Author: Bill

Chile Trip 2024

Over the summer Alex and Hannah asked if I wanted to do a trip to Chile in November. I told them I was definitely interested, and after some deliberation I joined their trip. I’d be there for the week before Thanksgiving. I hadn’t been to Chile before and was excited to finally be making a trip down. It ended up being a choice since we ended up in a drought in late September. Without releases and no natural flow, the trip would end up being the majority of the paddling I’d get in the end of the year.

Day 0: Travel

I started out early in the morning with a 7:45 Acela out of Back Bay. The Dunkin there was overrun after I placed my order. They were really slow that day and I was afraid that I’d have to abandon my food. Luckily it came before I had to go, but took longer than wanted. The ride to Penn Station nice and the train wasn’t full. I like to pick the side of the train that goes along the ocean, but today it meant the sun was constantly in my eyes. Once at Penn, I headed to the new food hall in Moynihan Train Hall. They had a great area to sit surrounded by restaurants. I got some ramen, but was disappointed that the pickle themed restaurant didn’t sell individual pickles.

Once I had finished my ramen, I decided it was time to head over to JFK. Better to wait at the airport I thought. Got lucky and the LIRR to Jamaica was boarding with a departure in one minute. I jumped on and took it to the AirTrain. Overall the experience was very smooth. Then it was time to check my bags. When I showed up at the Latam bag check I initially though they weren’t open. It looked like they had no people processing bags and there was a long line. Eventually I decided to go to one of the self-service kiosks that was turned on, but after I printed my boarding pass and bag tags a dude ushered me back into the line. Apparently they were slowly letting groups of 10 or so out of the line to go and check their bags at a self serve with 2-3 people taking the checked bags. This was disappointing and felt poorly managed and understaffed.

Once through that I had to find the TSA PreCheck area, which turned out to be hidden off to the right. I was happy that this line was short. Now I had hours ahead of myself to relax and wait for both Alex and Hannah, and our flight. First I went to an interesting looking bar in a food area. But I was disappointed to discover the cocktail I had ordered was $25. Since drinks seemed to be too expensive at JFK I went and found a place with some nice chairs to read until Alex and Hannah got there. Once they found me, we wandered over to the area where our gate was and had a few drinks before boarding.

The process was fairly smooth, and it’s been a while since I last flew on an airline that let you reserve seats. I mostly travel southwest. For both our flights from JFK to Santiago to Temuco I reserved the spot next to Alex and Hannah. This was a great choice. It let us chat and we didn’t have to worry about randos wanting to use the bathroom. I knew that international flights had food and drinks served, but Latam did seem to be a step above the previous ones I’d been on. I had trouble falling asleep and unfortunately they served breakfast at three in the morning. Had they not, I might have gotten some proper rest. Once we landed in Santiago, we had to go and retrieve our bags and head through customs. It was going smooth but the customs guy didn’t speak English. This lead to a panic when we realized he wanted the address of where we were going. It was good there was free wifi at the airport. Once this was sorted, it was through a parking lot and across the street to the other terminal to check our bags and get the flight to Temuco.

We landed in Temuco about mid afternoon. This definitely was the smallest airport I’d flown into. There was a short period of worry where Alex thought the airline had lost both his bag and the paddle bag. We were waiting by the baggage carousal and Hannah wandered off. I asked if either of them would like some coffee, but since Hannah wasn’t there decided to wait. A minute later she wandered back with both Alex’s bag and the paddles. Apparently they had both went to a different area for oversized bags.

Day 1: Rio Liucura

We went out front of the airport to wait for Jon to pick us up. He is the owner of Patagonia Paddle Institute. We started getting concerned since he wasn’t there. Eventually we got some wifi and were able to get a message to him. There was an accident on the road and he had been sitting in traffic. Relieved, we waited until we saw what was obviously a boating vehicle. Jon drove us from Temuco down to his property on the outskirts of Pucon. The drive was enjoyable, especially once we got to Villarica and drove along the lake. When we got to his property we unloaded and did a little settling in. He had a great spot up the hill. There was a nice view of the mountains and the building we had rented out was impressive. This was definitely the way to do a trip down to Chile. We hadn’t even seen the rivers yet and were already stoked from the initial impression.

While we were tired, we all felt that we would like to get in some boating on our first day here. Even if it was short and easy. Jon said we should head out to the Liucura, a class 2 – 3 run. He took us up to a a newer put in used by locals. Chile had enacted a law that all rivers needed some form of access for boating or fishing. In recent history they also started enforcing it and fining land owners who weren’t allowing people to the river. The new access point wasn’t under any sort of contention, just not particularly well known.

The river was a decent size and felt to have a big water feel to it. I had requested a Dagger Code, but have never paddled one. This would be my testing time to see if it would be the boat to replace my now deceased Phantom. The rapids weren’t particularly challenging but definitely had a big water feel to them. I was a twitchy and a bit on edge in the new boat. The river was moving flat water with rapids appearing every once and a while. It was nothing too challenging, but it was nice having Jon show the lines when we were tired. Eventually we came to a road bridge with a takeout on the left below an old swinging bridge. This brought our first short day of paddling to a close.

We headed back to base to unwind and have our first Asado. An Asado is a style of cooking meats over a fire. It would take a bit until it would be ready and I wasn’t sure I could make it. While waiting we had Pisco sours, which Alex assured would help provide a little more energy. Somehow this drink, pre-mixed and all, helped rejuvenate me. After one or two, I no longer felt like I need to just pass out. On the menu tonight were sausages, then steak once it was ready. We spent the evening in a Pavilion on the property chatting, drinking, and eating meat. What a way to start the trip.

Day 2: Rio Trancura

We for breakfast still a little tired. Marta, Jon’s wife, prepared us an excellent breakfast of yogurt, granola, and fruits. There were also eggs, bread, and cheese to go along with it. Still looking for a bit of a warm up day we decided on the Rio Trancura, both the upper and lower sections. After breakfast we prepared some burritos / wraps with the left overs from the night before. Then we made our short drive out to the put in for the Upper Trancura. This was a small dirt pull off on the side of the road with some parking space. Jon told us that they used to us a put in on the other side, but a raft guide messed up and lost a couple of fingers while lowering a raft. So the state closed that put in and forced everyone to use this put in for safety purposes.

I still wasn’t used to the Code, so I was happy today would be and easier / more chill day. I needed some time to acclimate to both the boat and the water. There were a couple of warm up drops interspersed between the flat but moving water. After a bit, we came to a horizon line and got out river left. We scouted the first big drop on the Trancura and I set up to take some photos. I had been warned at breakfast to bring my camera. This was one of the well know rapids that people usually get photos at. The river is aligned so that you have the volcano in the background of the drop. I tried my best to get photos of everyone as we were running the river left line instead of the normal line. This puts the volcano and subject at opposite sides of the photo.

A little further down we found ourselves at the big rapid on the Upper Trancura. We got out river left in an eddy to both scout and decide if we were going to portage the rapid. The entrance did not look too difficult, but you could seen that it was building up to something bigger. Jon described the line, and we walked further in to get a better view of the next part of the rapid. When I got there, I knew I didn’t like it. The line was to punch into a diagonal hole and let it kick you right, only to work back to the left. The hole looked meatier than I wanted. This is where I decided that I wasn’t running this rapid. We walked further down to see the rest and it turned out that everyone else was going to walk. So we carried around the big rapid and had our lunch at the beach for the portage put in. I was now very happy we made some lunch this morning. I usually don’t bring a lunch, only a small snack.

Once everyone had been rested and satiated we continued on. The rapids were bigger, but not as big as either of the two previous ones. They had what appeared to be some good boofs. Not all were taken by Jon. I didn’t want to go for any on my own as I didn’t know this river. I also was missing a bunch of them when he did go for them. I was not yet used to the boat or the rivers down in Chile. Eventually we made it to a bigger rapid that lead to a road bridge. There was a nice fan boof below the bridge at the bottom, but I missed it. The bridge signified the end of the upper section and the beginning of the lower. Also below the bridge was a painted visual gauge. We were just barely at the bottom of the green section of the pained rock. That’s the start of the good levels supposedly. Alex had told us that when he was here last, it was significantly lower. I was really surprised that the bottom of green (runnable) was somehow high compared to when he last did it.

From here down we had a few rapids until we got to Pescador. As the river picks up some gradient, it turns sharply to the right. There’s a large rock outcropping on the left where you can scout from. We caught an eddy a couple up from the rocks to go and scout. It turned out the line below the horizon was not that bad. Enter center right moving slightly right. As you get into the rapid, punch the wave/hole and start boogieing left to avoid the big munchy hole at the bottom. Overall, not that hard a move. We all ran it without issue, but I cut left too soon and got spun around mid rapid.

After this there were a couple more big rapids. There were big holes and waves, and the general style was river running. Once we had gone through these, we joined up with the Liucura and followed the same path as the day before to the take out. It was then back to base to hang out for the evening. Tonight the beverage to accompany dinner was the Pisco Cola. As it sounds, this is Pisco mixed with Coca Cola. The night was good and many Picso Colas were had.

Day 3: Rio Palguin [upper]

Woke up today feeling a little off and was concerned that I may have caught the cold that Hannah has. Also had a few too many the night before and had a slight hangover. We were heading to the Upper Palguin and I was hoping all the water I was drinking would kick in by the time we got over there.

Unfortunately I still was feeling a bit off, even after the hike in. The first drop didn’t seem too bad. There’s a busy entrance where you start center and work to the left. When you get to the first part of the drop you are aiming to be boofing on the left side. Then you continue down the left as close to the wall as you can and boof off the second stage of the drop. I followed Jon through and everything went smoothly, but I would have liked it if I had gone off the second drop a little better. I didn’t quite get the boof and my bow was pointed down more than I wanted. Alex didn’t get the line, penciled in, and went deep. He had his paddle ripped from him and swam. While we were collecting, I decided that I was not feeling it and would hike out. The hike out was rough. While mostly the same as the hike in, from the first drop you take a steeper trail for a bit.

Eventually Alex and Jon came back to the car, they weren’t feeling it either and walked out too. So we headed back to base and on the way stopped and got some Suerox, a special hydrating drink to help with the hangovers. Some naps were taken, and once people were properly rested we went in the hot tub while waiting for dinner. For dinner we first had a mussel soup and clams, and for the main course Chilean Sea Bass and fries.

Day 4: Rio Puesco [lower]

Started off the day feeling better, but also more sick. I was definitely getting congested, so took one of the decongestants that Hannah had got. As everyone was feeling a little low energy the day before, the decision had been made to go to the lower Section of the Rio Puesco. This section is a continuous class 3 boulder garden a little more than a mile long.

We headed out and so far this run was the furthest away that we have done. The drive out there was pretty as you follow the Trancura up into the mountains. As you go further up the scenery changes as you get into a valley. Jon informed us that the whole thing is actually the Trancura. The Puesco is a creek that meets up with another to form the Trancura.

We put on and the run starts out pretty much right away. There are plenty of boofs strewn about, as well as boulders to dodge. The first rapid of note is a sort of slide down the left, but its decently blended in. A little bit further and you catch an eddy on the left and set up for a ledge boof on the right. After some more boogie you come to the last bigger rapid. Again you set up from an eddy on the left. Then as the river curves left you enter center and drive left with the curve to avoid a curler in the middle. After some more boogie you come to the end of the run where they run slalom races.

We headed up and did a second lap and after finishing stopped for lunch which was salmon burgers. I’ve never had these before, didn’t even know you could get them. Once finished it was time for a third lap. On this one the energy levels were definitely fading. Lines were getting sloppy. Alex and I did a run down from the slalom ramp with Oscar before we went up to load up the car. Afterwards we walked up a hill to go and buy some lettuce. While there we had some snacks and mate, which really helped with the energy.

On the drive back we stopped at Lunatica for dinner. This was a small cerveceria along the river. To get to it you had to cross a swinging bridge. We ordered some pizza and beers and then went down to the tables by the river. It was a great spot to sit and watch the sunset. The selection of beers wasn’t large and I made sure to sample it all. I enjoyed all of them. I’d definitely recommend stopping there.

Day 5: Rio Palguin [todo]

It was time to go back and try round two on the Palguin. We had all rested up enough and were feeling better about the run. So today we were going to be doing a todo Palguin, both the upper an lower sections. For this we were accessing the river from the other side than the first time we went to the Palguin. It turned out to be a significantly shorter and a bit easier of a hike.

The water was a little bit lower than the first day we were there, but not significantly different. Since we hiked in from the other side, we were making use of a race start ramp to start our lap. Once all collected we headed down the first rapid. I had a slightly worse line then my first one. After I boofed the first ledge, I slowed down, almost to a stop, and had to dig a little to get going off the final stage. It all worked out, but it could have been smoother. Everyone had decent lines, and after collecting ourselves continued on. The second drop ended up being relatively straightforward. After a little lead in the river made a sharp left over a drop. We all boofed right and had good lines.

At the third and biggest drop we took the standard right side line. I did not have a good line, almost immediately transitioning to penciling in when running it. Everyone else had good lines. The fourth drop was an interesting slot move with vertical. As you dropped into it you had to hold your paddle above your head to not catch it on the walls. After a little boogie, we took out river left immediately above the waterfall that marks the start of the middle section. We hiked out to the car to drive down to the put in for the lower.

Once at the lower put in we hung out at the little beach and had lunch. After refueling and a little rest we put on. This section almost immediately had a different character than the upper. Where the upper was big drops, this was creeking. I much preferred this section and enjoyed its rapids. There were plenty of good creeky rapids before we got to the Three Dummies. We pulled off on the right to walk around the first two. When looking at them, the line looked nice and simple. But right below after a short moving pool was the third dummy, a ~10ft waterfall. Jon told us that many walk the first two, because if anything happens, all your gear is going over the third. After a seal launch in we set up and ran the third. Everyone had a good run and we continued downstream. After a little this brought us to our final portage around a big drop that had a dangerous cave.

Once back on the water we had a bit more to go before coming to our take out after a bridge where the river made a U shaped right turn. According to Jon, you can pay the guy who owns this land to use this access point. Its a nice spot with a good little beach and picnic tables. After relaxing and a few beers it was back to base. We had chicken and couscous out on the patio. With dinner we had a chilean drink, red wine with a bit of coke.

Day 6: Rio Maichin

There was a longer drive today, back in the same direction as the Puesco. We headed down the main road away from Pucon to Curarrehue. Once there we turned left and took a bridge to start heading up the valley with the Maichin. The dirt road kept winding up the steep valley, and there were plenty of good views along the way. It became obvious that the valley had become a deep canyon, especially once we took the bridge over it. After a bit, the road came back to the same level as the river and once it was near we put on.

The character of the Maichin was different than the other rivers that we had paddled. This was distinctly a creek. While it had a bit of a pool drop characteristic, there were rapids between the pools not drops. As we made our way in, I found that it reminded me a lot of southeast boating, but with some more water. In the canyon, the rapids were formed by large boulders strewn about.

As we made our way down into the gorge we came to the first rapid we would portage. The river constricted in a channel cut through bedrock. The line itself didn’t look bad, but it ended in boily water and an undercut wall. We portaged on river left and it was a sketchy walk as the rocks were worn smooth. We put back on and made our way further down. The gorge was beautiful with lush steep walls on both sides. The rapids would initially appear as a horizon line, but once you got to the horizon the view would open up and you could see most of the way down.

After we passed the very sketchy, non-functional, swinging bridge and a couple more rapids we came to our second portage. This portage was a bit longer than the first, but was an easier walk. While going around the rapid we were able to get a good look at it. The rock jumble that formed the rapid had a nice line through it, and formed three stages. Unfortunately, in the last stage there was a big log occupying the entire window for the line and blocking the boof out of the rapid. We put in on a small sliding channel far river left. I messed it up, ended up flipping, carping some rolls, and swam. I struggled to get out of the eddy I found myself in and needed Jon to rope me into the current. Eventually I made my way to a shallow point in the middle of the river and took a break before reuniting with my boat.

After a bit more we came to the final big rapid. Hannah and I took a look at it while Alex and Jon ran the line. It was a melt-down type move down the left side of the rapid. I didn’t care for it, as the water appeared to be heading towards what looked like an undercut. Hannah flipped over and all her gear washed right where I expected it to go. I started rushing over and couldn’t tell if Hannah was ok. I didn’t know that the spot wasn’t undercut and you wash past it. Hannah had popped up in the flow below it where I couldn’t see. Once that had been communicated to me, I got the gear out of the eddy it was in and then launched below the rapid.

From that point on the river calms down and eventually becomes more flat. But the scenery continues to impress. You eventually come to the road bridge you took on the drive in, now very far below it. The canyon continues for a while until opening up and you take out at a beach next to a cow field. At the beach we had some refreshments before heading out. There were Melvins, a wine based drink served out of a hollowed out melon and completos, which were salmon hot dogs with a bunch of accoutrements. For the evening we went into town to a restaurant and had the Chilean version of poutine.

Day 7: Rio Liucura [upper]

I woke up feeling like the cold may have been finally starting to clear up. While having breakfast we decided what to do for my last full day of paddling. Hannah was feeling like a rest day. Jon suggested the upper section of the Liucura as something that we haven’t done and could count as rest. Once ready we made the drive up the valley of the Liucura, seeing new scenery as most of the drives we had taken all followed the same route.

We headed down a dirt road and came to a wood plank car bridge that would be our put in. At this spot the river was flat but moving. While there wasn’t really whitewater in this area, the super clear water and pretty meandering stream were worth the trip out. Slowly we started getting some little class 2 rapids to break up the flat spots. The frequency and difficulty slowly increased and we eventually made it to the long rapid. This is a long continuous class 3 boulder garden. You could choose to just take the simple route and follow the most channelized area, or you could try to make it as interesting as you wanted. Throughout the rapid there were plenty of eddy catch, boof, or ferry moves. You could tell that with some extra water the rapids would become real interesting and the difficulty would increase.

After the long rapid, the flatwater breaks between rapids returned and the rapids slowly mellowed out. After around eight miles we came to a road bridge with a gauge that was our takeout. We had some empanadas and beer as a snack. What a great way to finish up a run. Even though the run was long, we still finished with a good amount of the afternoon left. It was back to base to lounge around until dinner.

For dinner Jon was preparing us another Asado, this time preparing some of the meat on a metal cooking sword. We started off with homemade Pisco Sours and a charcuterie board while Jon was getting the fire going. After an hour or two, the first course of sausages were ready. We sat in the pavilion and chatted while we waited for the main course. I managed to catch the cat, Curry, and he settled in for an extended stay. Because I wasn’t allowed to move I needed people to get me the thing that was being baked over the fire, I didn’t catch the name. After a while it was time for me to get up to stretch my legs and get another beer. Curry had been sitting in my lap at least an hour. I transplanted him to Hannah’s lap and he nestled in as if nothing had happened. Eventually the beef was ready. It was worth the wait. Jon had done a great job preparing it.

Day 8 & 9: Rio Trancura [lower] and Travel

I awoke a little earlier to pack up all my gear as today was the sad day I had to fly home. It didn’t take nearly as long as I had budgeted to collect all my stuff, but that gave me more time to hang out and chat. My flight was in the evening, which gave me the opportunity to get in a run before heading to the airport. The Lower Trancura was chosen as I needed a shorter run, but we put in further upstream so we could get a couple of the rapids of the Upper.

Today was the first day all trip that it had been anything other than sunny and warm. The sky was cloudy and there was intermittent rain. It had rained on and off through the night and you could tell on the river. The level was a little higher and rapids had more water to them and the mountains forming the valley were all shrouded in clouds. There were plenty of good boofs to be had and all needed to be sent as this was the last day. If Jon was taking an interesting line, it had to be followed. I once again moved left too soon on Pescador on the lower and got spun around. We finished up the run in about 45 minutes, so plenty of time to spare.

The relaxed schedule gave me time to take a shower before traveling home. More importantly, I could have one final meal down in Chile. Lunch was more empanadas. But the trip had to come to an end, and eventually it was time for Jon and Marta to drive me into town to get the shuttle to the airport. Both were coming as today was election day and they were voting after getting me to the shuttle. You are required to vote in Chile, or you get a fine. This was the second election day they had this year as no candidate for their governor got above 40% in the first round. This triggers a run-off between the top tow candidates. In a interesting twist, two of them had the same last name. Both got into the run-off. In Chile it’s illegal to tell someone who you voted for. So in the political shows when asked, people would give platitudes about voting for the guy who will make Chile better, or change it. However, it this election they would say they voted for LAST NAME, since you still can’t tell how they voted.

The shuttle to the airport was uneventful, but again at the airport Latam was doing something weird with check in. The bag drop desk didn’t open til 5:47 pm, so I had to sit around for an hour until I could give them my bag. That took longer than I thought, and once at the gate area I decided to get some wine to pass the 30-40 minutes before my flight boarded. But it felt like a mistake as somehow the plane seemed to board faster and the people at the cafe seemed to work slower. Not understanding the language added additional confusion.

I got on my flight from Temuco to Santiago to start the long plane trip home. At first it seemed like everything would be fine as the ticket had listed an hour and 50 minutes of layover time. But that seemed to not factor in customs at all. I got to customs with 20 minutes til boarding (9:45) and a massive line. I tried speaking to the customs dude at the entrance and his response was that there is one line. Time passed as I slowly snaked my way through. Soon my boarding time came and went. I was getting worried as it was now 10:15, and the plane takes off at 10:55, but the ticket doesn’t tell you when they close the door. I heard the people behind me getting worried that their flight starts boarding in 15 minutes. I commented to them that mine had started boarding a while ago. They suggested I ask people if I could go ahead of them as my plane was boarding. I found someone who would let me in. I wish I could send my thanks to the couple, I’m pretty sure its the only reason I made my plane. I sprinted to the plane and managed to get to the gate before it had closed, around 10:25. Another lady saw me running and decided it was a good idea too. We were both very relieved that we were on the plane.

The flight from Santiago to JFK was uneventful and I felt like I slept better on this one than the one out. Though I was starving the whole time, even with the meals, as I had no chance to grab a snack. Once I landed in JFK and collected my bags, I took the AirTrain and LIRR back to NYP for my Acela trip home. I had plenty of down time in Moynahan train hall. I wasn’t sure how long it would take to get my bags and make the trip over, so I have myself plenty of buffer. In the future I could get an earlier train out of Penn. The Acela back to Boston was mostly uneventful. Other than the people who kept talking in the quiet car. Sadly it didn’t get in to Back Bay quick enough and I missed the express outbound on the commuter line by a few minutes. Luckily, It was only about 10 minutes before the next came.

DWG / Catskill Spring Runoff

In march I had been watching the conditions in the Catskills and Delaware Water Gap to try to figure out when would be good to head up to get on some of the creeks. By chance things aligned so the Shohola Race would be on a weekend with good water and a time when my parents had been partially vaccinated. This meant I could both get some boating in and visit my family for the first time in over a year. As the weekend drew close it was looking good for the options other than Shohola.

Shohola Race

For a couple years I had been jealously watching people get on the Shohola in late winter / early spring. I felt this year was the time I’d finally get up there. So I got a couple people from down south (MD) to head up and meet me there for the race. My friend Chris would show us the lines. As I drove over Saturday morning I watched the temperature drop as I went further west on I-84. I found a sub freezing parking lot with some boaters when I got there and snow in the woods.

After cooling off in the lot we got ourselves together and headed over for our first lap. I wanted to get a couple laps in, and at least one or two before the race so I could decide if I’d participate. The putin reminded me a little bit of the Raquette, albeit friendlier. You start off in a pool below a dam above the first drop. From all the media I had seen this is clearly the most impressive drop on the run. You hug the right side of a boulder to catch the eddy above a big slide. The entrance isn’t terrible and the slide is more or less point and shoot. Just keep yourself upright and pointed downstream, as long as you enter in the right spot you’re good.

At the end of the slide you are placed into a big eddy that is the start of the gorge, as long as you catch it and don’t get slammed into the wall at the end of you run down. The first rapid in the gorge isn’t too bad but you definitely can feel that its a good class IV boogie run. Just make sure you stay on your game. It caught Andy by surprise and he got to discover how cold the water actually was. The run out of the rapid places you into another pool, introducing you to the general pool drop style of the run.

Things really pick up at the next rapid when you get to the bridge. You enter river left and when you to the second part all the water is pushing towards the river right wall which is undercut. In my attempt to avoid the wall I went so far right I accidentally caught the eddy on the left. Once I slid out of it backwards and negotiated the next drop I was in the pool below, looking up at a beautiful gorge. For the next rapid Chris mentioned that there’s a nice boof on the left, but you really need to commit. I entered this section a little lazily and decided on the boof last minute and got caught by the hole. Luckily I just got surfed to the left and dug myself out.

This brought us to the pool above the final rapid. This one cools down a little but there’s still a flake nestled in the froth that you want to make sure you hit correctly. You finish up in a lake and hike back up to the top on river right. It takes about the same amount of time to hike up as it does to do the paddle down. Chris and I jumped on a quick lap when we got back to the top before the race started. While I didn’t beater too bad on either of my laps, I wasn’t quite feeling racing. Instead I helped set safety and grabbed some photos of the racers.

Beer Kill

The following day I met up with Chris and some other boaters in the southern Catskills to get on an epic run, the Beer Kill. This creek has supplanted all others as my new favorite run. The shuttle is short, whitewater is prime, and you feel as if you are off on an adventure in the woods. When I pulled into the takeout I saw a class III creek with some nice flow, and it got better as we went further up stream (the little bit you could see). Up at the put in you find an awesome drop below a bridge and a nice pool to collect.

As we were getting ready to put on, one of the members of our group commented on how nice a day it was. A few minutes later the sky got grey and it started flurrying. A proper way to start a NY spring creeking trip. The drop under the bridge had a nice slide that ended with a great boof. You then had some mank before the pool. After this you had to get out river right to portage around a slot rapid that was badly undercut on both sides. The entrance back in was a nice little seal launch.

Shortly after you come upon Assmaster, a long and shallow slide, that if you don’t get the entrance correct your ass will feel it. The slide makes for an impressive rapid. If you’re feeling ballsy you can catch the small shallow eddy at the bottom left of it before the final drop. Below Assmaster you shortly have to get out to portage around Hanging Rock Falls. From the put to the portage, Beer Kill drops about 400 ft/mi. The entrance is nasty and has an undercut above the lip. The top drop or two looks like it may be runnable with the right level. But you’d quickly have to catch an eddy to avoid running the unrunnable portion of it.

After the portage you’re in a deep canyon with a real remote feel to it. The run has nice boogie in between the bigger drops. If one pays attention you’ll find some good boofs mixed in. You really find the quality class IV in this section. There are some great drops that offer plenty of fun. Eventually you come to a horizon line with some mist coming up that indicates you’re at Ignorance is Bliss. this is a manky 20 footer with an iffy looking landing. You run it on the left with a bit of right angle when you come off the drop. It slopes into the final drop where water from both sides folds together hiding where you’ll land. After Ignorance is a bit more boogie before one final rapid. Then it’s just class III until the takeout.

Rock Run

Things had been looking good to get in some nice kayaking. The drought had finally been broke. A storm or two hadn’t really delivered, but potentially primed some areas. Early in the week I checked the forecast, a good bit of rain was called for on Thursday. So I started on the quest to try to rally people. I threw out some options, spread about and some a bit esoteric. Recently I had been talking about Rock Run with Thomas, and I included it in my watch list as a long shot. There was initial interest in paddling on Saturday, so it looked like a crew would come together.

As the storm hit the rain missed the DC area. However, it was looking good elsewhere. On Friday reports came in that Rock Run was too high. This sounded good for Saturday so I made the call to head there. Unfortunately the distance to the run scared people away and the list of those interested shrunk. Tanya and Ken were in, so I had a minimal group. Eventually Tanya roped in Rhys, rounding out the crew. Since it would take sometime, an early morning meetup time was set.

I ended up getting to the park and ride a bit earlier than expected, but it worked well we got moving a bit quicker. This got us to the takeout a little past 11, giving us a bit of time to explore before Rhys met us. We saw some boaters drive by, and since the run was short and roadside, decided to follow and take a look. Got to the take and chatted with some of the other boaters there. Getting there took up most of half our time so we didn’t stay long. On the way down to get Rhys we saw some boaters taking out lower. They felt it was dropping fast and was getting too low to go down as far as they had. As we pulled into the lot in Ralston, Rhys drove up and we turned right around to go drop his car at the take out.

At the put in there were a couple small groups getting ready to put on. We chatted a bit trying to get some more beta as there is not much info available on the run. In the process we found Tanya to be infamous. Some there knew her from a run she did on the past Week of Rivers.

After a bit we had everything together and an started out on our run. The action kicks off pretty quickly as it’s quite channelized and narrow. There are some good tight creeky drops with flat pools interspersed between. Most are pretty straightforward slides, but have some sort of hole at the bottom of them. The gradient is decent as well. While the road is close by the run has a fairly remote feel. Most of the time you are in a decent gorge that hides any signs of civilization. After a little we came to a double ledge drop where the line was on the left and ended up leading to a boulder. I ran down first and found some mank at the bottom of the second drop by the boulder. Others found the mank as well. I tried getting people to move a bit more towards the center. Unfortunatly this lead Ken astray and he went too far to the center. He ended up getting worked in the top hole. It was very sticky and kept his boat after he bailed. During the recovery, the boaters from the putin past us.

Once we had collected, we moved on. The drops started getting bigger and we soon came to a horizon line with some spray. We had gotten to A-frame. Took out on the gravel beach on river left above it to scout. It was a good sloping 10 or so foot drop into a gorge with some tall walls. The water was mostly on the left with water crashing off the wall. Line was to enter on the tongue at the top and drive a little towards the right. While scouting we found that Tanya had forgotten to zip up her drysuit and had got some water in it as she had rolled earlier in the run. We had got there early enough to catch the group ahead of us portaging. Some of us were on the fence for running it. Rhys decided to. His line looked good, but he flipped at the bottom. When we heard from him that he hit his head, it decided it for the rest of us not to run it.

The portage for A-frame puts you in the pool right below it and drops you immediately into Corkscrew, a very tight twisting water slide. While there is not much water in the creek, it constricts a ton here. I did a seal launch down the sloping rock, but didn’t line it up well. Ended up not making it into the pool and was swept by the flow towards a rock. Had to make some corrective moves before entering the slide. This put me a bit further left at the top of it than I wanted and I dried out sightly. Luckily it didn’t through me off too much and I entered the next stage of the slide as I wanted. There’s an about 20-30 degree pour over, that you launch driving left. You want a to be going with a bit of left momentum as the water flows into an undercut. Made the move, completed the next stage, and joined Rhys in the eddy below. He compared the section with the s-turn rapid on the roadside section of the Alseseca in Mexico. While not as big or bad, it definitely does have a bit of similar feel. I tried to figure out a way to relay that people wanted to get more in the eddy, or miss the rock up top. But I couldn’t come up with any good way. Tanya and Ken each made their way down without issue.

We continued on with a bit of apprehension as we now had to watch out for Flook’s Nook, the next big thing on the table. From everything I could tell, it’s nasty and incredibly few have run it. The things I had read people at the takeout seemed to imply that it was pretty hard to miss. But I had found no photos or videos of the drop. Every youtube video I could find that had some part of it just showed people seal launching below it. Throughout the couple nice drops after A-frame I was on edge waiting for the next one to come. Eventually, we came upon it and it was as obvious as all had described. There was a nice pool above Flook’s Nook, a big rock shelf on the right, and a tiny notch to the left with mist coming up from it. As we slowly inched up to it, our suspicions were confirmed. Nicely at the level we were there, the eddy on the right at the foot of the rock shelf was friendly, shortening our portage. All of the flow entered a three foot wide channel on the far left, slamming into a nasty undercut. The choice to walk here was easy. Tanya and I sent the seal launch, which turned out to be pretty fun. This puts you in a pool before running a nice slide drop.

A few more nice drops and some more pools got us to the takeout. There was a nice surf wave at the end of the drop that places you in the takeout pool. The plan initially was to take out here and try to get in two laps. Tanya was feeling cold and was out, and Rhys was looking to get home at a reasonable hour. They decided to take out here and I passed on the keys so that they could run shuttle. While Ken and I felt like more boating, neither of us felt like doing a second lap with just two of us. From the drive up, and talking to people we knew there was a good drop just a little below this takeout. A recommendation was to just run this and walk back up. We decided that since the group was finishing up we would also continue on down to the town. The beta I had indicated that below that drop was mostly class 2-3ish.

We left our other half and the rapids quickly picked up. There was a nice slide or two with a bit of boulder garden action and we were placed in a smallish river right eddy. Gorge walls were on the right, but an acceptable shelf to get out and scout. We found a drop similarly stout as A-frame. While it didn’t look quite as bad, there was definitly the potential for some quality time in the hole at the bottom. It was another sloping drop and this time it had a horizontal hole forming as the shelf met the pool. Ken didn’t feel like running it he made is way to river left to make the portage and set safety. I took another look and decided that conservatism was better with a small group and made my way river left to Ken to portage as well.

Below this we found the creek slowing down. The gradient decreased and class 3 gave way to class 2. At the bottom of a nice class 3 drop we passed a small group of fishermen that had a fire made. It was nice to see others had come out to enjoy the good day. Though I’m not sure how good the fishing there was. This part of the run definitely needed a bit more water as the group earlier in the day had reported. As we got closer to town the pools would widen out and there was some scraping involved. The scenery though was top notch. While the quality of the rapids had dropped a bit, it was definitely still worth being on the water. We eventually came to an ok class 3 drop, but it ended in a strainer. Some closer inspection proved that portage was necessary. Shortly below this we came upon the cemetery that indicated we were upon the town. The creek widened out and and a sand bar or two with a big strainer in it. A quick look to the right showed a beach, and my car was at the end of the small road leading away from it.

Beaver River Rendezvous 2019

As some know, New York is one of my favorite places. Over the past few years I have discovered how good the whitewater is and have been making trips. It took a little, but after talking it up I finally convinced people to join me for Beaver River Rendezvous. Thomas had been convinced earlier, but due to uncontrollable circumstances couldn’t come last year. Peter also chimed in with interest. So I had managed to rally a crew. I was more surprised as I got closer, it grew. Ended up with Todd, David, Tanya, and Andy joining up. With some planning out of the way we then arranged to paddle the Bottom Moose on our way up on Friday. Tanya and Andy decided to get some playboating in and went up ahead of time to the Ottawa.

Bottom Moose

When Friday finally rolled around we all started our migration North. Peter and Thomas carpooled with me, so the trip was not as lonely as in previous years. We ended up being little behind Todd and David, and when we rolled into the put in they had made a friend who’d be joining us. There was a little apprehension with how much daylight we had left, but I felt confident we could get done with some light. Once shuttle was set we headed down to the water. Peter noticed the ramp and decided to run it. He gathered up some good speed, flew into the air, and landed flat. No one else was going to run it, but now they definitely wouldn’t.

Todd on Fowlersville Falls

We ran the standard line at Fowlersville and it well for most. Thomas managed to get hit in the nose with his paddle. Even though he has a full face it got right in the opening. I’d seen this happen to others there, you build up some speed and need to mind where you keep the paddle. At Funnel the lines were mixed. While we hopped down in a controlled manner, there were still some jitters left. We paddled on and got out to scout when we came to Knife’s Edge. While we had gotten a nice unexpected bump and the river was around 3.1ft, I was still not sure the boof line was in. After describing the standard line to everyone, we looked over the boof. Both our new friend and I agreed it looked a bit low to be running it. Ran up and demonstrated the standard S-turn line and waited below. The rapid was run without major issue, but we spent a bit longer than I’d have liked there.

At double drop, we just ran the left hand line to speed things up a little. This brought us the the portage and Agers. More time was lost while portaging, and light was starting to look a little scarce. The lead in to Agers seems intimidating, but it’s nice and clean. The drop definitely added to the stoke for the crew and we continued to boogie down. As light was getting limited, I made the decision not to scout Shurform. Told everyone the line, punch the guard wave, stay to the left, then headed down myself. Got a nice clean line and was followed closely by Thomas and Peter. Then both Todd and David got kicked into the center by the guard wave. Luckily all went well, but they had a mankier ride than needed. Powerline provided some fun, but it was darker still. As we got out to scout Crystal things got really dark. I pointed out the line, but did not have confidence I was able to convey where you should be. Thus we went and did the far right sneak all the way down and put in in the pool below. Admittedly it was disappointing to have missed the rapid. Just means everyone will have to come back for Moose Fest.

Raquette

On Saturday, we had breakfast then boogied over to Colton for the Raquette release. I wanted a bit of rest so decided we would all meet up at the put in at 11. This would be the main event for the weekend. The big run to start everything off, and I was leading six newbies down. Somehow while getting ready in the parking lot we acquired another, with a less than inspiring run. He was also new, had started a run, swam out of Colton Falls, and walked back up. We chatted with Alex and Graham, ran shuttle, then made our way down to the put in. The lead in rapid definitely intimated the group, but all ran it without problem.

This brought us the Colton Falls. I explained things, but it didn’t make sense to some, luckily some boaters came down. All had good lines and things started to click for the group. Then came some racers and there was confusion. Why wasn’t I taking us over there, it looks nicer. I explained everything, and headed up for my run. This would be my redemption for last year when I swam out of Colton Falls. Thomas and Peter decided to join. This made me feel better as there’d be someone to pick up the pieces. We all got to the mid point eddy without problem, then it was time for the slide. Cleared it and looked back up to catch Peter rolling up. Thomas came down and we collected. I got up on the rocks to grab photos of the rest of the group. It took them some time to start their run. Once they did, things started to go sideways up top. There were people drying out, and some less than stellar lines. I started questioning my decision to lead such a large group of first timers myself. However, they all got to the eddy and had good clean lines down the slide past the hole.

Tanya dropping into the bottom of Colton Falls

With everyone successfully down the hardest rapid of the run things should be easier from here. I forgot the name of the next two rapids, but they were of less consequence. Unfortunately, I also forgot the second was a nice big ledge with a sticky hole. It didn’t cause much trouble, but could have gone better. This brought us to the Narrows. With the river divided and a horizon line, I announced to the group that we were at a drop, and we would not be scouting it. I made sure everyone knew the line, down the right side of the left channel. Ride the shelf as long as you can and boof back in. The lack of scouting gave some a few nerves. I peeled out and started my run, nailed the line. Looked back to see Thomas nailing it.

Now we were coming upon Tubs, I announced it and the scouting location to the group. Some dropped down, and eddied out prematurely. I collected them and jumped out to scout. With everyone on the rock next to Tubs, I started explaining the line. The view from the main part of the rock isn’t great, so I went out onto the further extension of it and showed some the auto-boof flake that you are aiming for. We watched a few go down so people had an idea what a good line looks like. Then I headed up for my run so I could setup to get photos. As I finished getting in my boat I saw Stevie come down in a long boat for his race lap. I watched as he dropped in and saw Juan and Jon scurry off the scouting rock. As I was the only other person in a boat I hurried off, got a bit of a stern squirt on one of the lead in holes, then executed my line through Tubs without issue.

Upon arriving at bottom of the drop I caught Stevie carping his last roll and bailing. I hurried over to offer my tail to help him to shore, but he was still a bit winded. A rope came from shore, and I paddled back up to the spot I’d setup for photos. On Thomas’ run he messed up the first half of the drop and started getting worked in the tub. After a little working he flushed over the lip and down to the retentive pour over. Here he got lucky and landed in a decent spot, drifted away and rolled up. Tanya came down, made the first drop, but got too far left and hung up on the rock that divides the drop in two. She couldn’t make it into the eddy or down. Andy dropped down and Tanya got pushed down backwards into the pour over. Unfortunately, she didn’t have Thomas’ luck and ended up swimming out of it. Both were left a little shaken.

This brought us to the last big rapid, Particle Accelerator. I led everyone out onto the island to scout. As we watched people run it, Thomas needed some convincing. Andy did not make this easy. While we were discussing the rapid, he went up for his run. Somehow he managed to crash into the right hand wall, get deflected most of the way left, and flipped. I had been insisting that whatever you did, you didn’t want to end up left of the exploding rooster tail. Of course this is where Andy ended up, upside down. Luckily he washed through, but it did not help convince Thomas he should run it. After a bit more discussion, both Thomas and Tanya decided to run it. Thomas wanted to follow me down, so we both went to the top of the island and started our run. The entrance went fine, but as I got to the slide a wave got me and I started to go over. Threw in a quick corrective stroke to keep me upright, but the damage had been done. Landed at the bottom lined up with the sticky part of the hole and stopped. I didn’t have much time and as I was trying to work my way out, Thomas landed right on top of me. Luckily my PFD helped protect from the blow, as I took all of it to my good shoulder.

Chatted at the bottom of the drop a little with Graham about the race and waited for the rest to make their way down. Andy had hiked up for a redemption run and had no issues this time. As we got ready to move on I let the group know we were done and there was only boogie water left. This wasn’t great as I had forgotten entirely about 200 Proof. While not as difficult as the stuff that proceeds it, it’s still Class IV (though you might say that’s boogie water compared to everything before). People had let their guard down and Tanya got momentarily pinned at the top before flipping over. She rolled up at the bottom, but then went for a ride in an innocuous looking hole below it. She held on for a while, but after a good thrashing swam. After collecting her we came to the realization that there wouldn’t be a second lap, nor would I get in my race lap.

Beaver: Moshier

We started off our second day a little early, though not as much as when heading to the Raquette. As I wanted to be able to get in two laps on the Moshier section, I suggested we grab breakfast somewhere. Took everyone into Croghan to Josh’s Riverside. It’s a great little restaurant with good food, and if you’re there later in the day, ice cream. Once everyone was no longer hungry we headed up to the put in for the Moshier section. We ran a little later than I hoped, and missed a few minutes of water.

Once on the water, those who hadn’t been here before were impressed with the spillway. We started down the flatwater and made our way to the first falls. As I had a few who had run it before with me, I was able to quickly go down the right side and grab some photos. I’m sure there was a little nervousness in some, as I hadn’t given much info on a line. Just to follow everyone else, and it’s cleaner than Wonder Falls. With everyone down I took us to the second drop. I gave a brief explanation of the line and pointed out the scouting location in case anyone was interested. Then moved on, as I wanted two Moshier laps. As I got to the lip of the drop I realized I was too far right. Nothing bad, but not where I wanted. Thomas followed and went even further right. As more came down a trend was starting. It took a little to get the message relayed up that people needed to be more center/left. The lead out of this drop also has some kick to it. I’ve seen it provide some good carnage. This time round, it was providing some spice to Todd. He went for a ride, and was rolling up as dropping into the last stage of it sideways. It provided for a good show, but eventually we discovered it had cracked his boat.

After this there were some flat water and nice class III’ish rapids, I always forget how many. During this David discovered that he had also cracked his boat. A nice little interlude before we got to the main event, Moshier Falls. We started our dissection of the rapid, breaking it up into sections and working downstream. The first drop is relatively straightforward, so not much time was spend there. The second is where the fun really begins. We made sure everyone had an idea what the line was and watched a couple boaters before going to the main drop. The third drop of Moshier is the most impressive, and provides good entertainment. Once the line had been explained and a couple had watched, Thomas, Peter, and I went to run it. The run went well and we all got into the pool below the third drop with minimal issue and nice boofs. Once Tanya and Andy came down we moved on. I always forget about the last drop. Checked where people were running it, and headed down the right side to plug the big hole.

We finished up with enough time to do a second lap before heading over to the Eagle section. Some dropped and it would just be Peter, David, Andy, and I. Since his boat was cracked, I lent David my creek boat. Somehow he ended up also cracking that on his run down. Three boats cracked on one run in one day seems almost like a record. Andy and Tanya left us to make an early trip home and we were off to the Eagle.

Beaver: Eagle

This is one of the most visually impressive pieces of whitewater I have ever seen. You can walk to the bottom and basically just stare up some massive gradient and watch the water flow. It’s amazing what 200cfs and some rocks will do. Took Thomas and Peter down and scouted the drops. If you make it to the slides right side up and going straight, you’ll be fine. Once lines were thoroughly discussed we headed up to the spillway to start our first lap. We meandered our way down and things were going well until I got to the lead in for the big slide. I botched the entrance and got pushed further left by the hole above it. Ended up banging into the wall on the left and spinning around. This was not at all what I wanted. I was very surprised that I wasn’t instantly swept down. There was a bit of an eddy there and I was able to paddle up, surf out, and turn around to make a successful run of the slide.

We now regrouped in the big pool and got ready to run the crux move. I lined it up and though things were going ok. But once again I ended up getting washed into the rock jumble. Rolled up and pulled myself out in time to catch Thomas bouncing off the jumble guard rock. Once Peter came down we continued to the final drop, a nice 5-6ft boof drop. Now that everyone had been shown down, I was off to do my race lap. Since I chose to guide the crew down I got to wait in the race line. Sitting around always helps with the nerves and anticipation.

Eventually my turn came and Alex counted me down. I was happy with how I cut through the top section above the big drop. Getting in a practice lap was nice, it helped me dial in the lead for the big slide and I sailed into it cleanly. But this is where the good lines ended. I didn’t get my entrance to the hole at the bottom quite right and got flipped loosing some time. This brought me to the crux and I once again ended up in the mank upside down. This time I banged around more. This definitely cost me a good 20-30 seconds. The past couple years I had been messing up the entrance to the bottom drop, but cleaned it up for these runs. Still that wouldn’t make up the time I needed. Once down at the finish I was spent. Even though I could do a second race lap I didn’t feel it. The two laps I had done so far were some of the worst I had done.

Beaver: Taylorville

We woke Monday to rain. Checking the gauges, I saw not much had come in. But it looked like Fish Creek would be running at least if we wanted the option. Couldn’t convince people during breakfast. The allure of a quick run less that five minutes away was hard to beat. Plus it was something no one else had done. While hanging out after eating, Alex came by and chatted. He gave some good info on Fish Creek and it helped add to the case to try getting it on the way back after Taylorville. Eventually the time came to tear down camp, we packed up all the wet gear, and headed over to the put in.

The seal launch at the put in for the Taylorville is one of my favorite. An awesome way to add some low consequence excitement to a fun run. I was unable to convince anyone else to join me. Then it was off to Beaverator. What a great name for a rapid. As we finished up running it, a guy came running up looking for a phone, there was an injury. No one had one, and I offered up my sat device if needed. We got to the Great White Slide to see someone being stabilized. While everyone was ok in the end, it put a damper on the day. I had decided to run the hero line and catch the beer eddy, but botched it. As I could tell I wouldn’t make it, I decided to bail before slamming into the rock that makes the eddy. David took a similar line but didn’t bail and became friends with the rock. Showed everyone the lines at the next couple rapids, but generally moved fast as we were trying to get home. Got in a couple good boofs on the lower half, and spent some time at the play spot at the takeout. With that, another great Beaver River Rendezvous had come to an end and we were headed home.

Last Minute Mission to NY

4.26.19 – 4.28.19

This past weekend Thomas, Peter, and I got in a quick trip up to the superb whitewater up in northern New York in the Tug Hill plateau and Adirondacks. Originally the plan was to head out to Ohio for the Cuyahoga Falls race. I had been interested in the Sheraton Section and Tinker’s Creek for some time and the race seemed like a good excuse to go on a mission I’d otherwise not take. Thus I sent out feelers and started to rally a crew for the trip. As the date drew closer the forecast stared looking like rain might bump things too high. So I started working on a backup and checked what the conditions up north would be. I had been watching Alex’s videos of the spring runs they were getting and was itching to get up for some of the fun. The ground was primed from a storm a week ago and things were looking good for the incoming one. So I checked to see if people were interested in a New York trip if I drove. A core crew was, thus a backup born.

On Thursday evening conditions were looking very up in the air. The rain had started but gauges had yet to rise. I reached out to Alex to see how he thought the weekend in New York would be. He had a good feeling for the prospects of the weekend’s paddling. Thus the dithering began. By Friday morning the rain in both locations was in full swing. The gauge for Cuyahoga had started to rise. I wasn’t quite feeling the six hour drive out there to get skunked. Being Ohio, there’s no other whitewater. If it was a no go, it would be a no boating weekend. But I still wasn’t quite ready to make the call. The yes/no margin had narrowed and there wasn’t as much rain as initially predicted. Thomas reached out to the organizers and they were still optimistic as the gauge was downstream of a big tributary.

Afternoon came and levels had gone above running and Tinker’s was starting its spike. I decided New York was the better choice, with the infinitely larger run selection, and started the attempt to redirect. We decided to discuss things when we met up to carpool. Then around the time Thomas should be leaving to meet us, I get a hurried call. He was having trouble getting his car started. While it wouldn’t endanger the trip, I did want Thomas along. After a little, a text came through. He was running late, but on his way. In the parking lot the real dithering began. Loading up provided some time, but not enough. We started our drive up I-270 with about 20-30 minutes to Frederic, where we had to have a decision made as the routes diverged. The discussion went on and no real choices were being made. The race organizer had put up a video about the levels. It was looking beefy, but the race was still on. Squirreling continued up to the fork in the road at Frederic. I made an executive decision and took the road north, starting our seven hour drive to Old Forge. Eventually I choose that I’d power through and make it all the way and a hotel room was acquired.

The wake up call

Woke up to snow flurries and a message from Alex that there might be a rowdy first D to be had. We drove down the road to grab some breakfast and discuss. Unfortunately my usual stop, Keyes’ Pancake House, was closed. We ended up eating at Walt’s Diner. The food was good and the pancakes were huge. There was still some remorse for Cuyahoga and a little nervousness for the day’s runs. Once satisfied we headed off to meet up with Alex and see what he had in mind. We were greeted with a stout waterfall coming off the side of a hill as we drove in. Found Alex, made introductions, and hiked in to scout things while waiting for others to get there. The location we saw was a tight committed gorge with a series of complex drops, ending with a ~15ft waterfall. The main event was a drop with a shelf and wall 45 degrees to the flow. You had to ride the down the shelf as far as you could and do a sideways boof to place yourself in the flow without hitting into the impending wall. Some nervousness was brewing in my crew, and people weren’t sure they were interested in that particular section.

With that scouting out of the way it was downstream to say hello to the landowners of the downstream section and get permission to run it. Permission granted, we walked over to look at the next section. It was also a tight gorge, mostly committed, with a series of 5 drops. Starting off you had a slot leading to a small spoutish drop that looked a little retentive. Next up was another slot with a zig-zag move in it. Under some trees and you were at the first of the big drops, a 8-10 foot sideways spout that lands in a cauldron at the bottom of a gorge. After this was a slide that ended in another 10 footer followed shortly by the final 5 foot flake drop.

We suited up carried our boats in for the run. Some nervousness was present. Alex took the first run and showed us what the first drop would look like. The line was clean and we started getting ready for our runs. Thomas decided to go first and I headed down to the cauldron to grab photos.

  • Alex on the first drop
  • Thomas dropping into the cauldron

When he got to the cauldron, it looked like he had made it, but went over quickly after landing in the eddy. Two roll attempts and he was sucked into the curtain for a beating. After a couple more, Thomas pulled and collected himself in the eddy. Unfortunately, his paddle washed downstream. I ran down to grab another paddle for Thomas, and when I got to the bridge where the creek went under the road I saw it floating into the distance. When I got up I found I had missed Peter’s run. Got the paddle down to Thomas, and after some looking around at the canyon walls, he started down. Thomas finished up with some nice lines on the lower drops and it was now my turn.

  • Thomas on the last big drop
  • The zig-zag move

I walked up and got ready, a bit nervous about the cauldron. Paddled down to the first drop, entered the notch, and got through clean. I paused for a second here before continuing down to the zig-zag move in the next part of the canyon. I entered, taking my time and lined up for the rock that made the move. The pillow pushed started pushing me left and I got a nice sliding boof off the rock placing me right where I wanted to be to exit the squeeze. Caught the eddy after it and took a breather before starting on the cauldron. I peeled out and lined up for the drop, cut through the hole at the top of the drop and put in a lefty right as I was going off the lip. Landed clean in the eddy lined up perfectly to go under the trees. Kept up my momentum and headed to the slide that leads into the next drop. I liked the center/left line Thomas had taken, so I dodged some holes and worked in that direction. Took a boof at the drop and landed clean. All that was left was the final shelf and it went off without a problem.

Mill Creek

We collected ourselves and headed for the town drop on Mill Creek. In town we stopped at a parking lot on river right that looked down on the last part of the drop to scout. It was running but levels were towards the lower side. A friendly local came and chatted with us while we stood in the flurries staring down the drop. Finally people bowed to the cold, and it was off to run the drop. We put in on a small tributary by Stewart’s, paddled down a tunnel under town, and set up for the bridge drop. Looking downstream to set up for it was really cool having a gorge lined with buildings, then a horizon line. Took the river right line off the flake and then regrouped before the main event. You set up to punch a curler in the center, and try to keep to the center the whole way down. There’s a ramp to a nice auto boof. Afterwards, there’s some lead out with some sieved out rocks to keep you on your toes.

Independence

Having finished up in town it was off to the final run for the day. We headed over to the take out for the Independence. It was apparently too cold and too low, so we were just going to run the last couple drops at the end. The final set are Fat Lady, Bridge Boof, and The Wall, an impressive stretch of class IV-V rapids. This run is an area classic, and many run it for these drops. We walked up to the top and scouted all the drops on our way up. Thomas wasn’t feeling it so he was going to take photos and set safety. Alex ran it first so we could see the line. He hit the hole river left when dropping in and got spun around before the divider. He made it to the left and continued down without issue. Now it was my turn to run the drop, so I got in my boat and started towards the entrance.

  • Alex dropping in at the top of Fat Lady

When I got to the hole that spun Alex, I got flipped and very quickly was getting beat. I knew I had flushed to the right by the multitude of rocks I was banging against. I tried a roll and got nothing but a second hit to the head. At this point I decided it was best to bail as I was taking the brunt of the abuse. I came up as I was entering the second slide and it took a bit for me to get spun around. Thomas threw a rope and had a spot on throw, but as I got it, it started going near my head and I abandoned it. Finally I came to a stop at the drop above the Bridge Boof eddy. I watched my boat flush downstream and slowly made my way to shore. When I got there I found one of my dry suit’s legs full of water. I made my way downstream and saw Alex with my boat at the take out bridge so I walked over to the bridge. My boat had got a beating too, just not as much as myself.

After that I was done for the day and proceeded to change. I discovered that I had torn a hole in the knee of my dry suit. This explained all the water I had inside it. We then made our way back to Old Forge to clean up and get dinner. Along the way we stopped off at the different rapids of the Bottom Moose to check them out. While American Whitewater may say it’s running at 6ft, it isn’t for most mortal paddlers. Note that according to NY Exposed and LiquidLore the max is 6ft and the Inland Surfing Association places it at 5ft. There were numerous huge holes and places one just never would want to go. Along the way to take a look at Fowlerville Falls, we came across a porcupine. Not interested in making the day worse, we gave it space and tentatively made our way down.

Dinner ended up being at Tony Harpers. Overall the mood was good and jovial. My head wasn’t feeling great from the beat down and I was hoping some food would help. I tried some pizza but that just made me feel worse. There was pain radiating down my jaw from my ear and now the food made me feel a little nauseous. I switched to just water, but was definitely wearing my discomfort on my face. After some time we came up with the meeting time for tomorrow and parted ways. Back at the hotel room I took some Advil, and after a short time started feeling much better.

Woodhull Creek

The putin for the Woodhull

When I woke up I felt much better than the night before, though still sore. We packed everything up and headed to Walt’s again for some breakfast, then afterwards to Mountain Man for some quick browsing. Then it was off to Woodhull Creek to meet the Local Boater crew for the days run. The night before Pat had described the run as a “kayaker skate park”. This description had gone over well and the crew was looking forward to the run, with significantly less nervousness. When we got to the putin, it was a good deal higher than I had done it in the past. The whole run divides around islands in multiple places, giving you options. I wasn’t feeling the left line at the putin because it looked stout. I quickly went down the right to try to get photos. Unfortunately, my camera died just as I got set up. Alex made it look awesome and Peter sealed the deal. I had to go back up and do the left line. The curlers ended up being much easier to punch and the line went well.

We moved on to the next drop and Alex went down the center left and worked left. Some got out to scout. I was still feeling a little off from the previous day and bounced between both sides trying to boat scout. Eventually I went down without issue, followed by Peter. When Thomas came down I took both of them to the next rapid to scout it. The river left gorge had plenty of water, though it did look like one hole may be retentive. We watched a few people run it then when up and ran it ourselves. Peter caught the eddy and got held up. I bumped into him leaving when I got there. Thomas also got spun around in the eddy. While more came down I again took Thomas and Peter to scout Brick in the Wall, the center channel rapid. This is an impressive slide with a couple river right rock bumps that form holes or waves. It ends in a beefy hole that can easily work a boater (or swimmer).

A few went and ran it while we watched. I had grabbed my rope in case someone needed a hand, and Thomas went up for his run. He got far left, much further than you’d want and skittered down the rock to the hole. He managed to skip out without any issue. Peter went up and ran it, also punching through without problem. This meant it was my turn, I was feeling a bit iffy about how it would treat the RPM. I entered and had no problem up top, but when I got to the diagonal I did not punch it high enough. Thus I was pushed left and ended up with exactly the line I didn’t want, sliding down the rock into the hole. As soon as I hit, I stopped and got eaten by the hole. I setup and waited, but the expected chundering didn’t come. Feeling the calm, I pulled my roll and came up already flushed past the hole.

Peter and I then went up to do the river right channel. I had never even seen the run with enough water for this to be an option. I was still a bit nervous about it, but ended up taking the lead. The drops ended up being cleaner than I expected and provided some good fun. We waited a bit and them a few of us moved on the the final drop. This one is a nasty river wide hole that is more or less inescapable without a rope. The line is to boof into an eddy on far river left. The group of us ran it and were hanging out when we saw a boat drifting to the river left lip upside down. Luckily it flushed through and we saw it was empty. No swimmer followed which was good. Gear and people were collected and we made our way to the takeout. After chatting for a while, we determined that it was best that we head back to the DC area. We said our goodbyes and started on our long drive home. I made sure to stop at a Stewarts before we left New York so Peter and Thomas could have the full Northeast experience. The seed for more trips to the quality New York whitewater had been planted.

Trip Videos


Over the Mountain and Through the Woods to a Drainage Ditch

RunPiney (The Big Piney)
Date12.15.18
Level8in on bridge, ~850cfs on USGS 02027500

Due to some significantly better thought and planning on Todd’s part a trip down south into Virginia was organized. With my car in the shop for a leaking roof, I wasn’t paying much attention to the weather. But he was watching the key storm that was brewing, with lots of rain planned. The trip started of being me leading the group down Johns. Rain started on Friday and by the time we were driving down the gauge for Johns was heading up quickly. I started working on the alternate plan, and getting everyone on the same page. The primary option would be the Maury,  but there were also other creeks in the area that would definitely be running. While looking I stumbled upon the Piney River, one basin down from the Tye. After some dithering in a rest stop parking lot I had the group convinced to do a lap on the Maury and head to Piney to check it out.

When we arrived at the Maury things were big, looking potentially the highest I have run it. Todd estimated it being at around 3000cfs, later to be proven correct. From my previous high level experience there I knew things would be big and any rock gardens would be no more. Took my new preferred line, that I learned from some locals that previous run, through Devil’s Kitchen. The diagonal  across the rapid starting at the top left eddy was nice and smooth and I had one of my best lines through. Overall everyone had good runs, albeit with some minor carnage. A new personal highest level for everyone, and we thoroughly enjoyed the run.

My kind of drainage ditch

With a good first run for the day we started off to check out the Piney. As we made our way over the mountain the snow on the ground increased and it got foggy. We crossed the ridge that the Blue Ridge Parkway runs on, started down, and turned onto a slightly snowy dirt road. A drainage ditch soon appeared along side the road. It quickly picked up gradient and wood, lots of wood. Almost every other rapid had a log in the crux move about at chest or face height. While the water seemed low, almost everything would have been passable if not for the wood. All of a sudden there was some banging, and I saw Ken’s boat in the window. It apparently was very much in a hurry to get to the river. Luckily it skidded down into an eddy and I was able to quickly grab it before it got away. Talking to everyone while Ken reattached his boat, it was determined that people didn’t share his boats enthusiasm for the section. It seems I was the outlier with my reaction, “this is my kind of drainage ditch.” The gradient and wood continued, but eventually it let up and we started seeing a couple small houses and plenty of Posted signs.  As we continued down we passed some other boaters, confirming that this was the place to be today.

We put on at the standard spot at the national forest boundary and turn around. The fun started quickly and the rapids continued to build. Near the start were a couple low head type features that were a bit sketchy, and definitely would be dangerous at higher levels. They had hazards on both sides. Front causing siphons/strainers, the back being inescapable holes. The rapids throughout the run are boulder gardens all in the class 3 – 4 range. They were all decently complex, and lengthy. Toward the end of one a rock ended up calling to Noah. For some reason he could not break free of its spell and drifted into a nice pin. He was stuck good, but eventually Todd got him free.

About a third of the way down we came to one of the bigger drops that was visible from the road. While it looked nasty from the road this was more due to distance. It had a nice staging eddy river left set you up well to run it down the tongue that formed. The rapid ended up being much more friendly than it looked form the road. While the run is mostly road scoutable, this was one area it strayed away from the road. Below was a nice pool.

Things picked up as the run moved back towards the road. In a couple places it splits and is worth paying attention during to shuttle to see which side has more water or is tree free. The boulder gardens build and it gets to a nice class IV level with a swift pace. I’d describe it as a similar style to the Savage but a class up in difficulty. One of the more complicated drops had some trees piled up in them. The proper move was to boof off the entrance with left hand angle. That would set you up to continue down with the main flow. Unfortunately most of the group didn’t follow and went straight and caught the eddy that went to the right. They had to then scrape down some mank to get back to the main flow. The run comes to an end at a bridge with take out on the left.

Solo Boating

Over the past year or so I’ve heard a lot of talk about solo boating. Some have referred to it as their guilty pleasure. I will admit to going out truly alone a couple times myself, though I can count that number on one hand. When you get to the nitty gritty of things, I keep coming back to a saying one of my friends has, I might be paraphrasing a bit.

One person is a missing persons report

Two people is a reported drowning

Three people is a successful rescue

This gets me to what has bothered me most about all the talk about solo boating. “Three people is a successful rescue.” That day we had more than three people. Everyone acted to the best of their ability and did the best they could, yet we still lost someone. I have been at near misses, again when there were more than three people.

Just think about that and let it sink in. A group of experienced paddlers had the worst possible outcome when things went sideways. Contemplate the risk of the unknown unknown the next time you decide to go out by yourself. I love kayaking and the outdoors, but is the risk when alone truly worth it?

Teter and Laurel Creek, Tygart Arden

As the weekend neared, it looked like there was a chance for some good boating. I had missed all the fun the previous weekend when there was some good rain, but it left the area primed. Watching the snow that came on Thursday, I more and more felt like it would be good for a mission. There was a decent amount of precipitation, all frozen, and it would be warming up. I had a decent amount of interest as well. As Friday progressed I started focusing in on the Tygart and Buckhannon basin. Both were high, at the very top of the runable level. Closer runs were still trending downward and didn’t look like this would change by Saturday morning. Eventually I focused in on Teter Creek and announced the call. With a decision made people started dropping out, due to the distance. A number decided to head to the Top Yough. The evening rolled around and it looked like it would just be Bob, Ken, and myself. After some calls around I determined that everyone was ok with the small group size and the mission was on.

Teter Creek

The chosen run was Teter Creek. From what I could tell, this was the one that would fall out first. We met up at the Gaithersburg park and  ride to start the journey and I volunteered to be the driver of the alone car. When we got to the river, the water looked low but enough to scrape down. We decided it was a go. The shuttle down through Moatsville to the Tygart was short, maybe 10 minutes to run the whole thing and gave a decent overview of the run. Where we put in the gradient was low and the dogs many. About 10 dogs followed us for a short distance, barking all the way. The first few miles were twisting and mostly flat. It made its way through some farms and the quality of the scenery was not great. There was lots trash in the trees.

There were a couple smaller rapids, class 1-2ish stuff and things didn’t pick up until we came to Moatsville. The water was low thus there was only one route through the rapid there. As we got towards the edge of the village the rapids picked up. It constricted a bit, and in places there was only a boat width between the rocks. In one place there was a log in the main flow that may have been more problematic if the water was moving a bit faster. Eventually we got to the main event of the run, Suck Pop. This was a cool little rapid that ended with boof opportunity. Unfortunately I missed it, got flipped, and did a little underwater surveying. Next up was a slide. After a little we came to the Tygart.

Laurel Creek

We finished up relatively early and had to choose what to do next. There was plenty of time for a second lap and we decided to head over to Laurel Creek and leave the car at the bottom of Teter and get in some high level Tygart in as well. The drive up to put in Laurel was pretty short, maybe 15 minutes. Laurel starts off similar to Teter, relatively flat for a while and then drops off once it gets to the Tygart Valley. The scenery was however much better and was more remote. When we got to the rapids we found them to be more difficult than Teter. There was plenty of gradient and the closer to the Tygart we got to the tygart the more difficult things became.

In the meat of the descent is one of the nastiest undercuts I have seen. A big boulder is just hanging out in the middle of the flow and you can see water flowing out the other side. We ended up walking this one as not everyone wanted to run it and it did not seem prudent with such a small group. There was plenty of stout rapid below so this was not an issue. At the bottom of one drop there were a couple of nice flat holes that would make for good spins. Bob ended up in one of them for a bit before spinning his way out. Up next was a decent slide with some maneuvering to be done on the way down. We then came to a horizon line, not remembering any beta for it, I decided to follow the flow. Unfortunately this was not a good line and as soon as I got to the lip I saw some shallow boulders extending towards the landing zone. I tried to signal to Bob and Ken to go further right, but I was too far below the horizon for them to see. I now remembered the name, Ten Foot Falls, and the line. You’re supposed to try to aim for the right hand side and go off by the peak of the horizon. The left/center was not a great place at higher water either, but the rocks were not in play. Bob added a second dent to his bow here. All that was left was the last rapid down to the river. The steepness kept up and it was still decently complex. Unfortunately, Ken swam here and hurt himself.

Tygart, Arden section

The Tygart was booming and Bob and I had to paddle down to retrieve the car. The road ran along the Tygart and we were going to bring it up to Ken. The waves were huge as were the rapids. Neither of us had paddled the section and the only info we had was that at Moats Falls you want to be on the right, but far right was manky. When we got there I pulled the side to take a look, but Bob was just going. So I followed him down the far right side. It was definitely not manky, not a rock could be seen. There’s a chute you go down to the eddy on the right. Then you have to surf a wave back to the center to avoid going into a hole. Unfortunately I did not go far enough and got caught by the hole. According to Bob I was doing cartwheels in it before I pulled my freedom cord. Luckily the cleanup was quick and I was deposited in an eddy. While collecting, Ken came down to us. He had found a ride downriver. I handed over the key to him since it seems he would get to his car first. There was another big rapid after this, I couldn’t see down it and quickly walked around it. Bob ran down the center on a huge wave train. Saw Ken driving up to get his boat and we soon came to the takeout.

The Big Shoe Halloween at Keegan Ales

Made one of my pilgrimages back up to New York for one of the rare Big Shoe shows. As usual they did not disappoint and put on a great show and the venue is excellent as usual. Keegan Ales opens up the brewery floor for this event and its a pretty cool experience. After a bit of just enjoying the music I finally gave in. The lighting was really good and I could not sit by and not take photos. I had left my camera home, but my backup was in the car. Had a bit of trouble with the 50mm on an APC sensor. It was a bit more cropped than I would have liked, but it’s the best for the low light. I took advantage of my camera to sneak to the front and access areas the general crowd couldn’t.

The choice of song is always good and conducive to dancing. There good crowd on hand, but it was not as packed as other times. A little out of form The Shoe was not in their superhero regalia, much to Rich’s chagrin. At one point in the night the keg of Joe Mama’s Milk was kicked, luckily the side bar still had some. After finishing up the first set, Lara Hope and the Ark-tones took to the stage. Great local rockabilly group that I’m very happy to see playing with The Shoe again. First came across them when they opened for Tri-State Conspiracy at a car show in Wappingers Falls. They looked awesome dressed as the cast of Family Guy. Once done Santa came out to announce the winner of the costume contest. Then back into the brewery for The Big Shoe’s second set.

Fall Moosefest 2018

The weekend after Columbus day is host one of the best kayaking gatherings out there, Moosefest. A week or two before I was watching the levels and it looked like it would be a nice and mellow level, similar to what I had run it before. However, about Wednesday they got a bunch of rain, and by Friday the Moose was at beefy levels. I sat at work, watching level, looking forward to being in New York, but not the drive there. All the time I was wishing I had realized this was happening on Thursday. Had I, I would have called in sick so I could go paddle some of the runs that were in. The end of work rolled around and when I went to unload the cans of soup I had bought for lunch. Much to my dismay I discovered I had forgot my GoPro and would have to drive home to get it. With the added delay I arrived up at Fowlerville around 1am.

With less sleep than I would have liked I headed into Old Forge to grab some breakfast. I’m a fan of Keyes’ Pancake House, so that was the stop. The food is good and service quick. Then it was off to Mountain Man to chat with everyone I have yet to see, which was basically everyone since I arrived so late. The other goal was to grab some beta on the Independence. It was one of the things I had been watching, and there was still water. After a little I determined there were probably some people there. Managed to get Graham to lead me as he was looking for some redemption and knew some people headed there. So it was off to the Indy.

Independence River

The Indy has been on my watch list since I made my first trip to the Adirondacks for whitewater kayaking last year with Kevin. I was excited to catch it and it definitely delivered. When we put on it was about 485cfs, which ended up being slightly scrapey in some places. The run starts of with a nice stretch of class 3 boogie water. In a couple places a bit more padding would have been desirable. As you continue the rapids slowly build and become more complex. The first bigger one you come to is powerline, a ledge with an about five foot drop. It has an undercut on the left. Next is one where the river divides around some boulders. There’s a nice eddy in the middle where you can boat scout. Eventually you start getting towards the end and come to Fat Lady, a series of slides. Graham and I decided we were running it after taking a quick look. I messed up the entrance drop, but just managed to brace through it and make the line upright. I had decided to run the middle line and entered a bit off. At the bottom the hole grabbed me and I had to work a little to get out. We regrouped at the bottom and headed down to the bridge boof and The Wall.

The first bigger one you come to is powerline, a ledge with an about five foot drop. It has an undercut on the left. Next is one where the river divides around some boulders. There’s a nice eddy in the middle where you can boat scout. Eventually you start getting towards the end and come to Fat Lady, a series of slides. Graham and I decided we were running it after taking a quick look. I messed up the entrance drop, but just managed to brace through it and make the line upright. I had decided to run the middle line and entered a bit off. At the bottom the hole grabbed me and I had to work a little to get out. We regrouped at the bottom and headed down to the bridge boof and The Wall.

Left with one rapid before the takeout we got out to take a look. Stared it down and watched a couple other run it. Lines were not always clean, but all came out unscathed and we decided on our line. I started my run, and dropped in, staying to the left at the top. Once down to the half way point, just above the last drop I started to drive to the right. Unfortunately, I came in too hot and dried out. Got spun around, tried to drive across the flow and turn to punch the hole. Just managed to get all the way across, but didn’t get the boat straightened out. Landed in the pocket hole on the far left and started to get a working. Rode it for a little while and eventually managed to get my boat turned and worked my way out. Now that it was clear, Graham was up. As he entered the final drop, he was too far to the center. He hit a rock hard and got thrown to the right. It didn’t look like a painless ride, but he came through quick.

We finished up with enough time to get back to the Moose to see the race. Went to Crystal to spectate and help out with the finish line. This year’s race had a small turn out, probably due to the higher water. I was now feeling cold and decided to call it a day and changed into drys. Then it was off to Mountain Man for the festivities and to find out who won the Emperor’s Cup.

Lower Moose

Hung out for a little in the morning at Mountain Man, people were moving slowly. Jumped in with Alex on his run down the Lower Moose. I was advised to bring the long boat, and it was definitely the correct move. There’s a lot of pool in between the drops. The scenery is nice, with some color still on the trees. Most of the drops were not too complicated, but they were all good class 3 at least. At Mixmaster I blew my line, slammed into the rock shelf,  and ended up getting sucked back in. I rolled up and got windowshaded hard. But it was enough for me to determine that the boat wasn’t coming out easily. Pulled the freedom cord and got some good downtime. I then had a nice bit of exercise after to warm me back up. Greenboats hold a good deal of water. The theme of the weekend seemed to be not to get too much speed.

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