How many days with temps in the teens does it take to freeze a river. Based on this weekend’s experience, the answer is three.

For the past couple of years, we have been doing this winter overnight trip at the Burlingame Canoe Campsites. It’s been a lot of fun, and this year we had nine joining in, with one coming from as far away as NY.

In past years, the temperatures have mild (days in the 30’s, nights in the 20’s), but this year we have been having a cold snap (as you know). Average temperatures had been in the 20’s for a couple of weeks, so we know ice could be an issue – I even got a warning email from Earl. We did ask JD to check the river on Wednesday, and he reported that the put in was ice-free. It is tough to see much else from shore.

When we arrived at Bradford Landing on Saturday morning the put in was open, but there was solid ice downstream to the dam. There was an open channel upstream so we loaded our boats and headed out. We didn’t get far. We paddled a couple of hundred yards upstream to find the river frozen solid – good half-inch of ice for as far as you could see. No way we were getting through that.

We paddled back to the put in to try to figure out our options. Was there a different section of the river that wouldn’t be iced-in - nope. Was there a campground or picnic area nearby that wasn’t closed for the season – nope. Unfortunately, we were out of luck. Best we could do was a pictures and lunch at a nearby restaurant. Oh well…