Neponset or Charles?

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craigmsherman
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Neponset or Charles?

Post by craigmsherman »

Hi,

I'm new to WTP and I would like to do a little bit of kayaking local to me. I'm not terribly experienced and I am pretty used to still water or slow rivers. But, I would like to get out onto the Neponset River (Canton to Milton, or points therein) or the Charles River (Newton to Dover, or points therein...maybe via Longditch). It would be great to get a group of 3 or more people to go paddling with. Anybody interested? Dates TBD.

Craig
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wildwoman
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Re: Neponset or Charles?

Post by wildwoman »

Hi Craig,

So now you're really a Turkey!

I've gone out with Norm, and NorwayLady and kayakernj (who now has...7 kayaks?) on some great river trips, most recently, the upper Charles.

I'm up for some early season river paddling...and my cousin (wildwoman2) wants to do some river kayaking.

Saturdays or Sundays, early am, work for us
Barb
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Re: Neponset or Charles?

Post by norm »

Barb - Nice to see you on the WTP site again. Bea was just asking about you today on our final paddle around Waquoit Bay in Falmouth after camping with the gang overnight.

Hope to see you soon.

Norm
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Re: Neponset or Charles?

Post by craigmsherman »

wildwoman wrote:Hi Craig,

So now you're really a Turkey!

I've gone out with Norm, and NorwayLady and kayakernj (who now has...7 kayaks?) on some great river trips, most recently, the upper Charles.

I'm up for some early season river paddling...and my cousin (wildwoman2) wants to do some river kayaking.

Saturdays or Sundays, early am, work for us


Hi there Wildwoman, or Hi Barb (your preference!)

Thanks for responding. That sounds great - I bet an early morning paddle on one of these rivers would be pretty nice...probably a good time of day to see a little more of the wildlife with a little less of sound of traffic in the background.

Well, I don't know any other Turkeys yet, so I would love to meet up and head out at some point. I'm going to be around the weekend of June 19-20. I might be around on the morning of June 5, but I am definitely available to go kayaking either June 19 or 20. I know it might sound crazy to make plans 3 weeks out, but with my schedule, weekends at home are commodity.

Would you (and your cousin and any others) have a preference between Charles and Neponset?

I look forward to hearing back from you.

Thanks,

Craig
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Re: Neponset or Charles?

Post by wildwoman »

Sunday June 20 works for me. I'll let you know if Karen is available. I'm not sure the Neponset is navigable inland, so I suggest we take the upper Charles in the Bays region, South Natick dam to the Cochrane dam, a pleasant float about 6.5 mi downstream, should be lots of photo opps through the two study areas along the Charles, Elm Bank and and the Bays.

According to Ron McAdow, The Charles River (Bliss Publishing, 1992), "A Class II rapid is below the [Cochrane] dam. It is short but it offers an opportunity for practicing white water techniques such as eddy turns....A slolom kayak course has been set up here. From wires stretched above the river, pairs of white poles are suspended to form gates that paddlers must navigate."

Sounds like a good place to practice your roll, too.

I'll be paddling my Old Town Pack 10. Waban Brook is navigable in high water ("canoeists can expect to gain intimate familiarity with streamside vegetation") and connects the Charles to Lake Waban.

What about an 9 am start at the South Natick dam? There is a small park on Pleasant Street. Karen and I will probably drive up together, we should coordinate leaving a vehicle at the take-out.

Looking forward to meeting you,
Barb
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Re: Neponset or Charles?

Post by craigmsherman »

wildwoman wrote:Sunday June 20 works for me. I'll let you know if Karen is available. I'm not sure the Neponset is navigable inland, so I suggest we take the upper Charles in the Bays region, South Natick dam to the Cochrane dam, a pleasant float about 6.5 mi downstream, should be lots of photo opps through the two study areas along the Charles, Elm Bank and and the Bays.

According to Ron McAdow, The Charles River (Bliss Publishing, 1992), "A Class II rapid is below the [Cochrane] dam. It is short but it offers an opportunity for practicing white water techniques such as eddy turns....A slolom kayak course has been set up here. From wires stretched above the river, pairs of white poles are suspended to form gates that paddlers must navigate."

Sounds like a good place to practice your roll, too.

I'll be paddling my Old Town Pack 10. Waban Brook is navigable in high water ("canoeists can expect to gain intimate familiarity with streamside vegetation") and connects the Charles to Lake Waban.

What about an 9 am start at the South Natick dam? There is a small park on Pleasant Street. Karen and I will probably drive up together, we should coordinate leaving a vehicle at the take-out.

Looking forward to meeting you,


Hi Barb,

This sounds great! I am very excited about this. Let's hope for some cooperative weather. This weekend I will do a little paddling on Swan Pond and Swan River in Dennisport, and maybe some other places out there as well.

The Neponset is definitely navigable (barring any fallen trees) from Norwood to the ocean. There is one place in Milton that is dammed and I believe would require a serious portage of like...a block or two, due to all the development there. In fact, in Norwood/Westwood, there is a Trustees of the Reservations Property (newly acquired by them) and there's a sign that advertises canoe rentals there. So, maybe for another day?

I looked at the route on Google Earth for the Charles here. Looks very nice. Lots of bends and all these bays...I'd never heard of the Bays before. Pretty interesting. I'm up for 9 am start at South Natick. Is this a section that you have paddled before? You'll give me a heads up before I go over the Cochrane Dam? hehe

I guess I'm still learning the lingo a little bit - when you say the area just below the Cochrane Dam would be a good place to practice my roll, do you mean a good place for me to practice rolling over in my kayak? Or do you mean a good place for me to practice rolling through a current, like riding it out?

If you'd like to email to coordinate as we get a little closer, drop me a line at craigmsherman at yahoo dot com. I look forward to meeting you too!

Craig
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Re: Neponset or Charles?

Post by crayolabarb »

Hi Wildwoman and Craig.

You're getting up into my territory now and I'd love to join you on this adventure!

Wonder if Lora and Norm and other's I've done river paddling with might be interested?

I haven't even attempted a "roll" so might watch- or, more likely play and then practice my wet-exits.

I'll keep checking in for posts on this thread.

Happy Memorial Day!

Barb too
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craigmsherman
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Re: Neponset or Charles?

Post by craigmsherman »

crayolabarb wrote:Hi Wildwoman and Craig.

You're getting up into my territory now and I'd love to join you on this adventure!

Wonder if Lora and Norm and other's I've done river paddling with might be interested?

I haven't even attempted a "roll" so might watch- or, more likely play and then practice my wet-exits.

I'll keep checking in for posts on this thread.

Happy Memorial Day!

Barb too



Hi Barb too,

Sounds great - come join us! I don't have specifics yet from Barb about cars at either ends, but we can definitely all be in touch about this. Looking forward to it!

Craig
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Re: Neponset or Charles?

Post by wildwoman »

Hi folks, sounds good. I'm getting lots of advice on shuttling and will post a suggested arrangement soon.

Looking forward to meeting you both!
Barb
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Re: Neponset or Charles?

Post by craigmsherman »

wildwoman wrote:Hi folks, sounds good. I'm getting lots of advice on shuttling and will post a suggested arrangement soon.

Looking forward to meeting you both!



Hi there Barb and Barb 2,

Everybody still in for this coming weekend? I am very much looking forward to it. What do we think as far as shuttling goes?

I look forward to hearing back from you and meeting you!

Craig
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Re: Neponset or Charles?

Post by rnflamingo »

I would definitely be up for this if it wasn't my weekend "on" at the hospital I work. Curious though..... since I live in Walpole...... anyone know a good put in and take out for the Neponset in Norwood and beyond??

Joyce
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Re: Neponset or Charles?

Post by cgr »

rnflamingo wrote:I would definitely be up for this if it wasn't my weekend "on" at the hospital I work. Curious though..... since I live in Walpole...... anyone know a good put in and take out for the Neponset in Norwood and beyond??

Joyce

Signal Hill (trustees of reservations) in canton
http://www.thetrustees.org/places-to-vi ... -hill.html

You could paddle down river to a takeout in readville/milton/dedham where neponset valley pkway & brush hill rd intersect. There was a trip report years ago that some turkeys did from this launch.

Or put in at Neponset st in Canton and paddle to Signal Hill.
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Re: Neponset or Charles?

Post by craigmsherman »

rnflamingo wrote:I would definitely be up for this if it wasn't my weekend "on" at the hospital I work. Curious though..... since I live in Walpole...... anyone know a good put in and take out for the Neponset in Norwood and beyond??

Joyce



Hi Joyce,

I would love to go kayaking with you on the Neponset at some point. I live in Sharon, right near the Neponset St. put-in in Canton. I need local kayaking friends!!

Craig
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Re: Neponset or Charles?

Post by wildwoman »

Hi folks,

We are on for Sunday June 20 9:00 put-in at the Natick Dam.

Fellow kayakers should arrive at the put-in by 8:30 and park along Pleasant Street. We'll plot the shuttle once we know how many cars we need to leave at the take-out to get all the paddlers back to the put-in where their cars are. Then it should be a simple round-trip with two or more vehicles to the take-out, and one vehicle back to the put-in.

We will put in below the dam for this downstream paddle. Here is a brief description and directions of the put-in (courtesy of OnTheCharles.com):

Natick / South Natick Dam
Mill Lane / Pleasant Street

1mi to Elm Bank This is a beautiful area, with the dam, the Pleasant Street bridge, and a little park, complete with a couple of picnic tables and benches overlooking the river. You can put in above or below the dam at the park on Pleasant street. Heading downstream, the river winds around a little peninsula and then under the Cheney bridge at the Elm Bank Reservation. A sign on the Cheney bridge reads "38.9 miles to Boston Harbor". A little farther, there will be a canal on the right. There's a launch area here on the right where the canal meets the river, and another one a few yards into the canal on the right (just before the bridge).

Driving Directions

Natick / South Natick Dam

Follow Route 27 past the Route 27 launch area. After about 3.5 miles, Route 27 merges with Route 16 for a short distance. When they split again, stay on Route 16. In about 2.5 miles, you will see the river on your right. Continue past the Route 16 launch area for less than a mile. When you can see the dam, look for Mill Lane on your right. A couple of cars can be parked on Mill Lane and a few more along Pleasant Street (at the other end of Mill Lane).


Here is the corresponding description and directions for the take-out point (Cochrane Dam):

Dover / RedWing Bay
Fisher Street

This area is a few hundred feet before the Cochrane Dam. The actual launch site is lined with flat stones and there is a good size parking area. There is also a small path to walk along the river a little ways. There is another small park across South Street overlooking the dam, but there is no place there to safely take out or put in.


Driving Directions

Dover / Fisher Street (RedWing Bay)

Follow Route 115 through the center of Norfolk. Continue on 115 across the train tracks toward Millis (past the 115 launch area). After about a mile, the road forks. Stay to the right. Continue past Forest Road, to the end (route 109). Take a right on 109 and continue past Dover Road to the intersection of route 109 and route 27. Go straight through the intersection and take a left onto North Street. At the first fork in the road (Harding Street), stay to the right to continue on North Street. At the next fork in the road, stay to the right again. This is Centre Street. Cross the river and go past the Central Ave launch area. Take a right onto Fisher Street. When the river comes in to view again, the launch area will be on the right. There is a small parking area and a sign for “Red Wing Bay”.
Barb
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Re: Neponset or Charles?

Post by wildwoman »

Search Google Maps for "Natick, Mill Lane, Massachusetts" for a good map of the put-in location.

Search again for "Needham, Fisher Street, Massachusetts" for a good map of the take-out point (Red Wing Bay).

You might want to map your own routes to confirm the location, as the OTC.com author appears to be giving directions from someplace south of Norfolk.
Barb
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Re: Neponset or Charles?

Post by rkhederian »

I would like to join you also.

See you Sunday.
Bob K.
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Re: Neponset or Charles?

Post by wildwoman »

Fabulous. Should be a lovely day on the river.
Barb
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Re: Neponset or Charles?

Post by wildwoman »

Weather looks good for today. We are on! See you in S. Natick!
Barb
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Re: Neponset or Charles?

Post by wildwoman »

wildwoman
craigmsherman
rkhederian

We came. We saw. We conquered the Charles. To tell the truth, it wasn't much of a battle. Craig and Bob provided pleasant streams of conversation that drifted (back, ahem) to me in my solo canoe. You cannot go wrong paddling with these fly boys. Thanks, guys!
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Barb
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Re: Neponset or Charles?

Post by Kayak widow »

Gorgeous canoe!! :D
Like a "football widow", I lose my spouse to kayaking for some part of pretty much every weekend :-)
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Re: Neponset or Charles?

Post by Birdseye »

Hey Barb,
That's how you looked the very first time I met you. Are you reverting back :wink:
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Re: Neponset or Charles?

Post by wildwoman »

Yes, Nelson, every once in a while I like to paddle what one boater on the Charles dubbed "a real boat." And believe me, I paddled it that day...
Barb
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