Exploring Rivers
Rivers. The lifeblood of the landscape. We are drawn to rivers, sometimes just to look at them, sometimes to recreate on or beside them. They are often scenic, even soothing. A pristine river - or a river that has escaped serious degradation - is a most appealing feature. We need to celebrate those rivers, and take care of them. I’ve spent years exploring rivers throughout the U. S. and I am happy to share here some photos from my aquatic adventures.
The Connecticut River near its headwaters on the Canadian border is spectacularly beautiful, coursing through a forest thick with spruce and balsam fir. This is a section in Pittsburg, N. H., known as Falls in the River. From the parking area at the foot of Second Connecticut Lake you can follow a trail along the river to the falls.
The Shepaug River is one of the most beautiful streams in Connecticut. A tributary of the Housatonic River in the western part of the state, much of it flows through a forested preserve that keeps the river clean and scenic.
Bigelow Brook in Union, Connecticut, flows through one of the largest forested preserves in the state, in its northeastern corner. Wild brook trout, which flourish in clean, cool waters like Bigelow Brook, are as colorful as the leaves in fall.
Maine is rich with great rivers. I've spent years canoeing and kayaking on them. This scene is Grand Falls on the Dead River, a comparatively remote area in the western Maine mountains.
To avoid the precipitous drop that is part of Rainie Falls on the Rogue River in Oregon, paddlers can instead take this side channel known as Fishway Rapids. Here I am making my way through, fortunately without flipping over.
The Rio Grande as it emerges from Santa Elena Canyon in Big Bend National Park, Texas. The Rio Grande is the fifth longest river in North America. I canoed through the canyon with a small group, camping on the riverbank at night.
The Farmington River is my home river, only slightly over a mile from my house. It begins in the Berkshire mountains of western Massachusetts, flows south to Farmington, then north, then east, emptying into the Connecticut River. It is an enormously popular river for recreation.
My son, Scott, left front, and myself, right front, paddling a whitewater section of the Deschutes River near Bend, Oregon.
Paddling the Connecticut River headwaters, Pittsburg, N. H., near the Canadian border, 1991. I paddled the Connecticut from its origins to the sea - 410 miles - camping along the river at night, over 33 days. Photo by Michael McAndrews.
Riley Creek is a small, free-flowing, picturesque stream in Denali National Park, Alaska.
Fed in part by glaciers in North Cascades National Park in Washington, the Methow River flows clean and cold for 80 miles, one of only two free-flowing rivers that are tributaries to the mid- or lower-Columbia River. On this day in 2022, I paddled a kayak on 7 miles of the Methow south of Winthrop, Washington.