We spent three days on the Oswegatchie, paddling from Inlet up to High Falls and back. That wasn’t enough time, IMO. I wish we had planned 5 or 6 days.
For the record, there were 8 beaver dams. We paddled over 2 and pulled over 6. This must be a water-level dependent statistic. The most difficult obstacle was a tree across the river. We carried around the root ball side. There were two or three rocky rips, one of which required a 90-degree turn in the middle. I lost the bow to the current and we were sideways in a heartbeat. Lucky to stay upright, and we walked up the rest of that rip.
We heard it said there are many, many more beaver dams between High Falls and the “traverse.” But if you are the type who considers the traverse fun, what’s a few dozen beaver dams?
This was my first time tripping up river. Okay, maybe I’m a wuss, but I didn’t like it that well. The upper half of the trip is through spectacular spruce and white pine forests, which I didn’t even notice while paddling upriver. Too busy minding the currents and setting up for the the next 270-degree bend. It wasn’t until heading downstream that I picked up my gaze and noticed it was an incredible place. Those white pines are the biggest trees I’ve ever seen in the east.
Regarding crowds, we encountered about a dozen people a day. There were about 8 vehicles in the lot on Friday. maybe ten on Sunday night. So, it was neither wilderness nor an amusement park. Plenty of campsites were available, and we only detected half the campsites shown on our map. I’m wondering if some of the signs are gone. Some of the sites are overgrown and apparently are not used much.