked with my paddling buddy this morning and we decided to paddle Bennetts Branch between Caledonia and Grant, a distance of approximately 13 miles.  The day was exceptional with perfect water levels and mild temperatures. 


This is a shot of Russ appearing to have just emerged from a narrow ice jammed channel.  Hey, you don't get to paddle among car sized ice bergs every day.


We do understand that not many people would paddle this water in the winter but sadly not many paddlers enjoy it in nice weather either.  It's some extraordinary water with beautiful scenery, loads of critters and enough whitewater to hold your attention.  Today we saw several elk, turkeys, ducks, geese and a Pileated Woodpecker.  To make it even better the mountains were snow covered and the banks were lined with huge ice from the recent ice jamming,  Hey, what's not to like!!!
at

1 comment:

  1. WillardMarch 1, 2011 at 5:21 AM

    An interesting post, Tom. It has been a long time since I have seen ice jams such as those. We saw several the day we were up, but most were back away from the road, except the one we found close to the store. I always like to see ice out, after a hard winter.

    ReplyDelete