Details

Written by Ryan McCall

Category: Trip Reports

Published: 25 October 2006

Hits: 28

Organizer(s): Ryan M

Date: 2006-10-21

Kayakers (K1): Ben, Ty and Ryan

Predominantly: Advanced WW

Water Level: Medium low

Primary Realtime USGS Gauge Site: Wrightsville Res.

Primary Realtime USGS Gauge Flow (cfs), e.g. '797': 785

Home-field advantage (Huh?)....

So the fall rain gods decided to bless us with some quality flow. Very nice of them to time it for a weekend. Anyways, as I was out and about Friday running errands it was pretty obvious flows were going to shape up to be big for Saturday AM. The post board and phones started that evening to set plans for Saturday. With everything going off on the Large-Marge side of things a safe bet was that the NBW was going to be at a really nice level. An early am visual in Putnamville told true that it was on the highside of runable. A few other folks were headed to Joe's looking to avoid overly high flows on the usual suspects (NH, Gihon, NBL and the NBW). I almost joined them...Lucky for me and a couple of other folks we didn't because we got to run the NBW at a fun level (well maybe a little low).

Calls came in from Ben and Ty around 8am or so to start setting up plans. I told them that the NBW was pretty high if it was going to be their first time on it, but there was the options of Martin's, Minister, and Hancock to paddle as the NBW dropped out. We all met at my house in Monty-P (the Home-field advantage) around 10:00 am and headed up to the North Branch Winooski watershed. We took a quick look at Martin's and it had dropped out like a rock to almost unrunable. This was a good sign that the NBW was probably dropping to a moderate level for the guys to bang down it on their virgin run.

A quick scout of the last falls showed that it had dropped off since 530am in the morning but was still at a good level. Off we went for Ben and Ty to have a look at the other roadside drops. Everyone was game to set shuttle and give it a go!!!!

As we put in we were all feeling a little rusty as it has been a couple of months for me and close to that for the other guys since they have been in their boats. Long enough for Ben that an angry spider has taken up residence in his boat. A quick exit and extrication of the bity bugger and we are off around the bend to the first couple of cursory drops before the first major double drop. Fun easy boofs and slides to warm up and eddy hop. As we come up on the first drop we take a quick scout and we all bounce down and boof cleanly. The scenery and closed in gorge in the early section really lights up the guys.

There are a handful of more smallish drops and rapids leading up to the next substantial drop. This one is pretty straight forward down the right side. It sounds ugly as you slide down the tongue and totally slambang off a ledge (autoboof) to go airborne into the pool at the bottom. Actually a very easy drop though. At this point I notice that the water is pretty low and that we are lucky to have gotten on the river when we did. There are some convoluted drops between this drop and the next major one, "the big juicy slide". These little jumbled drops really wreak havoc and present pinning potential at the low level the river is at.

"Here's Johnny"...the big juicy slide. At the level it was on Saturday the run-in is a good III+/IV with one last-chance eddy to bang into to get some composure before dropping in. Saturday provided only one quasi-clean line and Ben was hell-bent to do it. Both Ty and I walked...A little more water makes for a much softer ride. Ben made it to the eddy at the top and then dug deep and went over the top slightly to the left, but far enough to the left that he pitoned pretty hard 1/2 way down into a flake off the left wall. He stayed upright and finished the drop with a grimace on his face. A quick self inspection and he was ready to head on down stream to the next series of drops.

Under the culvert and around a couple of bends and we come to an 8ft drop. At this level the landing area is pretty shallow and smallish to say the least. Not helping matters is that where you would normally take off from the drop is an obstruction so you have to slow down considerably and sneak in behind it to hit the desired line. Ty went first and banged his way down....I have not mentioned this but he was paddling in an oldschool playboat - a big one at that (Wavesport X), but a playboat on a very steep creek. The guy is pretty solid to say the least....So he banged down the drop and paddled on out from it. I was next and got hung up at the edge of the drop and penciled in to the bottom pitoning in for a good jar to the lumbar region. UGH. Ben tried a different approach and banged down it too. The next drop is a slideish left to right spout thingy...the trick is to stay as far to the left as you can and ride it out. Too far right with the wrong angle and you end up back under the curtain and in the recirc. Ben must have felt like he was in a washing machine because he went around 5 times in his boat then another 2 times out of his boat and his boat rode around 6-7 more times on its own. Directly below this is the Double Drop. Ty was down with it, I again felt that there wasn't enough water to run it smoothly and my back was still tender from the above mentioned drop. Ben was regaining his composure to give it a go. Ty hit it with a full head of steam and boofed the top drop onto the pillow 1/2 way down and then slid it out and went deep at the bottom....very clean. Ben - not so clean. He didn't boof and pitoned off the first drop and flipped completing the remainder of the drop (15 feet) inverted (upside down) into the pool at the bottom, thus rolling up very shook up. Ouch. No worries though we have it on film!!!!!

The next little bit is boogy water ranging from lazy to class III. Beautiful none the less. We come to the second to the last drop. This is beautiful drop into a gorged out section with a 5 foot slide at the bottom. The initial drop is close to 12 feet and the bottom has a pretty strong backwash. We all opted to run it in from the right side and boof the last 7 feet. All cleanly done. The slide is a little sticky at the bottom, but easy enough.

More easy water and then the last falls. There were two clean lines running - one along the left wall and the other down the slide in the middle and off into space - make sure to boof!!!! We all decided to bag it. Ben had been worked enough for the day, Ty was cold and me being the old man decided not to push my luck and risk another bad landing on my back......To be honest we were all pretty damn cold at the time too. So we carried up and out and called it a day.

As with every time I'm up in that watershed on the NBW its self or one of its tributaries, boating on my "home-field" is always the best for me. We had the river to ourselves and really got to take it in. What a great day had by all.

Details

Written by Cheryl Robinson

Category: Trip Reports

Published: 01 August 2006

Hits: 26

Organizer(s): Cheryl

Date: 2006-07-08

Kayakers (K1): Si, Cheryl, Max, Randel, John, Julie, Eric, Mark, Derrick and Bob

Other Personal Watercraft: Tina

Predominantly: Intermediate WW

Water Level: Medium

Primary Realtime USGS Gauge Height (ft), e.g. '2.96': 4.7

What a perfect day!!

We couldn't have asked for more the sun was shining, the water level was good (4.7) and we had a great group of kayakers...12 to be precise.

The Indian was releasing more than usual due to the recent rains. Si and Max effortlessly ran the Otter slide. The rest of us mere mortals opted out of the potential hole trashing and watched in admiration as Si and Max made it look like a class 2 rapid.

The Indian was fun, really fun. It was a foamy white mass of water. The play was plentiful and we wished it would never end.

After the Indian the group divided in two. The rafters were jumping off the large rock in the flat section and Eric decided to join them...in his kayak.

We stopped for lunch, bathed in sun filled our bellies with all sorts of goodies..particular chocolate MM's for me. We played at the wave first before heading down stream.

The rapids were fun, I never remember all there names in the correct order. I just know on the right day (Hot and Sunny) and the right level the Hudson is a beautiful fun paddle.

One of the last major rapids saw some carnage....I won't name names...because one of the swims was totally unnecessary and we laughed at him for doing so. Especially since he took a rescue from a raft...a raft that's shameful!!

The rest of the river is a just a picturesque paddle out to Greyhound hole. I refuse to play here after learning the hard way it is very shallow. Si and a few of the other showed us how it was done and happily played among the millions of rafts vying for the same spot.

The perfect day ended perfectly, beers and yummy food at Casey's North

Pictures can be found at http://community.webshots.com/album/552222141AqeHmD

Details

Written by Cheryl Robinson

Category: Trip Reports

Published: 02 October 2006

Hits: 40

Organizer(s): Cheryl Robinson

Date: 2006-06-30

End Date: 2006-07-04

Kayakers (K1): Simon, Max, John G, Jim P, Dawn, Mark, MaryAnne, Michael, Doug, Carrie, Lou, Lisa, Cheryl,

Predominantly: Int-adv WW

Water Level: Medium

Usually when anything involves a part two, it is never as good as the first.

The part Deux paddle party threw that in the fire and set it alight then burned for three days keeping all the paddlers warm.

This year saw an extended weekend with four days of wet and wild action.

The idea of paddling Friday was thrown quickly away en route when my companions found our large stash of beer.

We made the perfect camp and warned off any unsuspecting people who thought our far away campsite would bring them peace and quiet..."SORRY NO do you realize what party this is!!"

I think the last participants arrived some time after 2pm...but come sunlight everyone was raring to go. Except Si and Me, we had more important things to do like watch the world cup semi finals England V's Portugal...enough said on that subject...I can't believe we missed paddling for that pitiful attempt.

Jim a fellow Ottawa veteran, kindly offered in our absence to lead Lisa, and Ottawa Newbies Lou and Mark to their doom. Which he did exactly on the first rapid. Silly Jim led them like a line of baby lambs bleating for their Mothers into the White Thrashing jaws of Phil's hole. On looking at the pictures I wasn't entirely sure what line they had chosen, it looked like a "threading the needle but changing their mind and running the tongue"... It almost silenced the lambs. Thankfully they all escaped bar one in their boats. Did I hear Lou old skool enjoyed it that much he tried to go in again!!

From what I heard the rest of the run was less eventful but lots of fun... Lou and Mark came back with the hugest grins on their faces.

They celebrated with a few beers...then a few more beers. So Si and I headed out alone for the afternoon run.

We approached Phil's with a little apprehension, In all the times I have been to the Ottawa I have not once been trashed in Phil's. I hoped today the river Gods again would be in my favor. We decided to thread the needle and we were almost clear when I clipped the corner of Phil's. It was like trying to get the bike up the mountain but you just roll back. I was lucky I was upright and surfing, I managed to look around and see the tongue I tried to surf across but the boat was stuck like super glue. So I tried to dig my nose in...I had seen Simon and Max surf in here and they never stayed in. But I just rolled up still surfing, after a few different attempts, I flipped and pulled the deck...so that's what being in a washing Machine feels like!!

Si's comment was " I realized that I needed to put a spurt on, then I realized that if I did you did...but it was too late...you were in there a bloody long time" My reply "yeah I don't why Max and You can't stay in it, it's easy"

We played around at the various play spots in particular at 1.5ft Farmer blacks is excellent...Cartwheel galore!!

By the time we arrived back a fresh supply of beer had arrived...from somewhere in Quebec...not sure where and I am not sure the beer runners Mark and Lou know either!!

At the campfire that Night Dawn gave us a fantastic rendition of I feel the earth move...

Meanwhile Lou and Lisa began making eyes at each other!! Although I think Lisa's eyes at Lou were more in disbelief that he kept peeing behind (on) his tent and doing some fairly serious tree hugging.

The rest of our party arrived, Johnny G, Max, Doug and Carrie.

Sun: Up bright and Early again...this time we opt for no thrashings at Phil's by taking the route through the middle of Phil's. While this may seem the most utterly crazy thing to do, The line is actually much easier than threading the needle. But someone forgot to tell Lisa!! While we all cleaned Phil's Lisa remained at the top. I guess Phil was in competition with Lou for Lisa's attention... Phil won hands down and once again forcefully dominated Lisa taking her for a second beating.

So we had a few old skoolers with us today, not only Lou but Jim and Johnny G were in old skool squirt boats... it was hilarious to watch them jointly surf baby face.. Old skool definitely ruled the wave.

The next major excitement was Brain douche... I think we stayed there for an hour... Giggle, my god I giggled so much I nearly inhaled water. I discovered bow stalling in to a whirlpool then flipping over sends you spinning in fast circles.. but you can't roll until you have stopped spinning.

Lou and the Old skoolers were fantastic to watch. Pulling of every old skool move possible. You guys rock!!

We returned back to camp for the afternoon nap!! The 2nd most essential thing on a boating trip after Beer!!

Two trips were made in the afternoon one Main run and another Middle run. While the main run was uneventful. Dawn really enjoyed her first trip down the Ottawa. She did really well I think this was only Dawn's 3rd river!! WELL DONE.

That night we partied...of course after another beer run as stocks had run low AGAIN!! What do you mean it sounds like a alcoholics meeting...nah we only went through four or five cases of beer... a night!!

Mon. We decided to have an easy day and take all the beginners down the middle again. Poor Carrie, She did amazingly well for someone is petrified of paddling. Dawn again did very well. But learnt a hard lesson...don't follow Johnny G... bad man took the wrong line and caused Dawn to swim...Bad man!!

We stopped at the lunch spot hole and Max and Simon taught me how to cartwheel...they make it look effortless even without paddles. I tried with paddles and with hand paddles.. I got very tired quickly!!

Max and Simon Ran Garvin's the only class V on the Main and Middle Channel. Boy did they make it look easy!!

We get back to Camp rather late and convince a semi drunk Lou that it is a good Idea to come out paddling from Garb down

Lou and Me somehow get lost and end up bush whacking to the top of Garb...I am just glad I didn't see any of the snakes that usually frequent around there.

Garb is one of my favorite playspots and definitely one of my favorite rapids. While it was a little too high to play there it was still fun trying to surf the foam pile that was forming. We spent hours at each of the play spots including another fav farmer blacks. I got tired so headed back... The sun was setting and it was a little cloudy and a Thunder and Lightening storm could be seen in the distance to top of a Rainbow had Formed in the sky it was one of my most serene paddling moments.

This was followed by an early evening dip in the hot tub with beers... what was that black thing that kept popping in and out of people's legs!!

We partied hard again, but this night was different we had fireworks and live Music. Dawn Sang while Johnny Strummed the guitar, Michael (Mark and Maryanne's son) played the percussion instruments. Jim and Lou drummed out some cool beats. I think it was one of the beat campfire parties I have been too.

Plus the funniest...I have to mention that before the campfire was lit, Lou did make a good job of pretending to be a fire dancer!! Then doing some tango with the broken tent structure!!

I just have mention Michael a very mature kid...he did a fantastic with the fireworks, who has been totally scarred for life by our party antics and isn't even a paddler.. but as already signed up him and his parents for next years party.

He also was totally scarred by some other paddlers who he witnessed blatantly having sex on a blow up couch as he was about to ask to borrow their air pump now know as the "sex pump" for his inner tube so he would have something to do while we went boating!!

Tues: We headed to the Gatineau. It rained hard all the way there, we still decided we would put on. As we started to get ready the biggest thunder storm started to come our way.. ME I am totally frightened by Lightening. After waiting an hour for it to GO AWAY!! We were about to put on when Lightening struck the opposite bank. Refusing to put on I left my kayak and refused to get out of the car. I later find out that Max and Johnny felt the static from the strike on their legs!! ARGGHH.

So the Guys put on with the Thunder and lightening following them like a puppy Rotweiler!!

They came back amazed by the river they had a great time...but I had no regrets despite the stories.

The weekend was sadly coming to an end and we decide to convoy back to Montreal. We stopped for some hard earned poutine.

We said our goodbyes there, knowing we wouldn't be stopping until home...no-one mentioned they didn't know the way through Montreal or as they were entering Montreal they were low on Gas... So far to say Si, Me and Lou got home Okay. It isn't our fault you don't know what the flashing gas light warns you of DOH!!... Just because two of you run out of gas in Montreal it isn't my fault...it was dark, the traffic was bad I couldn't see you...Honest!!

P.S as a side note all paddlers who attending are now fully recovered following a stint at the Betty Ford Clinic (rehab).

Oh and Lou and Lisa can be found paddling hand in hand on many of the VT rivers..

Pictures can be found at http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/552216672bgvXSy

Details

Written by Ryan McCall

Category: Trip Reports

Published: 24 July 2006

Hits: 28

Organizer(s): Ryan

Date: 2006-07-15

Kayakers (K1): Ryan M, Paul S

Predominantly: Int-adv WW

Water Level: Low boatable

Primary Realtime USGS Gauge Site: The \"El Salto\" Falls

Primary Realtime USGS Gauge Flow (cfs), e.g. '797': 195

There was some left-over flow from a hard rain a couple of nights prior. This time of year you get what you can take and both Paul and I were jonesing to get on the water w/o making an entire day out of road triping it. The Wells seemed the likely suspect since it is boatable to pretty low flow levels. I have been on it now twice below 200 cfs and probably won't make the trip over there to do it a third time below 200cfs. Although, when you are jonesing....you are jonesing.

So the first drop, Brett's Mom, was a simple straight forward bounce along a green finger to the run out. Simple stuff and a fair warning for how low the river is going to playout.

The second drop, Sweetness, at the level it was running opened up two lines....a scrapy slide to the runout on river right or the slingshot edge of a hole to a boof move. It took both Paul and I several attempts to run it smoothly although all the variations on the line worked none the less too. After some photo ops at Sweetness we headed down stream to Labrynth. Looks a little different at low water and more like a natural slalom course if you take care not to pinball down it. The last hole is a wee bit sticky though if you run into it...Right Paul?

Next is Cafe Yo Boof. We bothched that the first time too sliding down the right side to avoid the tree on river left. Hiking back up we both pulled decent lines the second time though at the boof spot.

On to El Salto falls...Pauly ran it on the right flake again and got pushed into the seam and penciled in pretty deep and corked back up backwards, surfed out and was grinning ear to ear....I think there was a wiseman (Will Bucossi) that once said Kayaking is 90% luck, 5% skill and 5% steel cajones. How right he is and how much luck and cajones Paul brings to the table (river) everytime I paddle with him blows me away! Needless to say, I walked the falls (not enought water to make a clean go of it).

Elevator was pretty much a boulder garden at the low level and that brought us to Tantra - the last drop on the river. What a great drop with a great options to run it. Paul steped up and decided to hammer out the seam on the right line. He had something against seems that day because I think he ran everyone of them on the river. He piced it clean and banked off the pillow at the bottom to avoid both holes in the runout....I decided to peel left into the eddy and then blast down the slide throught the hole at the bottom...Got a little too close to the wall and scrubbed some speed and almost god sucked in the hole at the bottom of the slide but didn't. Eddied out above the bottome hole and then surfed over to river right to finish out the run. Well worth the drive over and was a great day to be on the river.