Details

Written by Brock Richardson

Category: Trip Reports

Published: 16 October 2015

Hits: 8929

Organizer(s): Army corp of engineers

Date: 2015-10-10

Kayakers (K1): Brock R, Jamie D, Kyle H, Jim P also seen Ben S, Catharine HS, Jordan V, Sarah C,Max M

Deck Canoers (C1): Tony Shaw

Other Personal Watercraft: Eric B

Predominantly: Intermediate WW

Water Level: Medium

Jim and Dawn snuggled in their camper at Jamaica State Park awoke to what they assumed was Armageddon but was actually only Jamie and Kyle announcing their arrival at the ungodly early hour of 8AM demanding coffee.  I arrived at the much more polite and civilised hour of 8:15 and was offered a much needed coffee by Dawn and we got ready to paddle.

We hit the shuttle around 9 and saw Eric and Tony pull into the lot. the star of our show Kyle Hibbard waited at the bridge while Jim Jamie and I hiked up.  We knocked off the rust on our run down to meet Kyle.  This was Kyles first solid class III run and he styled it. Jamie showed him the lines and with the exception of one quick perfect roll it was a great run.

The next run kyle wanted to wait at the bridge again but I convinced him to head up with the old "you'll be fine" line. I was just hoping for someone other then me to swim but unfortunately he again had a perfect run. we ran into Sarah C and she led Kyle through the dumplings while Jamie shot pictures. 

We ran into and saw many VPCers on our 4 runs. All were without incident except for one, what some in our group called a swim, but I prefer "walk in the water" as I never technically swam.  Saw a lot of smiles and had a ball. It was great to see so many friends out having a blast. It was especially fun to share the day with Kyle who rocked his first West trip.

Brock

Details

Written by Michael Mainer

Category: Trip Reports

Published: 23 September 2015

Hits: 16318

Organizer(s): Northern branch of the jet stream

Date: 2015-08-15

End Date: 2015-08-16

Kayakers (K1): Scott, Clay, Mike, Tom, Becca, Alex, Luke, Graham, Carleton

Predominantly: Advanced WW

Water Level: Medium

Painted Gauge Height (ft) e.g. '3.3': 3.5

Primary Realtime USGS Gauge Site: Quebec WW

Primary Realtime USGS Gauge Flow (cfs), e.g. '797': 700

What a great weekend. Sure we could have gone to the Valin and got some sweet GoPro footage for our blogs, or the Malbaie for a Facebook profile waterfall picture. Or the Taureau for something to boast about later in the summer. But instead we went paddling for the right reasons and went up to have some good reasonable fun on the Neilson at a nice level with a great crew.

It's always funny how a group can grow like that. On Wednesday it looked like it was just going to be Clay, Scott, myself and a mountain bike for shuttle... but on Thursday Carleton and Graham announced they'd be meeting us up there. On Friday Tom and Becca said they'd make it, and Friday afternoon each group had added Luke and Alex, respectively. Great folks to boat with.

The Neilson is about four hours from Burlington, so it's not too hard to make it up there before midnight or so on a Friday. The entrance fee is $10 per vehicle, and with a recently refreshed knowledge of French letters & numbers getting our day pass went smoothly. As Graham said, "They know a lot more English then they let on". The rest of the group showed up Saturday morning and and after making some healthy egg ham & cheese burritos we dropped a car at the lowest takeout, ready for the full 9-mile run. Shuttle is maybe 30 minutes each way and gains a surprising amount of elevation... reminding you that while the Neilson is not a steep run, it's got good gradient pretty much the whole way. On the water we found a nice warm sunny medium level and dove right on into the great, juicy class IV boulder gardens that start after a half mile or so. I love this part of the run, when things are just getting started and you know that beyond that front grab loop you've got 9 miles of great boating. With four folks that hadn't been there, it was even better since I knew they had no idea about that!

It's a great addictive habit: we would get to a horizon line, usually choked with big granite boulders. Remembering a little from previous runs and with a little boat scouting, we worked your way through it, hopefully scoring a sweet boof or two, and ended up in a pool at the bottom where we regrouped and then turned around to see the same thing downstream. I think there are probably 30-40 of these, none of it gnarly but it's all good, active paddling. Eventually, once we'd lost track of how many rapids we had run and didn't care how many lay before us, an abrupt change occured - the valley suddenly opened up, the rapids turned to bedrock and the imposing form of the Gros Bonnet appeared over the treetops. So there are another handful of fun rapids here before the road drops back down to the river, which is the end of the Neilson A section.

The Neilson B section is interesting. It's sort of like a continuation of the A section, if not a bit lower quality, yet there are three big drops that are much larger than anything on the A, and probably larger than anything in Vermont. The pothole drop finally went after I decided I hadn't swum yet this year. The powerful bottom hole pushed me through upside down, no swim required and others had clean lines. The drops down here are sizeable and juicy and like Scott said, "It feels like something from Mark Trail". The pink granite cliffs rise from the river before giving way to the thick green woods, then fold back to reveal the massive, western-sized stern gray south face of the Gros Bonnet. Two miles of shallow but fast class III lead to the takeout bridge.

Like any classic river, there's decent camping right up by the put-in. Alex had scored us a site at Lac Picard with enough space for a dozen boaters.  It's scenic country up there, not totally spectacular but with lots of craggy smallish mountains, reflecting lakes and orange sunsets.  Alex also brought a lot of marinated steak and as usual Graham was generous with his snacks and beer and so we passed a pleasant, mellow evening up here. Surprisingly, the black flies weren't bad at all, allowing me to sleep outside without a tent, listening to unknown creatures conduct surreptitious activities off in the woods.

We did the Neilson A again on Sunday. There were a surprising amount of locals out boating there as well. Eager for an early return we didn't go for the B section. This had us on the road by 2 and back in Burlington before 7, which is pretty good for a weekend paddling in the Quebec wilds, especially on a river that's so high quality for 9 miles yet doesn't have a single mandatory portage, and that runs a lot in August.

And so that's how you're rewarded for paddling for the right reasons. Here's to many more great weekends in Quebec.

Details

Written by Jordan Vickers

Category: Trip Reports

Published: 23 September 2015

Hits: 13107

Organizer(s): Ben and Catharine

Date: 2015-07-16

End Date: 2015-09-19

Kayakers (K1): Too many to list

Tandem Kayakers (K2): Ben and Catharine

Rafters: some

Predominantly: Flatwater

Water Level: Medium

Estimated Flow (cfs), e.g. '600': 4800, 2400

                                                    Whitewater and a Wedding  

         Come one come all was the motto as paddlers flocked from all over the Northeast to paddle, party and show their support for Ben Schott and Catharine Hull.  Ben’s family has a camp about as close as you can get to the Kennebec River near the Forks Maine.   Arriving late Thursday night I missed the rehearsal dinner (and my free lobster!) but made it to the after party in time to meet everyone and enjoy the lakeside cabin.  Friday morning came all too soon and it was the couples desire to paddle their favorite stretch of whitewater (Kennebec Gorge) on the day of their nuptials.  After a delayed start and hiking down a giant pontoon raft (for a friend of Ben’s) we were on the river several hours before the ceremony.  Whitewater does what it always seems to do and takes your distractions away.   We paddled the gorge down to the first takeout surfing, laughing and just having an all-around blast.  When we got off the river it was go time.   Food was eaten, hair was done, bow ties were attempted to be tied and somehow everyone made it where they were supposed to on time.  The wedding went off without a hitch, well maybe one (pun intended)  and soon everyone was socializing, playing lawn games, overeating,  drinking and reconnecting with what seemed like more and more paddlers crashing the wedding.  If you were lucky you even got to see Mike Mainer bust a move or two on the dance floor.  It was as graceful as you would imagine.   The party went on late into the night at the lakeside cabins and once again morning came all too soon.   

        Saturday we reconvened at Ben’s family camp where dozens of paddler’s cars littered the field.  It was quite remarkable how many paddlers showed up!  Shuttles began getting set and we were up at the put in in no time.  Many dressed up in costumes I believe Scott cross-dressed (looking all too comfortable with a women’s wig on), Graham was in a suit and there were many others.   Once on the river groups mixed and mingled all the while the newlyweds took the same Duo they used the day of their engagement for their maiden voyage as a married couple.  The words “Just Married” written on the bottom.   Champagne was had at the takeout and some made their way downstream for the full run, others went for a second lap and some went back to camp.  There were many shenanigans and jokes played on and off the river that day.  Drain plugs were opened, rolls were inhibited and I heard a few rocks were placed in someone’s boat at the takeout.   Overall it’s exactly what you would expect! That night the party shifted to camp where bonfires were built, fireworks went off and beers were drank.  Some made it far into the night; others had some much needed sleep.  Sunday most went back for two casual laps on the Kennebec and others made their long drive back to Vermont (and other parts of the northeast). 

Congratulations to the newlyweds on a great wedding and weekend of whitewater!  

Details

Written by Catharine Hull

Category: Trip Reports

Published: 22 September 2015

Hits: 6426

Organizer(s): Ben Schott

Date: 2015-09-17

End Date: 2015-09-22

Kayakers (K1): Ben Schott, Catharine Schott

Predominantly: Advanced WW

Water Level: Medium

Ben and I ventured forth to MD and then WV all on our own this fall.  We left VT on Thursday evening...I curled up in the back of the Volkswagen, sniffling, coughing, and generally feeling sorry for myself having just come down with a cold and come off three night shifts as Ben cheerily drove forth through the night.  After 10 hours of sleeping for me, and 10 hours of driving for Ben we arrived in Friendsville MD.  Thankfully the water for the Upper Yough doesn't turn on until 10 AM and takes 2-3 hours to reach the put in for the river, so there was time to catch a few hours sleep for Ben and a few more for me before chugging some Dayquil (me) and some beers (Ben) and putting on the river. 

The water for the Yough was a gentle fall level of about 2 feet, and the warm water and 75 day made it hard not to smile.  There was a feeling of generalized chaos as what seemed like a million kayakers and commercial as well as private rafts bombed down the tight lines.  Aside from the one rapid I ran on my head and getting a little too friendly with the hole at National Falls, it was (thankfully) a fairly uneventful run. 

We got off the river late in the afternoon, and started making our way south to Summersville WV.  We got pulled into the giddy energy of Gauleyfest as we approached the grounds.  There were hundreds of cars with boats on them and hundreds of grubby looking paddling folks of all ages.  After a brief chat with Bob Nasdor (who was volunteering with the parking crew) about current affairs in NE boating we made our way into the fest.  We connected with a Kayaking buddy of ours from Texas and a couple of his friends (yes, there is apparently WW in Texas, and quite possibly even 6 kayakers who live there). 

Saturday was an amazing day on the Upper Gauley.  I had never run this section in my own boat, Ben vaguely remembered the lines for some of the rapids, and our small crew of Texans had no idea what was going on.  There was a lot of boat scouting, eddy hopping, and hoping.  Thankfully there were literally hundreds of other boaters on the river...If you wern't sure of where to go you could sit at the top of the rapid and watch how others fared (or failed) and choose your line from there.  

We did opt to scout/watch the carnage/heckle/take a nap at Pillow Rock for an hour or so, and scout Iron Ring.  We all survived the Gauley without major incident, and after hiking our boats about a 1/2 mile straight uphill to get to the car at the takeout we made our way back to the festival grounds and the party that awaited. 

Ben and I spent 2 hours on Saturday evening volunteering at the back gate, selling bracelets.  We discovered a great perk to the "no glass" rule at the fest...you get to drink the beers that you confiscate. 

The Texas crew took off Sunday AM to begin their long trek home, and we headed back to the Gauley for more fun.  This time, we got to paddle with a UVM student/friend of ours from Georgia as she took her virgin run down, and I got to try out a new to me Pink Karma that I had bought the night before.  Although the release level was the same as the previous day, the rapids seemed significantly smaller and more manageable now that we had a better idea of where not to be on the river. 

We discovered an amazing Mexican restaurant in Summersville that evening and then made our way back north to Friendsville for Yough round #2. 

Monday was significantly less crowded on the Yough...The bright sun finally got overtaken by clouds and rain and I found myself thinking longingly of my drysuit that was in California getting repaired.  Ben and I spent a low key day paddling with just the two of us.  Ben took advantage of this time to give me some much needed pointers, and I was able to relax enough to play around and hone my skills. 

After such a great 4 day weekend, we dragged our feet getting back to Vermont, and finally arrived home on Tuesday AM, feeling accomplished and tired.