• Location of put in: Barre, Massachusetts
  Barre Falls Dam
• Approximate class: Flatwater
• Estimated length: 1 to 5 miles

Hal floated through the treetops, disoriented, trying to find his way. Below him in the murky water were the tops of blueberry bushes, berries beginning to form between the reflected mackerel sky. The runty maples were separated by open water, enough for a canoe to pass, and formed an endless hedge-like maze of possible routes.

To compound the problem, the air was thick and dead. Not a hint of breeze and the water was glassy calm. Each tree was reflected perfectly, judging distances became impossible. "What's happening to me?" Hal asked himself, "Am I floating to Valhalla in my canoe?"

No, Hal was in Stevens Brook, which drains Blood Swamp into the East Branch of the Ware River. We put in at the MDC Gate on Intervale Road, North Rutland, and took out at Barre Falls Dam in Barre, MA. The first 200 feet can be run in the spring, but now the water is low with plenty of rocks to bounce off of. A sturdy boat will do ok. A few hundred more feet and Longmeadow Brook enters through a culvert on the left. It's a mile of decent current through a winding channel before the slowing effect of the flood control dam are felt. Soon, the view opens on either side through the flooded tree trunks, but the current is still noticeable.

We approached the Brigham Rd bridge, the guardrails stuck out of the water about a foot. We had to backpaddle and find a route through the woods to cross the road. Below the bridge, pollen sat in the stagnant water and the river opened up into a lake. We paddled to the left, cut through the woods in a low spot and over into the runt maples of Stevens Brook, which is usually an impassable scrub marsh. After ascending through thicker and thicker stands of black spruce, we gave up our quest for Blood Swamp and returned to the East Branch.

We followed the left shoreline here to avoid a wrong turn into some the islands and the West Branch Ware River, and came upon the dam. The shortest route would be about a mile, ours was probably two and a half, and it could be extended significantly by checking out the West Branch. The take-out at Barre Falls Dam is on Coldbrook Road.