For an afternoon paddle that day, I considered a few options from Middleton to Ipswich. I loaded my canoe atop my car, tied it down, then drove to the boat launch at High Street.
Having paddled here a few times before, I knew well that a wrong turn can easily lead down the Beverly-Wenham Canal. After using a maps app on my smartphone to double-check my orientation, I stowed the phone in a dry bag and then pushed off, heading upstream.
After beginning my trip with a single-blade canoe paddle, I switched to a double-blade kayak paddle when the canoe paddle struck the river bottom. A double-blade paddle requires less water depth but also requires five or six feet width. The river is generally quite wide from Middleton to Ipswich.
The current of the Ipswich River can be strong during high water. Today, the current was slow and this was no surprise. Up-river in North Reading, a depth gauge had shown less than twelve inches.
I came upon a wooden arch bridge over the river. Built upon concrete piers, this bridge looked quite nice and was high enough to allow any and all paddlers pass beneath. Yet I could see that both ends of the bridge were intentionally blocked to disallow foot traffic. Pulling my canoe to a stop in some grass, I retrieved a camera from my dry bag and photographed the bridge.
A bit further on, multiple large trees had fallen across the river. Getting past these obstacles would take some work and I debated continuing on or turning back. I pressed onward. After negotiating with a deeply muddy embankment, I pulled the boat ashore, dragged it fifty feet across the grass, taking care to avoid poison ivy, and put back into the river. At a different tree across the river, I pulled alongside the log, climbed out, and muscled the canoe over.
At an automobile bridge over the river, a couple stood at the rail to enjoy the river. I paddled under the bridge and then checked my smartphone to know the exact road. Rowley Bridge Road – my turn-around point. I thought of friends who lived nearby, but the daylight was waning and I did not have time to go visit them.
The return trip downstream was a bit faster than paddling upstream. But of course I had to again navigate around the downed trees.