Glenn, I was hoping you'd chime in, since your mention of the Sacandaga was one of the few that showed up in a search of past posts. But I guess you were running the whitewater, not flatwater sections.
If you are going to paddle upstream and back for a day trip, like the Kunjamuk, I'd choose the faster canoe because of the upstream half of the trip.
Well, that depends on water depth and flow, right? If there's more current and the sides are shallow enough (and solid enough) for effective poling, a pole could be much faster going upstream than paddling. But I tried to take a buddy poling the other day on Wappingers Creek, usually great for poling by late summer, and all the rain we've gotten meant it was almost too deep to pole effectively, at least on the reach we picked that day. Would have done better with a fast solo and a paddle that day.
Indeed, my Sacandaga question is really one about water depth. It sounds like the channels going into the ponds (and campsites) from the river are shallow, winding, narrow, and maybe log-choked. Potentially good poling territory, and a good place to use a pole to jam my already-beat-to-heck royalex tandem over logs. If depths are deep, I'd rather be paddling the solo.
Bringing multiple boats is a nice idea, though with just enough time to get into a campsite Sat pm and back out Sun am, I'm not sure I'll have time to play at poling. Plus I can pole near home (on the Roe-Jan, which I think you know well). I could bring the royalex tandem and poles just in case, but then I'd want to lock them to the car overnight while I'm camping at one of the primitive sites on the ponds. Perhaps more headache and better to just spend the time paddling the one boat.
I have done the Kunjamuk in the tandem as a day trip (before I was poling). It is a beautiful day trip, but lots of beaver dams to pull over. More fun for warmer weather, and without the overnight pack. The dog loves pulling over dams, because he gets to look for beavers while I do all the work.
