Details

Written by Ryan McCall

Category: Trip Reports

Published: 13 November 2012

Hits: 186

Organizer(s): Ryan and Paul

Date: 2012-09-29

Kayakers (K1): Paul C, Jamie D, Jim P, Chris W, Justin W, Rob Church, Silas, Ryan M

Predominantly: Intermediate WW

Water Level: Medium

Primary Realtime USGS Gauge Site: Jamica

Primary Realtime USGS Gauge Flow (cfs), e.g. '797': 2000

And they said it would be a light turnout because of manky weather.

The park officials said they sold 563 day passes - over 200 more than they had anticipated. Long live the West Release!!!!!!!

So Justin and I got moving by 5:30 from Montpelier that morning to get down to Jamaica in time for a front parking spot and so I could get back up to the entry gate and start passing out trash bags for volunteers to snag garbage along the their way while floating down the river....it wasn't but 10 days ealier that a pillar in the boating community and our very own Northeast Stewardship Director for American Whitewater had perished in a paddling accident on the upper Pemi. Alan Panebaker had planned to be at the West to organize a river clean up. But a higher power had other plans for him. To our north there was a memorial service along the banks of the New Haven in his memory...We were making our own peace with it by wrapping up some of his work with American Whitewater. Not much trash was collected but then that is good because this stretch of river is in a state park and there shouldn't be much trash along it.

After the bags were passed out, I joined the crew of VPC boaters and got out after it for a perfect day of three laps. Jamie was the photo boater for the day, I think Chris Weed played sweep most of the day. Jim Poulin was paddle retriever, Paul was boat chaser, Brock and Silas counted ALL of the fish in the river and I am pretty sure Justin enjoyed taking in the shit-show that seemed to take place on each lap....I sure has hell know I did. Here's the thing....There wasn't a single person in the group that couldn't tell you they didn't have a good time, worked on their boating, built a stronger bond between themselves and their paddling compadres......and were bummed when the day came to an end.

The West Fest (is it really a fest?) is such a fun time in such a beautiful setting that brings boaters from all over the northeast to our little slice of paradise in New England. I try to get to it every year, but don't....but it always amazes me when I get there that everyone looks familiar - young, old, new and experienced. Maybe they are familiar, maybe it is just a familiar expression that you see on fellow boaters, maybe it is a little bit of both. But I do know this - it is a shame that it is only a one day event and only once a year. We need to do something about that...

Long live West Fest!

Details

Written by Ryan McCall

Category: Trip Reports

Published: 13 November 2012

Hits: 52

Organizer(s): Ryan

Date: 2012-11-12

Kayakers (K1): John A, Brock R., Jamie D, AJ S, Hugh P, Catharine, George, Will, John B, Sarah, Win T, Justin W, Ryan M

Deck Canoers (C1): Alden B

Other Personal Watercraft: Dan S

Predominantly: Nov-int WW

Water Level: Low boatable

Estimated Flow (cfs), e.g. '600': 225

Primary Realtime USGS Gauge Flow (cfs), e.g. '797': 225

Yup there is yet another section of river in VT that has the potential for a reliable recreational release. With the recent removal of a defunct mill dam the stretch of the Winooski through the town has been on my short list to hit up with a release from GMP.

Last week looking ahead at the weather, the upcoming holiday (VETS Day) and a possibility to pull some boaters out of the woodwork it seemed a grand idea to pull together a mid afternoon outing for some boating.

First thing first, make sure we had flow - Call GMP and ask for a release of Max generation (not quite max but it lubed up the rocks and river bed enough to get down it.)

Next - Dial up the weather man and ask for a 70 degree day in the middle of November....Check

Third - send out emails to anyone I though may be interested in hopping on a new stretch of river that would appeal to a whole raft of paddling levels.....and post to message board.

BINGO - all three came together.....flow, weather and folks. For the first run we put in at the power house up Rt 215 toward Cabot. It is a nice access and a pretty float down through the country side to the top end of Marshfield village where the first ledge awaits. With approximately 15 boaters all waiting in the pool above the ledge it was a testiment to the need for this resorce to be more available. We had an age range from early 20s to early 60s and a skill range from one of the best boaters in the country (actually the top seed on the USA Wildwater Team) to a rank beginner in a kayak that can barely hit his roll on a good day in a warm pool (yea that probably includes me too).

With a few of the more seasoned vets leading the way the group started to eddy hop from drop, ledge and eddy to the next. It was fun and even a little bit crowded....but here is the thing - there wasn't a single person not smiling, laughing, or really enjoying being part of a new release on a "new" run.

Most folks hiked back up for a second run and a few of us banged down a third run. To be honest - if the flow had held up I'd have gone back up for lap 4, 5 and 6. The walk up through town is short and easy and if we get a true 300 CFS release I really think this stretch will show its true colors as a fun test piece for beginners and a nice spot for experienced boaters to work on improving their moves and skills.

Hopes for the future of this run are we can get a regular release with about an extra 100 cfs, maybe work with the town to set up some slalom gates for practice and who knows........just maybe we'll get a few more people interested in the sport of whitewater paddling...........

Details

Written by Ryan McCall

Category: Trip Reports

Published: 13 November 2012

Hits: 496

Organizer(s): Ryan and Dave

Date: 2012-10-20

Kayakers (K1): Dave P, Scott G, Chris I, Noah P, Simone O, Clay M, Andy, Ryan M

Predominantly: Advanced WW

Water Level: Medium

Yea - another NBW report from Ryan....sorry folks, but this one includes a Gihon report, a broken boat, a swim by the author (no comments needed), two NBW virgins and a Gihon Virgin......Sound more interesting now?

Ok - as the texts and emails are buzzing about through cyber space the Friday nigh prior, I was working the Montpelier Ski Swap getting things set up for their big annual sale. Yea - I am a planner and knew that if I worked and helped with set up that night, I could do the presale after set up was over and then wouldn't have to deal with the insanity on Saturday Morning.......and miss out on BOATING!!!! It also meant I had first dibs on boots for my little 7 year old ripper.... Anyways I got home and looked at the message boards and checked emails to find it oddly quiet. Huh - no one interested in getting out for some fall boating???? The next morning I awoke to a phone call that my daughters soccer practice was cancelled because the fields were under water. YEA OH YEA - gotta run the trash to the dump - I'll swing by the gauge and check what the NBW reading says....4 and rising. Time to take matters into my own hands here. I started sending out texts to folks around 7:30. Dave was first to respond and said lets get after it. A little while later I received the boating community woke up and I think I received 15 emails asking what the NBW level was..... Yup - by 10:30 we had a solid crew of boaters at the NBW put in, several of us with multiple runs on the river, a couple with only one run and couldn't remember the lines and two virgins.....this is going to be fun!

Those that don't know the NBW it builds with amplitude from a magical float through riffles and small ledges in a tight valley high up on Route 12 in Elmore and ends with some of the cleanest biggest waterfall drops in succession on any river I can think of - anyone, Bueller, Bueller...... So it can either lull you in to a relaxed state before you start into the meat, or maybe it brakes down some of the nerves you are dealing with at the put in with anticipation for what some folks (definitely not me) over hype as one of the primo runs in VT.

Noah and Andy had never been down this run and Chris hadn't been on it in years so it was really fun to watch them style the early drops as they progression built up. Through Broken Falls and The Squeeze Box before the first real drop, the group was really taking everything in. Clay didn't hesitate to bang out the first drop and be in the pool to film. I snagged the eddy above and pulled Andy and Noah in so they could see the line. Ultimately everyone ran a clean line - Scott tossed the biggest boof off of the flake of the group. Next up Manky Mank - It is just a messy pain in the tukkus when you have to run the first ledge on the right. But there is a really fun boof off the left side of the second ledge. That leads to the right hand bend in the river where folks that are portaging Big Bouncy get out and carry....sometimes. Everyone decided to eddy hop down to the top ledges above the meat of Big Bouncy and then get a look at it. Again, Clay fired up the line right off. Most veryone walked along river right. Chris, myself and Andy were on river left. Chris decided to walk, I was undecided and Andy was confided he was going to fire it up. I knew I'd make a call once I ran the first two ledges and was above the main drop....Yea - I knew the line, was successful the last time and decided to peal out up high and run for the left side of the prow and ride it out...just don't get too rowdy on the lead in boof. Before I knew it I was at the lip and was out and on my down the slide b-i-g and b-o-u-n-c-y. Andy was next and got rowdy on his boof but it worked out well. Through the tunnel and off to flat falls - everyone got their boof and we moved on down to the Wall Slide. Stay left, but not too far left. I think Noah was on the wall. Simone was a smidge to far right but no one went for a hole ride! Next up - Double Drop. Everyone fired it up with varying degrees of style. Ingram made it look like it was his back yard run with a HUJASS boof and clean run out though. Following DD, we came to Cave Falls. We all ran the slide - it is just way too fun and the hole at the base of the falls looked really hunger that morning. The Last Drop....With everyone looking from different positions and at different lines, I was confident on running the river left line down into the deeper portion of the pool. The lead in slide to the vertical falls didn't look lubed up enough for my liking. Down the middle line Clay went first, Scott next, then Simone, finally Dave....OUCH - Dave's feet of fury drove a crushing blow to the hull of his boat as the stern of the Mystic caught the ledge at the base of the falls his hull smacked down on the non-areated water at the base of the falls and his heel Kung-fu'd straight through his hull....BUMMER - but it was funny watching Dave fred-flintstone his way over to shore to drain his boat and try to get back over to the left shore. I knew there was no way I was going to run the middle. Chris and I discussed again the line and off we went. One, Two and we were bobbing in the pool at the base of the Last Drop. Noah was up next and somewhat hesitant on the line...he was going dancing that night down in Saratoga Springs and didn't want to miss that with an injury...BS! get back up there and run it. He FIRED IT UP - being a smidge too far right on the left line results in being catapulted sideways off of the current and into space. It was an awesome boof and he came up smiles. Andy proceded to fire the middle line and clear the ledge. Big hoots all around for the crew. A fantastic run on the NBW in late Fall.

Some of the crew had obligations and needed to get back home. We lost Chris and Scott the Hardwick boys and Noah beaming ear to ear like the cheshire cat was off to Saratoga to get down...

Now where and what do we do... Head north was the suggestion - check the Gihon on our way through to the NBL. If the Gihon looked good but droping then we would run it as it holds water better than the NBL. We got to Johnson and the Gihon was at a great level...The call was made - Gihon it would be. Andy would get his Virgin run on the Gihon as well and the hype was on about the first drop down the face of the Dam. Pshaw - the dam is an amusement park ride - just drop in 3 feet off the left side of the center pier and you are fine. Yea - that is the old location....it is more like 1 foot of the left side of the center pier. Needless to say he watched me get munched on and swim (yea that stinking dam got me again) out of the backwash and self rescue my boat and gear - I had to be the first lemming over the drop and I wasn't wearing a dry suit, only dry pants and a top so I was soaked!!! Everone else ran it cleanly and we were on our way to the first set of ledges above Balls to the Wall. Great succession of drops. The next drop has a couple of lines the left of the top boulder being the regular route. Today there was enough water that the right line where the water piles up along the all and then accelerates you over a ledge seemed like a good idea to me and I was in an eddy set up for that line. I watched Clay and Simone run the regular left line and it looked like a ton of fun so I ferried back left and ran that line instead.........HOLY SHIT it was a good thing...there was a channel wide hemlock spanning the right channel that would have been sure fire disaster for anyone running that line. Luck of the draw I changed my mind and didn't run over there. No one else did either.... After this drop there is a couple of small slides that lead to the beast, MUSTANG. It looked a little messy with some wood in the run in and then the hole in the gorge at the bottom was pulling back up river. We all seal launched in below it and ran down through the flat water to Bed Head. Simone, Clay and Dave ran it with varying lines. We also at this point caught the kids from UVM and Rogan ran Bed Head with a solid boof over the hole on the second drop. Eldorado was next and a much make ferry to catch the right line was a struggle to make at today's flow, but the left line wasn't in the cards for our group so we all pulled to make the right slide and down. Good and clean. Up next was Spinich....all ran different lines and everyone cleaned it even one with a kombat roll in the middle of it. Pin Cushion - new line for me. Instead of far left I ran just left of the rooster tail - Smooth. FInally was Power house. Everyone ran the meat on the left - I went for the boof on the right. Alls good........Sunshine....I still don't know the line here and pitoned the crap out of it at the bottome but was spent so didn't care - hiked back to the car and called it a day......

AWESOME - lots of vertical, one broken boat, two rivers and two boaters had their cherries popped on the NBW and GIhon...

Yea - VT Creeking.

Go get some

Details

Written by A J Seibel

Category: Trip Reports

Published: 20 September 2012

Hits: 85

Organizer(s): Exxon Mobil

Date: 2012-09-19

Kayakers (K1): AJ Seibel, Brandon Alling, Brad C., Jim C

Predominantly: Advanced WW

Water Level: Medium

Painted Gauge Height (ft) e.g. '3.3': 2.40

I was dancing in my truck driving home Tuesday evening, listening to the steady patter of rain on my windsheild. The forecast was calling for 1-2" of rain overnight - which meant options were going to be wide open for boating in the North Country the next day. After a dry summer, it seems extra special to be back in a boat.

I woke early, checking rainfall totals across the region, and river gauges via USGS - only to be shocked and generally disappointed. The rain didn't deliver in my neck of the woods, and the river gauges firmly agreed. Time to gas up the car and head somewhere... I got a call from Brad that he'd be boating in the Gorham/Berlin NH area, and that water levels looked good. After seeing that the Upper Moose was too low, and that Joe's Brook somehow avoided nearly all the rainfall, the decision was set and we were off. Brandon and I knew we'd miss the first runs on a nearby creek, and decided to drive a little north of Berlin to see if the Upper Ammonoosuc was running. It was not.

Brad called at just about that time and let us know the first run was low. Frustration began to set in. There was water everywhere, but we couldn't seem to find it! We linked up at the Great Glen Trails at the base of Mount Washington to head into Pinkham Notch and check out the Ellis River. The gauge was at 2.4'. Perfect, we were told, for the harder upper section of the run (dubbed "Crazy Rapids" in Lessel's book). I will 100% agree with that naming! We put on and immediately eddied out to check out the first drop. a 10' chunky waterfall into a nice pool. This was my first portage of the day as I wasn't feeling it, and didn't want to possibly swim out into the sticky ledge-holes just downstream. Everyone else ran clean and we were off. The next drop is a 3' spill into a cross-current hole which spills over a 5' drop with a hole looking meanest on the right. I dropped into this one cautiously and was pushed a little too far to the left, with my left paddle blade finding a nice slot of air to attempt a boof. Needless to say I plugged, but floated away upright and smiling. The next drop is a twisting slot that paddles cleaner than it looks, but I elected to boof this one from high ground, putting back in just below. By now we were into the flow and grooving through the boogie water, with Brad and Jim showing us excellent lines to follow behind. There's some sweet boofs and combinations to be had through this stretch. Overall very fun. The lower levels we were paddling at were a perfect intro level to this steep section of NH boulder garden and bedrock.

Heading downstream we picked our way through the boulders, and I kept thinking of how long I'd looked at this run and never thought I'd have the skill to get down it. My, how time and practice changes that! The other notable rapids on this run were a 3' auto-boof to a 6' spout into a manky, clogged up runout. Then a great class V sloshing gorge with what can only be described as a "single track" line through the upper chute, then off a sideways waterfall at the bottom. For me, another portage! Brad and Jim cleaned it. The last was another slot/gorge sort of rapid with a great curler/pillow boof halfway through the rapid. Super sweet. The river immediately mellows out at this point, and we took out at the Route 16 Bridge in Pinkham Notch. I hear there's more downstream, and will be excited to check it out in the future.

Google Earth tells me this run averages 216' per mile for the 1.77 miles we paddled. I call google earth a liar! The pool drop nature of many of the drops makes them feel much MUCH steeper. I was pretty sure this was the steepest river I'd paddled to date, but I suppose it's all relative in the end.

Paddle safe, boof hard, and be well! When it rains again, anyone want to look for some paddling a little CLOSER? We'll see!