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Written by Fritz Senftleber

Category: Trip Reports

Published: 19 May 2002

Hits: 7022

Organizer(s): Fritz Senftleber

Date: 2002-05-19

Kayakers (K1): John Wolfe, Ira ?

Canoers (OC1): Fritz Senftleber, Ray Ingram

Predominantly: Intermediate WW

Water Level: Medium

This whole paddling thing is in the attitude. When you dump ,more times than you can count, you need a good attitude.

New boat, nice people, almost to much water and away we went. Ira showed up last minute and asked for a tag along and ride back, no problem. After his first roll, we all felt a little better. Later we were not sure if he wasn't aiming for the rocks though. It was the verical pin that he shifted through and recoverd that made us all realize, he has attitude. Ray I was up to his flawless paddling tricks, The best part with ray is the ear to ear grin, and his willing ness to share some of those tricks, all attitude. John W, tried to keep up with my dump record, not quite! Nice endo! Great attitude!

We all had a ball. Warm, fun and if you haven't been able to tell loads of good attitudes on the Lower Mad.

Thanks for putting up with me!

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Written by Robert Marshall

Category: Trip Reports

Published: 14 May 2002

Hits: 6889

Organizer(s): John Wolfe

Date: 2002-05-14

Kayakers (K1): Bob Marshall,John Wolfe

Predominantly: Advanced WW

Water Level: Medium

We put in the creek at 5:15 pm. The water had started to go down but there was still plenty for fun. We put in at the 3rd bridge that crosses Ridley. The brook is boulder choked with no clear lines. No good eddies were visible. Our 1st chance we got to stop and regroup was 200yd down stream. Johns 1st statement was "Wow Bob, Wow". This was nonstop aggressive steep creeking from top to bottom. We walked only 1 small drop that lead into an undercut ledge. We took out at the Marshall road. There are 2 drops just belowe the bridge that we both ran clean. This only comes up a couple of times a year. We were lucky enough to catch it.

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Written by Eric Bishop

Category: Trip Reports

Published: 18 May 2002

Hits: 62

Organizer(s): Eric Bishop

Date: 2002-05-18

Canoers (OC1): Randy Allen, Tony Shaw , Eric Bishop

Predominantly: Int-adv WW

Water Level: Medium low

Randy Allen suggested we check out Joe's Brook, which flows out of Joe's Pond in W. Danville, and, despite the name, is a small river. It falls about 1000' between Joe's Pond and the Passumpsic River, a distance of about 10 miles.

It was snowing when we put on, after doing a little road and foot scouting. We paddled from the power station, at the bottom of Power Station Rd., just outside W. Danville village, and took out at the closed off Greenbanks Hollow (covered) Bridge. This stretch of 4 miles or so had lots of continous class 2, a bit of just drifting and more class 3 to 3+ ledge drops than we could count. We spent a fair amount of time scouting drops but they were all runnable.

The section from Greenbanks Hollow Br. to Joe's Brook Rd. appeared to be considerably steeper and more difficult and we left it for another (warmer) day. Instead we drove around it, put in where the river flowed under Joe's Brook Rd. and paddled another 2 1/2 miles to Joe's Brook Hill Rd. This stretch was continous class 2, 2+ with many class 3 ledge drops and a class 3+ gorge just above a quickwater float to the take out.

From what we could see there was more class 2 (at least) in the remaining mile or so to the Passumpsic. The weather was bad but this could be the best day of paddling I have ever had. This river is special and at higher water would be a tremendous challenge.

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Written by Faith Knapp

Category: Trip Reports

Published: 11 May 2002

Hits: 49

Organizer(s): Faith Knapp

Date: 2002-05-11

Kayakers (K1): Rick Covill, Jamie Dolan, Mike Henry

Canoers (OC1): Randy Allen, Paul Berry, Nancy Gero, Bruce Healey, John Jenkins, Faith Knapp, Tony Shaw

Predominantly: Intermediate WW

Water Level: Medium low

Primary Realtime USGS Gauge Site: below Carver Falls dam

Primary Realtime USGS Gauge Flow (cfs), e.g. '797': 150

On a very fine day in May, a group of us decided to go to the Poultney River and run the section from Fair Haven to Carver Falls Dam. Faith, Nancy and John had a wonderful time running this river last June and had great memories of the trip. Only trouble is, John loved telling the stories, and every time he described the slide (which is quite long) it got longer! Well, this time he came armed with his daughter's video camera to prove to those doubting Thomases that such a slide does exist.

We put in near the Vermont Welcome Center and off we went. Just under the Route 4 bridge and about 75 feet downstream, we all got out on the left, careful to stay below the high water mark, to scout the first rapid. Landowners in the area have had some pretty unpleasant experiences with boaters in the past.

A considerable drop with a few rocks showing their faces was our intro the the river. John had his camera ready and got some good movies.

The second drop was the memorable "slide". Only one way down and we all felt that as we reached the bottom we were doing 90 MPH. A couple of us caught the eddy on river (no...slide) left. Others went all the way to the end, and a few perched atop a couple of rocks on slide right. This area could have some incredible dynamics at higher levels with the ledge and rock formations that are there. Some carried up for repeat performances. A short run and strong party permitted more play time -- and several of the drops were run repeatedly.

There are about 8 ledge drops with play areas in this 4 1/2 mi. stretch. We found an island and enjoyed a leisurely lunch in the sun. Soon we came upon the waterfall that does not look particularly nice. Last year Faith and Eric had an interesting swim. Nancy described it as a washing machine seeing arms and legs going in all directions. Not this year! All who ran it did so successfully! John has proof on the video camera. After this drop, there is a short rapid which narrows into a short blind chute. Then for a relaxing paddle to the dam and time to reminisce about the day.

When we decided to paddle this river, we hoped for water and made the decision based on the amount of rain that had fallen in the area the previous couple of days. There is a gauge near Fair Haven as the USGS site describes it. However, last year when we ran it, the gauge was ~ 300 cfs. This year was higher, but the online gauge read ~ 150 cfs. So this is not a reliable indicator of the water level.

With smiles on our faces, we discussed our next adventure on the Poultney. The take out is at Carver Falls Dam, where there is a sign showing the way to the caves nearby. Maybe next time we'll finish with a hike to the caves.