This summer five students and one trip leader at traveling along the Connecticut River to develop an intellectual, emotional, and embodied understanding of this watershed as both a socio-ecological entity and a metaphor for something larger–a paradigm for living well in a place wherever we go. Please enjoy this next blog post from Cormac ’26 as he compares the CT River quality from Vermont to Massachusetts.
Today we drove from NMH to a put-in south of Springfield. Our paddle was about 7 miles and during it we all noticed the state of the water compared to that in northern Vermont and New Hampshire. At the beginning of our trip the river was crystal clear with little debris in it. Today, though, we passed by floating trash, visibly dirty water and dead fish. At our takeout south of Springfield we found a dead sea lamprey, which although I find them slightly scary, are native to the area according to the Connecticut River Conservancy. We talked to that organization yesterday and they mentioned the efforts they are taking to try and reestablish a healthy watershed throughout the Connecticut river. We are staying the night at King Island before we paddle through Hartford tomorrow.
By Cormac ’26
