Kayaking the Oxbow

Chris and I kayaked the Oxbow area of the Connecticut River in Easthampton the other day. Although we had a good paddle (any paddle's a good paddle), this area is definitely not the quiet water that Chris and I prefer. It was loud and crowded and chaotic and a bit testosterone-fueled due to the fishing derby happening at the time, and after we finished we were left flopping around in the gray goo of the riverbank between Ford Avalanches whipping trailors into and out of the water picking up and dropping off motorboats.
     But as I said, the paddle was good. We caught some push current going out, so that got us working fairly hard, and the noise and wakes of the motorboats got to be a drag; but once we got to the Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary entrance things were much calmer and quieter. To get to the Sanctuary, however, boaters have to go under a small bridge, and due to the recent rains and drainage, the access was clogged with the flotsam and jetsam of a river in upheaval--there were a number of large, heavy logs, a bunch of branches and sticks and leaves, a few flip-flops, a sneaker, a Cheetos bag and other rather undesirable stuff that we had to push through and over to get to the the actual Sanctuary. Once there, though, things got good fast. We had nice flat, quiet water, and we saw a number of herons hunting and flying. Those birds are very cool, especially in flight, but even more especially when you can get to within 20 - 30 feet of them. Red-winged blackbirds were flying all around us, and turtles--I assumed--were diving all over the place. We were really enjoying the trip, but we realized quickly we needed to head back--it was getting late and we were a bit drained from the paddle to the Sanctuary. As we turned around, a guy was paddling out also, but he was moving really good; we waved and he waved, and we were soon turned around and heading home. Thankfully, it seems that this gentleman, on his way under the bridge, pulled a few logs out of the way and left a clear path for us.
     So we headed back to the put in with the fishing tournament--"Let's go!!!! Time's running out!!!--and the gray goo and reasoned that although this wasn't a quiet paddle per se, it still was a few hours on the water and a real nice workout. We just will not be putting in at the Oxbow during a Saturday or Sunday anymore.