Yesterday a friend and I did the upper Batsto. I canoeing guide I have said the upper portion of the Batsto should not be attempted unless the water gauge at Quaker Bridge was at least 5.5'. When we dropped a vehicle off at QB we saw that the depth was almost 7'. Whoo Hoo!
Now most of you have seen how the Batsto looks at Hampton Furnace where we put in. A beautiful spot with clear, fast moving water and no obstacles. Don't let it fool you.
Within seconds of putting in we were being beaten to death by the over growth. The water was very high and fast and it was very difficult to maneuver. I had to break my paddle down and use only half of it for this stretch as there was no room to paddle using the whole paddle. This was like bushwhacking on water. Some of you guys would have loved it LOL but my friend was not having much fun. I had trouble trying not to laugh at him as we were being brutalized by the brush.
Many of you know how close the Hampton put-in is to Riders Switch. Well it took us well over an hour to get there. Shortly after Riders Switch the Batsto started to open up a bit and not too far past we took a break at a spot that someone had used as a camp. This spot was beautiful and I would consider camping there too but it was rough to get to.
We were now in a section of the Batsto that was very beautiful and somewhat easy to navigate. The water was still very fast which made it a little difficult and of course there were some blow-downs and in spots some overgrowth to deal with. Like Stu, there were a couple of trees that we had to lay down in our kayaks to get under. There was only one spot that we had to portage around and that was a little tough because the water was deep and the banks were high but we managed.
After passing Lower Forge the river widened again and was moving a bit slower for the most part. We stopped only one more time on Stokes Rd, not far from QB.
The trip took us approximately 6 hours. Now the guide book had said it was 5.5 hours from Hampton to Batsto so we were figuring it would take 2.5 to 3 hours Hampton to QB. We got out of the water at 7:00 and had we left a vehicle at Batsto and tried the whole thing we would have been screwed.
All in all it was a great day, scratches and all. I only wish that the water was not moving so fast so I would have felt comfortable having my camera out on the water to get more photos.
Steve
Now most of you have seen how the Batsto looks at Hampton Furnace where we put in. A beautiful spot with clear, fast moving water and no obstacles. Don't let it fool you.
Within seconds of putting in we were being beaten to death by the over growth. The water was very high and fast and it was very difficult to maneuver. I had to break my paddle down and use only half of it for this stretch as there was no room to paddle using the whole paddle. This was like bushwhacking on water. Some of you guys would have loved it LOL but my friend was not having much fun. I had trouble trying not to laugh at him as we were being brutalized by the brush.
Many of you know how close the Hampton put-in is to Riders Switch. Well it took us well over an hour to get there. Shortly after Riders Switch the Batsto started to open up a bit and not too far past we took a break at a spot that someone had used as a camp. This spot was beautiful and I would consider camping there too but it was rough to get to.
We were now in a section of the Batsto that was very beautiful and somewhat easy to navigate. The water was still very fast which made it a little difficult and of course there were some blow-downs and in spots some overgrowth to deal with. Like Stu, there were a couple of trees that we had to lay down in our kayaks to get under. There was only one spot that we had to portage around and that was a little tough because the water was deep and the banks were high but we managed.
After passing Lower Forge the river widened again and was moving a bit slower for the most part. We stopped only one more time on Stokes Rd, not far from QB.
The trip took us approximately 6 hours. Now the guide book had said it was 5.5 hours from Hampton to Batsto so we were figuring it would take 2.5 to 3 hours Hampton to QB. We got out of the water at 7:00 and had we left a vehicle at Batsto and tried the whole thing we would have been screwed.
All in all it was a great day, scratches and all. I only wish that the water was not moving so fast so I would have felt comfortable having my camera out on the water to get more photos.
Steve
