The Paddle Killingly Summer Paddle Series starts May 31

That’s right paddlers! The Paddle Killingly Summer Paddle Series kicks off Tuesday, May 31, 2011 at Old Killingly Pond! Come join us as we jump in for a great season of paddles. We’re teaming up this year with Five Mile Outfitters and the Last Green Valley to help us promote our paddles, and to help us locate new places to paddle here in northeast Connecticut!

Please see our calendar here:  Paddle Killingly Calendar

I hope you all can join us on one or preferably many of our paddles!

Paddle Killingly now has a web forum!

Yes that’s correct. Paddle Killingly now has a forum. <– Just click there to access the forums. You will need to sign up in order to post to the forums. It has come to our attention that we should have a way to add other events to our calendar. Well, I couldn't make the Paddle Killingly Schedule / Calendar open to the public, so a forum is the next best thing. We will monitor the Paddles section and add events to the paddle schedule as they are posted.

Last night we paddled upstream from Five Mile Outfitters awesome launch to the confluence with the Whetstone Brook. Despite there actually being more water this year than last spring when we paddled from Target to Downtown Danielson, we were not able to get that far upstream. There has been so many blow-downs, and infill of vegetation that it is impossible to get any farther unless there is much more water, or you’re willing to get out of your boat and walk. The blow-downs really made for some great twists and turns in the river. I have no idea how some of the larger boats made it through, but everyone did.

A HUGE thanks to Five Mile Outfitters for allowing us to utilize their launch, and for the free drinks! You guys really go above and beyond. Here’s hoping you’re business grows by leaps and bounds. It’s great knowing we have a source for paddling equipment right in Downtown Danielson.

A rocky start, but we’re up and paddling

Well after a rocky (and late!) start to the paddling season, Paddle Killingly is in full swing. We’ve made some changes this summer to try to make things easier for people. We’re paddling Wednesday evenings getting out on the water at about 5:30pm. We paddled Old Killingly Pond on July 7th, were rained out on the 14th and 21st, and paddled the Quinebaug from Brooklyn’s spectacular launch on the 28th. What a beautiful paddle! We paddled just over 3.5 miles from the launch upstream almost making it to Zadora Heights. Next week we will be paddling the Five Mile River in downtown Danielson. We’re looking into where to launch from. We can either use the town launch next to the foot bridge (very rough), or we can use the new launch at Five Mile Outfitters, Killingly’s new kayak/canoe store! Five Mile Outfitters is located at 99 Commerce Ave, Danielson, CT. I highly recommend taking a look at their selection if you’re in the market for a new boat. They have demo boats available so you can try before you buy. And, best of all, they have put in a great new launch site. Stay tuned for more! Be sure to check out PaddleKillingly for the paddle schedule and more! We’re also putting up a facebook page. Check back soon for a link!

Spring is Coming!

It’s time to get back into shape for spring is right around the corner. Before you know it, we’ll be gearing up for the 2nd Annual Killingly Parks and Recreation River Fun Race Day. Time to dust off your canoe / kayak, break out the paddles and start practicing. We hope to have even larger crowds than last year. Tell your friends, tell your family, get out on the areas rivers, lakes, ponds, and streams. Here’s to a great paddling season!

Five Mile River Clean – up

Please join us this Saturday, September 12 9am – 12pm as we clean up the Five Mile River from the footbridge north. This event is sponsored by The Last Green Valley, and American Rivers Alliance.

We NEED rowboats and/or flat bottomed boats to join us for our clean-up!

After the clean-up we will have a pizza party. Please join us!

Change in the line-up

Please note that this weeks paddle on the Quinebaug has been moved due to higher than normal currents. We will be putting in at Simonzi Park in Putnam, and paddling downstream to Route 101 in Pomfret. We felt that paddling around from 101 might not be safe due to the dam at Rogers Corp. It’s a 10 foot drop that no one wants to experience. Here’s hoping the weather is as beautiful as it was for our last paddle on Thursday!

Five Mile Pond – Thursday 7/16

Due to Circus Day also happening on Thursday, Main Street (route 12) from Davis Park to Commerce Ave, will be closed from 5:30 to 6:15pm. Best bet to make it to the launch site is to take Union Street, and park on Water Street and walk to the launch site. It is a 300 – 500′ walk depending on where you parked.

Hope to see you Thursday!

Ross’ Pond – impressions and a circus comes to town

What a great paddle. It was nice to have a larger group than previous paddles. Pictures will be up on the flickr stream and on the main page shortly. Ross’ Pond is a relatively small pond of about 40 acres in size, with additional acreage on the south side of 695. While it does not take a long time to get from the launch to the other end, hours could be spend exploring the shoreline. Wildlife abounds these calm waters. We saw a great blue heron, many species of fish, song birds, and a few turtles. The weather held out long enough for us to do a little exploring. I would like to head back to Ross’ at some point and see if it is possible to get through the box culvert under the highway and explore the southern pond. The southern pond is about 8 acres in size. However, I don’t believe the pond is regularly accessed. It would be interesting to see what is down there. Stay tuned for a report at some point in time.

Here’s hoping the weather co-operates with us next week as we paddle the Five Mile Pond during Circus Day! We’ll get together and clown around in the Five Mile Pond shortly after the events at Davis Park. We will be getting underway as the parade progresses from Davis Park to Commerce Avenue to the towns newest canoe/boat launch. Come for the paddle, stay for the circus!

Ross’ Pond. TODAY!

Looks like we’re going to squeak this one in between a bit of rain and a bit more rain. according to the weather, we’re clear from 5-7. Just enough time to explore the pond. Please note: This paddle is at Ross’ Pond State Park, not Ross’ Marsh State Wildlife Management Area. Please refer to the map on the main pages paddle schedule. This is an easy one with direct access to the shore. No long (or short) portage here.

Hope to see you this evening!

You missed a good one

We had a beautiful paddle last night. Pictures will follow. The weather was perfect. The sun was shinning, there was a blue tint to the sky, and the temperature (both air and water) was quite warm. We paddled for about 2 hours around the Chase Reservoir. The only thing missing was YOU!

Our mission or goal with this series is to have people “Get out and Play!”. Our line of thinking is this: The more people get out on the waterways in Killingly (and the world), the greater the appreciation for these waterways. This leads to better access points, better launches, and possible protection of these waterways for generations to come. The town has had great success protecting both the Chase and Hygeia Reservoirs. The State of Connecticut has protected 4 other water bodies in Killingly. We will visit the majority of these during our paddles this summer.

Remember: Get out and Play!

See you next week! July 7th, 5:30 at Ross’ Pond, part of Ross’ and Old Furnace Parks. See our calendar for maps, directions, etc.