Yakkin' the Bearcamp - Memorial Day Wknd '09

Each Memorial Day Weekend, as much of my family who can, gets together to kayak as a group. Last year, we yakked the Bearcamp River in Tamworth and Ossipee, New Hampshire. We traveled the entire length, into Ossipee Lake, paddling down the lake to the mouth of the Pine River, then up the river to the boat launch on Route 25. That took the better part of a day, stopping on a sandbar for lunch then paddling across a very, windy Ossipee.


This year, because my Mom is less confindent in her kayak than the rest of us, we decided to do the same paddle, but instead, take out at the Iron Bridge behind Pizza Barn on Rt. 16 in Ossipee. We all met at the launch under the bridge at Rt. 25 around 9:30 and unloaded. My parents, Doris and Harvey, keep up with all of us and bought two kayaks last year. They are in their 70s, but don't act like it at all. It also happened to be graduation weekend for my sister, Susan. In honor of her achievements, we tied a balloon on her boat so she could get the attention she deserves. The kids at the campgrounds along the way loved it. This trip, there were only 9 of us. In years past, we've had up to 14 and now we have more "significant others" in the family. One of these days, I plan to get all 18 in the water at the same time!! The weather was persistently cranky, clouding up, peeks of sun, light rain, etc. I wore my usual camp shirt and whidbey shorts and I was a bit chilly by the end. We figured that we paddled approximately 5 miles, but you could drive from beginning to end in less than 10 minutes. This is a twisty, turny river. Although shallow, it's full of fish (some salmon, even a few brownies) and very easy to navigate. There is just a little set of rapids (class II, at best) just under the bridge at the put-in, but then smooth sailing with a very light current. It's great family paddle, for beginners, or when your group has a wide range of experienced yakkers, but must be run before the swing of full summer. It is different every year, but it gets pretty shallow at the height of summer unless there has been significant rains. I don't usually post the "time" that it takes me to paddle my trips. There's a couple of reasons for that. First, I don't think everyone kayaks the same way. Some like to rip it up and some like to cruise. It depends on who i'm with how fast we go. This time, we just took our time. It was more important to me that my parents enjoyed themselves and they did. My brother-in-law Rick tried to drop a line here and there, while my husband interjected the group with slaps from his paddle or being silly be wearing a stainless steel bowl on his head that he found sitting on a sandbar. Whenever we came around a bend past one of the two campgrounds (Whit's End and Bearcamp) kids would come down the banks at this herd of colorful boats, my sister's balloon being the star of the show and would shout, "Hey, Mom, loook!" "Hey, she's got a balloon!" "Where you goin?" and lots of "Hi's". It was pretty cute. After a pretty lazy paddle, we pulled up under the Iron bridge and took out the boats. I, of course, stepped directly into the healthy patch poison ivy, to which I am deathly allergic, and had to stop everything to wash off my feet and legs. My husband got me some antibacterial gel and I coated my feet and legs. My parents live just a few minutes away, so when I got there, I washed with soap and water. If you're ever in that pickle, keep that gel on hand and then get to soap and water quick. I only ended up with a few little spots, but NOTHING like it could have been. We all gathered back at Mom & Dad's for a after-paddle picnic of hamburgers, hot dogs and potato salad - yum.