One way float trip in Warner, NH - first bike shuttle. Beautiful day, mid 80s and sunny, but low water conditions and frequent width-of-river fallen trees made this a very challenging 5+ mile trip. Initial put-ins at Waterloo Covered Bridge and Stevens Brook were through private land and overgrown, so started further downriver at Riverside Park near Warner town center instead. Per the Boston Kayaker, the recommended water level for this trip is 40+ cfs. The Davisville gauge read 34 cfs and 3.4 ft on June 19. I probably got out of my kayak 20 times to drag through shallow riffles and another 10-12 times to portage river-wide tree blockages. A couple portages were especially difficult because the banks were about 5 feet high and had to bushwhack growth to make it around the blockage. I kept thinking as I progressed and with more streams joining the river, it would get easier but there was no respite from downed trees and shallows until the river crossed back under I-89 to the east side for the final 1/2 mile to Davisville. If the water level were higher, the first couple miles in Warner would be fun but the lower half still would have several major blockages to get around esp in the swamp. Wildlife included a family of red head ducks and a blue heron, both going the same direction as me and seen every 1/2 hour or so.
Start: Riverside Park, Warner NH
End: Route 127 bridge, Davisville, Warner, NH
Trip time: 3 1/2 hours
Trip distance: 5+ miles
Waterloo Covered Bridge, pretty but no easy put in here
Riverside Park, plenty of parking and an easy put-in
Into the Warner, pretty but many shallows this day
Dalton Covered Bridge
First pass under I-89 bridge
Kept running into this guy and his buddies
Bagley Field Rail Trail
One of many river-wide blowdowns
Back under I-89 bridges, no more portages!
Snowmobile bridge
The steep take-out at Davisville (Rt 127) bridge
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