At the beginning of April, the Connecticut River flooded its banks, resulting in an annual freshet—a flood caused by a combination of heavy rainfall and the spring thaw. As Beth Emery wrote on the popular local blog “The Middletown Eye,” the flooding is “an annual rite of spring on the Connecticut River.” This wasn’t her first time navigating the overflowing river, but as she told us over the phone, it was certainly one of the more memorable.
Argus: What made you decide to brave the freshet?
Beth Emery: I’ve gone out on the river a whole bunch of times when it’s flooded. It’s a really cool experience, because you can paddle your kayak around the tree trunks, which can be under five to seven feet of water.
A: Were there other people with you on the trip?
BE: Well, yeah. This time of year, you can only go out with someone else because the water’s so cold. You and the other people accompanying you have to know how to rescue each other. We don’t anticipate going into the water, but we wear our life jackets all the time, and on the off chance one of us falls in we know how to help get them out of the water.
A: For how long were you on the river?
BE: We went out for four hours last Saturday [April 3]. We took the Mattabesset Trail, so we put the boats in the water up in Cromwell at a ramp near the Stop-n-Shop. The trail goes from there to Harbor Park in Middletown. If you search for the trail online, you can find a nice little map, which is very useful for people to know where they’re going. We knew we wanted to go out and paddle around in the trees, but we were really curious to see the mudslide that hit the apartments on Newfield and see the damage it had caused.
A: What was the most memorable moment of the trip?
BE: I guess maybe watching all the birds that were out. We could really get up close to them and their nests, because we were so close to the branches. We saw a couple of woodpeckers, and some osprey, five of them, getting their nests ready. Also, there was a statue at the north end of Harbor Park that was almost halfway submerged. I mean I love to paddle, and the trip overall was really nice. It was memorable just to be out on the river.
A: Do you have any advice for others who might want to try this when it happens next year?
BE: Well, I don’t think people should go out and paddle in the freshet before May unless they’re with somebody experienced or have done some paddling before. It can be very dangerous if your kayak or canoe flips over. We saw a few people who didn’t have lifejackets on, which is basically suicide. The statistics bear it out: a lifejacket saves your life in cold water. I’d say my biggest piece of advice would be not to do this casually. Be smart about it and go in a group. You have to know how to protect yourself from risks. from risks.