11.2 miles From Holyoke Rows to the Connecticut state line
Total for day was 16.3 miles to King Island in Connecticut

I spent as much of the night awake as I did sleeping. There was a skunk who kept scratching at my tent door. I did not want it to eat a hole in my tent, but neither was I too keen on riling it up. I made noise to scare it off but it kept coming back. This went on for a few hours. It took an incident with the police to finally scare it away.

There was a town dock nearby and a few people showed up being quite rowdy. I suspect a neighbor called the police because in a short time two police cars arrived. Even from a distance the lights on their cars lit my tent up like it was day. It took what seemed like at least an hour for everyone to finally clear out. By now it was about three in the morning. I did manage to doze a bit before finally pulling myself up and packing for the day.

I was not sure what I was in for. There was a breached dam ahead that many people said was runnable. Others claimed you should definitely portage it. Just below that was a stretch of river listed as “the Enfield Rapids.” Every time I had opened the trail app on my phone I was told how far away the Enfield Rapids were. Now I was getting close to them. My paper map said the river dropped thirty two feet in five miles and could have class II or III rapids in high water. I was NOT in high water and from what I was reading on line it seemed I could run them. Most people said to run the river on the left here. A few told me to run it on the right side. I had been convinced I would portage it, but with my side hurting and my energy at a low point I was becoming more inclined to run it.

As I set off I found myself only thinking about making the miles. It was then I realized I was hitting one of those low points that are hit on many trips. Part of me did not want to keep going anymore. I was hot, tired, hurting, unsure and nervous about what lay ahead and I felt lonely. The hardest of these was the deep loneliness that was setting in.

I reminded myself that on any long adventure there are always moments I want to quit. Pushing through that is part of the challenge and always comes with a feeling of satisfaction at not having given up. I knew I would be glad to have kept going when I reached the end. I just had to ride out this low point. Rather than focusing on just making miles I worked to find the beauty around me. Again I was reminded of the value of beauty in life, whether it be in nature, song or some form of art. Food nourishes the body, but beauty nourishes the soul.

I meandered my way down river allowing myself to take it easy. I was paddling at about my usual three plus mile per hour rate but I was stopping a bit more. The day was really hot and muggy, reminding me that I was glad to live farther north where it was usually a bit cooler. As I did most days, I passed by numerous bald eagles and great blue herons. I was also now seeing snowy egrets and more cormorants. Osprey, which I had seen up north, were appearing once more. The lower part of the Connecticut River has the largest number of breeding osprey in southern New England. These majestic birds were almost brought to extinction due to the use of DDT. They have made a small comeback but their numbers are still only about one tenth of what they once were. While DDT is now banned in many countries, it is still being produced and used in some areas of the world. As a migratory bird, the osprey is subject to these toxins which are still found in small doses even in countries that have banned them.

I found it fascinating to watch the osprey fish, diving down from a height and smacking the water seemingly with their heads. As the bird rose into the air I could see the wiggling, gleaming fish held firmly in its talons. I was reminded that what is death for one animal is life for another. https://www.ctriver.org/the-osprey-is-a-singular-bird/

I passed by some of the most industrialized sections along the river. There was not one speck of green vegetation along the bank. I thought about proposed development along the river in my home state of Vermont and hoped it would be done with more consideration for the health of the river.

I crossed under a bridge and was greeted by a lovely sight. On the water in front of me were at least a dozen sailboats dancing around in the wind. These were the first sails I had seen on my river journey. These boats were a welcome change from the noisy, smelly motor boats I had encountered further north. I had not minded the small, motorized fishing boats along the northern stretches of the river. They had been considerate people who slowed down for me and were often fishing for food. Down here people were using their gas powered motors mainly for recreation and only one out of hundreds of these boats ever slowed down for me. I try not to be judgmental about how people spend their time, but I hate to think about all of the fossil fuel being used by these boats. I could smell it as they passed me and I could often see an oily film on the surface of the river.

I was invited in to the Springfield Yacht Club where I was given cold water and able to use the bathroom. Given the recent sewage spill into the river I was hesitant to spend much time in it so It felt great to cool my head down under the bathroom tap. I also got a bit more information about the breached dam in Enfield and decided I would try to run it. I got back into Jenny, and pushing against the wind, I passed unceremoniously into Connecticut.