It has been a terrible fall for kayaking up in New England. All of the rain that normally falls over the course of a few months decided to fall over a few hours, devastating Vermont and NH and making for a horrible kayaking season.
The Dewey Mills dam on the Ottaquechee during Irene
Moosefest was fun as always. The high water dished out some serious carnage on the “Bottom” section, and I got to run the whole Independence River for the first time. Pretty cool run…it’s no Moose though. Some nice, cold rain kept us hoping that the Oswegatchie would come up, but no dice, it just made us cold and miserable instead.
Greg Sokol coming down the Independence slide
Ellen Ludlow snapped a photo of one of my many laps off Agers
Over Thanksgiving, we finally got some rain, which translated into snow in Vermont… So I packed up my car with boat, skis, and dog and drove south for the holiday. I skied a quick lap at Pico in Vermont on the way home and spent the next two days boating in Southern New England. On Thanksgiving Day, Jeff Sharpe, Greg Sokol, Alden Bird, and I rallied to the Popolopen Creek, a little-known class V gem that is genuinely only 45 minutes from New York City. Rumor has it Eric Nies used to come up here and solo this run a lot while in med school years ago. Water was on the lower side, but as always, the run was great and we all made it back home in time for traditional Thanksgiving dinners…at 1pm.
Greg Sokol paddling down the Popolopen gorge. Every now and then you hear explosions from the military training base upstream
Thankfully, despite there being no water in New England this fall, I live in Lebanon, NH just a six minute walk from the Mascoma River and a short stretch called “Downtown Hair.” Some people don’t like this run: “There are too many shopping carts to dodge,” or “I just don’t feel like being stabbed with rebar today.” But those folks just don’t know the smooth lines down it…really, Downtown Hair is a class IV/V quarter mile that keeps me sharp through Falls like this one. And, when I’m walking 6 minutes from my house to go kayaking, I can’t complain.
Me, boofing the big hole of the run around 800cfs. Photo Brian Seitz
Alex Toth getting a huge stern ender in our miniature, rebar filled Golf Course. Photo Seitz
Anyway, while I wouldn’t say “no” to another rain storm or two, I am really hoping winter begins in earnest up here soon. Till next year…
IR Team Member: Nick Gottlieb
