Autumn on the Beach - Paddling Narrow River

What I should be doing right now is writing a trip report from our hike of the Kinsmans yesterday, but on sunny and 80 degree Columbus Day holiday there are just better things to do.  Instead, I'll share a short post on the wonderful paddle of Narrow River in Narragansett that we did on Friday.  Narrow River is probably our favorite paddling location in Rhode Island, but in recent years it has become so crowded on the weekends that it almost isn't worth it.  Lots of power boat traffic and so many boats and people on the beach at the end of the breachway that it's more like being on the public beach.  On a cool, sunny October Friday though that's all different...

We arrived at the boat launch Friday morning an hour before low tide.  Timing the tides in Narrow River are key to a good paddle.  Time it wrong and you really have to work against the current.  This was perfect.  We cruised down to the breachway without seeing a single boat or person.  So quiet and peaceful.  We pulled our kayaks out and had the beach completely to ourselves.

We walked out to the ocean side and walked the beach to Narragansett.  There were a few others out enjoying the perfect October day and every one of them seemed to have a dog or two with them.  Lucky dogs!

After our walked we enjoyed our lunch and then grabbed the kayaks and headed out past the breachway to explore a bit of the coast.  It was dead slack tide and one of the only times we're ever been able to make it out into the ocean here as there is usually too much surf to get through with the kayaks.  The coastline in this short stretch is like nothing else in Rhode Island.  It reminds me much more of the coast of Maine.  Beautiful!

We headed back in and spent another hour or so soaking up the warm sun and cool breezes on the still deserted beach.  What a treat.  I leafed through the copy of 4000 Footers of the White Mountains that I had brought along to plan our weekend hike (but that's a story for another blog post).  We finally grudgingly packed up and headed back to the boat launch.  The tide had turned and gave us a wonderful easy glide back in.  Seemed like the fitting way to end such a perfect day.

The whole album is here:  https://picasaweb.google.com/114856685929776719960/NarrowRiver10711#