The End of the Adventure
The are multiple components to any long distance adventure, and reaching the end point is not really the end of the journey. While I had pulled Jenny to land for the last time on my CT River source to sea adventure I still had to get her to my car. Then I had to get her on top of my car and drive to Turners Falls, Mass. to retrieve my bike before driving the rest of the way home to central Vermont.
I was so hot and tired and my side was hurting so much when I pulled into North Cove that I could not get Jenny over the concrete wall that was there. I left her in the muck and went into the North Cove Yacht Club. I explained what I was doing and was greeted by some wonderful people who invited me to make myself at home. Jim Lawless told me he had been airing out the shower so that he could hop in, but he insisted that I go in before him. Normally I would have deferred, but I was so hot that I took him up on the offer. I don’t think I ever enjoyed a cool shower more than I did at that moment.
When I got out, Jim and another man lifted Jenny over the wall and onto her wheels. Jim walked with me the quarter mile to the middle school where my car was parked. I was so grateful that he stayed to helped me get Jenny onto the roof of my car. I have done it alone but it is never easy and often I escape the near miss of dropping her onto the ground. She withstood a lot of banging in the river but I am not sure how she would handle falling off the roof of my car.
I thought of all the people who had helped me along my journey. Each meal I was fed nourished both my body and soul, reminding me that kindness did exist in this world and was available for me. I thought about the crew in the RV park in NH who had fed Dot and I. I was grateful to Nancy and her husband Jay for giving me a place to stay and helping with car shuttling early on in my journey. I felt a warm glow as I put on the clean shirt I had received from the women in Wethersfield Cove. I smiled as I pulled the wrench from behind Jenny’s seat. I had been given this by Neil at the Comerford Dam. True to Murphey’s Law I had not needed it after that day, but carrying it all the way to the ocean was a way of keeping these people with me on my journey.
I still smile when I remember the folks who had given Jenny her name and shuttled my car for me. I expect to go hiking with Tom, who along with his wife Vivian, were such a gracious hosts. I am now reading a book (Deep Survival) recommended by a dinner guest when I stayed with Tad and Tarin. I was grateful to those who put water out for me along the way. Each kindness has helped me feel less invisible and alone in the world. I feel so lucky to have friends like Karen Bixler and Karen Deets in my life who support me and “have my back” during my many adventures. I am so grateful to all of the trail and river angels I have met on all of my journeys. And I was about to meet another, reminding me that one can encounter kind people anywhere in the world.
Rose had contacted me via social media and offered to give me a meal when I was in Essex. I wanted to meet her but did not feel it would work out as I was trying to stay with the tide on that final day of paddling. Undeterred, Rose offered to take me out to lunch as a celebration when I finished my journey. So I drove from Old Saybrook up to Essex and had a wonderful time chatting with Rose over lunch. It was just what I needed before my long drive home.
When I left Essex and drove north I found myself in semi rush hour traffic through Hartford CT and Springfield Mass. I was cutting it close to the time when Barton’s Cove would close. If that happened I would not be able to pick up my bike until the following morning. Drawing on the lessons of my journeys I forced myself to stay in the moment. I had had a lovely visit with Rose and was not going to beat myself up for not thinking ahead.
I was grateful when my efforts to go with the flow were re-enforced. I pulled into Barton’s Cove just as they were getting ready to leave for the day. They pulled my bike out of storage and left. I was able to load it onto the car and stop at a local eatery for homemade ice cream before continuing my drive home to Vermont.
This journey taught me a lot about the Connecticut River. It name comes from “quinetucket,” a Mohegan word meaning “beside the long tidal river.” The CT’s watershed covers about 11,250 square miles with 148 tributaries and numerous lakes and ponds. Thirty eight of these are major rivers. It is one of the most damned rivers in the United States, with sixteen on the river itself and over one thousand on its tributaries. This river dumps about 19,000 cubic feet of water per second into Long Island Sound, which is seventy percent of the freshwater going into that salty sound. Because of huge amounts of silt in the river, which create shifting sandbars, the CT is one of a very few major US rivers not to have a large port city at its mouth.
I began my journey at an elevation of about 2,670 feet above sea level. By the time I had reached the Mass. border I had dropped more than 2,480 feet. At Long Island Sound I was around sea level. (Parts of this sound are below sea level!) The river had been the deepest (130 feet) in northern Mass, near the French King Bridge, and the widest (2100 feet) in southern Mass.
At one point this river was known as the “best landscaped sewer” but due to the Water Quality Act of 1965 the river has improved from a class D rating, considered unsafe to be in, to a class B rating, which is suitable for swimming and fishing. Fish numbers improved after the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant closed and stopped dumping water up to 105 degrees Fahrenheit into the river. The CT River is one of fourteen American Heritage Rivers and the only designated Blueway in the country.
Currently water is allowed to be taken from the river without a permit. This amazes my friends who live in western states where water is scarce and it is against the law to even collect the rain water off their roofs. I am grateful to all of those who spend time improving water quality and I pray we always have this source of plentiful water in the northeast. I know the experiences it gave me will be with me for the rest of my life.
I appreciate the time you have taken to read my ramblings and comment on them. It has been nice to have you along on this journey with me. Thank you.
The Mary Badass 
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