Photos
Top left, looking west from the Enfield boat launch. In the foreground is the east channel with a small island and Terry's Island in the background.
Top right, looking west to the opposite bank. If you click on the photo to enlarge, you will see a light line just above the water line. That is the canal bike/pedestrian trail.
Right: That's me outfitted in a life jacket, ready to get into the canoe. Photo by Bonnie Enes.
The Adventure Begins
I have lived in proximity of the Connecticut River all my life, and have known of Terry’s Island (aka King’s Island) for as long as I can remember. Bike rides along both sides the river from Enfield/Suffield to Hartford/East Hartford; Wethersfield/Rocky Hill to Glastonbury/; and the most grueling, from Hammonasset State Park to Moodus during the MS charity bike ride in 2003.
The river cannot be fully appreciated until you are on it.
Last July (2007) Bonnie and I went out to Terry’s Island with our guide, Bill. Bill has lived on the Connecticut River all his life and knows every nuance and trick she has. All waterways are living beings, and this one, Bill knows as well as he knows himself.
We met at the Enfield boat launch one morning in mid-July. Bill had been watching the weather forecasts and the river height. From the boat launch you can see the east channel of the river and how it has a small island in the middle. The big island, Terry’s, blocks the view of the channel that runs between the island and the west bank of the river. The Canal bike path is clearly visible through the trees on the west bank.
After we helped Bill unload his canoe, we donned life jackets; thus began our journey—Bill paddling in the stern, me paddling in the bow, and Bonnie sitting as still as possible in the middle. (Please forgive me if my ability to speak nautically is lacking) The water was relatively smooth when you consider we were in the rapids. Bill assured us the water was a good 18 inches above the rocks. I did hit them a couple of times when I dug my paddle in too deep. Had any one of us fallen out of the canoe, the current would have swept us away.
As we began our adventure, I was in awe of this new view of the river.
(to be continued)
