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Written by Brock Richardson

Category: Trip Reports

Published: 14 April 2013

Hits: 56

Organizer(s): Brock Richardson

Date: 2013-04-13

Kayakers (K1): Justin John A, Brock

Canoers (OC1): Jason Cohen

Other Personal Watercraft: Dan

Predominantly: Nov-int WW

Water Level: Medium low

Primary Realtime USGS Gauge Site: johnson

Primary Realtime USGS Gauge Flow (cfs), e.g. '797': 950

Wolcott rapids proved an enjoyable new paddle for myself and John. It was a welcome close by trip for Dan and Justin . It provided a spot for Jason to try his hand at a whitewater canoe in his new to him Nitro. The river starts from the dam and continues over a series of ledge drops. None of them are particularly hard but several of them required a move or a brace especially at this lower level. We had several swims. Jason did amazingly well for his first time in a Whitewater Canoe. This is a surprisingly pretty and very fun little section of the Lamoille. It took us a leisurely hour and a half to complete and I would rate it a 2 plus 3 minus.

We returned to the parking area with time to burn. What better way to burn time then a long Drive to Derby Center. Jason had sense enough to call it a day but the rest of us headed up for a run on the Clyde. Justin had a section in mind below Charleston Pond in West Charleston. We followed him for a look. It looked like a long solid class 4 plus drop to me with really sharp rocks some wood and a pinning rock right in the middle of everything. Justin could convince no one to Light it up so we saved that run for another day.( or in my case never) . Dan knew a section downstream of Lake Salem so we headed

There. Unfortunately all the ponds and lakes were frozen so we could not use the usual access points. We managed to squeeze in a short run and the river was quite beautiful a real Kingdom Gem Like paddling through an enchanted forest. The whitewater was marginal class 2 minus pretty much a straight flush with few features but the beauty was incredible.

Quote of the Day: " The Moose, I'm not driving to the Moose, that's too far.Lets go to Derby Line"

Thanks all for a great day

Brock

Details

Written by Ryan McCall

Category: Trip Reports

Published: 10 April 2013

Hits: 277

Organizer(s): Ryan McCall

Date: 2013-04-10

Kayakers (K1): Dave Packie, Ryan McCall

Predominantly: Int-adv WW

Water Level: Medium low

Hmmmm...not much that I can say that I've not already said about Patterson but feeling somewhat verbose, here we go.......

So the story goes - phone calls, emails and texts start to bounce around the night before. Talk of the NBW is tossed out, others say Mad, but Dave says - looks like Patterson should be in tomorrow. That's like your mom asking you if you want some sugar on those nasty stale dry tasteless hunks of shredded wheat you would eat for breakfast. Yea I just likened sugar to Patterson Brook. If you haven't tried it, do so, it's that sweet!

So the alarm goes off the dog licks my face and I know I have to get my gear together, make coffee (add some sugar) and get down the road to pick up Dave and head to my personal cup of sugar, Patterson Brook... (ok that was kind of cheesy). Its a wee bit nippy but not cold. We load Dave's gear and the shuttle vehicle and head over the Northfield Mountains toward Granville, VT. Along the way everything looks so close to being boatable, Stony Brook, Freeman Brook. We are so close to a really good spring run-off. Who knows maybe this weekend???? So we get to Patterson and it looks doable - as Dave says, "I've run it lower."

Up we go into the GMNF to the put in scouting along the way...All looks good, some ice shelves and a little bit of wood here and there, but relatively clean. We gear up and get in our boats.... Um - spray skirts are a little snug and stiff....Guess I should have eaten shredded wheat this morning!!!!

Finally on water - everything feels right! The river is familiar and comfortable.....enjoyable. Dave and I take turns hopping down the river and re-learning old skills left dormant since the late fall of 2012. Kind of wobbly at first we are knocking out cobwebs as we go. The gorge section of the river is clean and goes smoothly eventhough lines are flubbed. The level was about as perfect as it gets for taking it in. A perfect way to open up the season on Patterson.

It was a one lap day as we both had to get to work by noon, but I could have run a dozen more laps on Patterson today... It just felt right!

For those of you looking to get in a run there this year. Make sure you scout it on the way up to the put in. There are some spots with wood that could come into play if there is more water in the river...They will move around on the next good flush.

Details

Written by Ryan McCall

Category: Trip Reports

Published: 10 April 2013

Hits: 20706

Organizer(s): Tony Shaw

Date: 2013-04-08

Kayakers (K1): Jamie Dolan, John Atherton, Chris Weed, Ryan McCall

Canoers (OC1): Tony Shaw

Predominantly: Nov-int WW

Water Level: Medium low

Primary Realtime USGS Gauge Site: Mad River - Moretown

Primary Realtime USGS Gauge Flow (cfs), e.g. '797': 600

Where do you open your season... Yup - the Mad. I've been in VT for over a decade now and every season opener but two have been on the Mad River along one of its sections. We'll this year was more of the same. The sun was shining, it was 55 degrees and the company was good. It was a moderately lazy run with lots of eddy hopping and farting around. I made sure I could roll on a couple of occasions and Chris pulled a solid one too.

More or less the same old lower Mad run. Work the eddys goof off surf under the 100b Bridge and get down to Horseshoe. All ran clean, Tony rolled his titanic of an OC1 and we were off to Washing Machine and the lower gorge.

Other than a bizzare swim after the last rapid, it was a clean fun run...

The start of another season....

Details

Written by Tony Shaw

Category: Trip Reports

Published: 31 March 2013

Hits: 18639

Organizer(s): Tony Shaw

Date: 2013-03-30

Kayakers (K1): Mark Cook, Dottie Dupey, Grant Leibersberger, Heidi McCullough, Rod McIver, Chris Weed

Canoers (OC1): Tony Shaw

Predominantly: Novice WW

Water Level: Medium

Primary Realtime USGS Gauge Site: West Hartford

Primary Realtime USGS Gauge Flow (cfs), e.g. '797': 1430

Primary Realtime USGS Gauge Height (ft), e.g. '2.96': 5.13

Running at a lower-than-normal ~900 cfs for most of the preceding week, the USGS online gauge at West Hartford dissuaded our group from attempting to run the (planned) "Upper White" from Stockbridge to Bethel. In hindsight, when the gauge suddenly popped up over 1400 cfs on Saturday morning, we probably would have made it down The Upper...

Spring - that is to say, March - 2013 proved to be much better suited to sugaring than boating. But today it was about as nice a March day as you could want for a get-out-the-cobwebs class I-II river trip. We waited 'til noon to meet, to let the day to warm up some, and put-in close to 1:30 (once a loaner PFD for yours truly had been procured). Thanks to Mark and co. for making that happen!

The 2.5 mile stretch to West Hartford was bathed in sunshine with a moderate, steady tailwind. The ravages of tropical storm Irene are still evident in many places along the banks, but not much in the riverbed itself. This is in contrast to the upper White, where many parts of the riverbed AND its banks bear no resemblance whatsoever to pre-8/28/2011.

We played to our hearts' content at the 8 or 10 low ledges that make the Lower White popular throughout the summer months, and no one got into any trouble. We stopped on a sandy beach to stretch our legs at one point and eat hors d'oeuvres (thanks, Heidi). At the take-out Mark shared his wife's macaroons with us all. I would paddle again with this bunch, any time! Paddling time: 2:45. Daytime high: 51 degrees.