A friend of mine mentioned that the Friends of the Carp River were inviting paddlers to canoe the Carp River this spring so Aline and I decided to take the kids along and check out the route this past Sunday.
We missed the 10:30 start because of the kids swimming lessons but found the launch at Carp Road and Rivington Street by the bridge without difficulty and paddled upstream just past the golf course before returning – a round trip distance of about 7km. Apparently Hunstmar Rd was another 30 minutes upstream but we decided not to go that far as the kids were enjoying themselves at our fallen tree lunch spot and we knew it would be another 30 minutes return.
The route meandered through farm fields, wetlands and meadows with road traffic in the distance. I’m sure the water levels make the river impassable later in the summer.
Highlights for us were navigating through the fallen tree obstacle where we almost lost a paddle, lunch at a second fallen tree where Sam muddied his shoes, rescuing golf balls, catching a frog and trying out the tire swing en route.
