Posted on

Oct 25, 2025: Little Suncook

Participants-  Ryan Galway OC-1,  Kenny DeCoster OC-1,  Paul Leclerc K-1,  Carlisle Landel K-1,  Mark Nelson K-1,  Pat Cavanagh K-1

The weather for the day ended up quite nice for a late October weekend.  We had mixed sun and clouds and temps in the 50’s.  The water level (after much debate) was determined to be lower than past years.  Nobody had any complaints,  as we were all happy just to be on the water with the current drought.  A huge thank you to Paul for all of his efforts clearing wood on this run earlier in the month to provide a safe trip.

This river starts with a bang,  as the hardest rapid is in the first quarter mile.  All paddlers had solid runs,  but for some reason we had a couple of swims in the class 3 water below.  Some solid rescue assistance was provided,  and no major injuries or loss of equipment took place.  Other than that,  it was just a nice day to be on the water with great folks.  I was happy to be able to introduce a couple of new boaters to this fall gem,  and hopefully they will join us again next year.  If you haven’t given this river a try,  add it to your calendar for next year.  It continues to be a great way to end your season with some excitement!

Posted on

Oct 18, 2025: North Branch of the Piscataquag

Participants Mark Nelson k-1,  Paul Laclerc k-1,  Andrea Riesing k-1,  Ryan Galway OC-1

We had two additional boaters Nick and Geoff who paddled with us but,  they weren’t members at the time and I am unsure of the last names.

We were fortunate to have a mostly sunny day in the low 60’s.  The water had a noticeable chill to it and most had switched to drysuits at this point in the season.  Since we have been in drought conditions for most of the late summer/fall I was not surprised to find the release was lower than past years,  but all were happy to have whitewater to paddle at this point in the season.  This creek tends to collect wood throughout the year,  but a crew from NH and MA had done a good job clearing all but one log we ended up walking around.  This small creek has 5 major class 3+ drops that range from tight turns to steep ledge drops and slides.  Everyone had success and stayed in their boats.  Paul hit a nice roll at the bottom of the first major drop called Slab City which is a steep 10 ft drop over a ledge/old dam site.  Other than that the only other rolls were surfing at a fun ender spot called turn over ledge.  Andrea,  Geoff and I all made our best attempts to ender in the rapid with some success by Andrea and I.  Geoff had some nice attempts but the length of his boat seemed to prevent him from doing the perfect one he was looking for.  All in all it was a great day with great people.  Special thanks to Mark for joining us for the fall drawdown trip for the first time.  Great to be able to introduce someone to a new river.

Posted on

Sep 26, 2025: Roll Dams (Seboomook section of Penobscot)

Troad Richmond (K1); Connor Marland, Kenny DeCoster, and TC Helen Hess (OC1).

Even though the release level was a scanty 430cfs, several of us decided to make the drive to paddle at Roll Dams at the beginning of the fall supper weekend. Kenny and Helen arrived early enough for a Friday afternoon run in glorious weather. Troad and Connor arrived that evening and we had the campsite to ourselves after the fishermen went elsewhere for the night. We made ourselves comfy and spread out across much of the west end of the camping area. 

Later on that evening as we enjoyed our campfire, a large kayaking party from Bowdoin arrived and the 30 of them cheerfully squeezed into the other half of the campsite. Troad was happy that a more typical kayak-to-canoe ratio was restored. For our Saturday run, Helen and Kenny swapped boats for a little change up. Another glorious run, including lots of surfing. Kenny looked great in Helen’s Ocoee. Even though our lunch break was quick, we didn’t have enough time to do justice to another full run before we had to drive over to The Forks for the fall supper festivities. So the three canoeists decided for some side-surfing at the bottom of Z-turn and rolling practice, two activities that naturally go together. Kenny used his longer Zephyr for this outing, so he paddled a different boat for each of his three runs. After having all the fun we could, it was time to pack up and head to The Forks. Hiking and the Kennebec gorge were on the agenda for the next day, but someone else will be providing those trip reports!

Posted on

Aug 16, 2025: Magalloway River, 1200cfs

Trip Coordinator: Brent Elwell

Participant: Greg Winston

The Magalloway River was flowing at 1200 cfs which is a very good level.  I was afraid the drought conditions would impact the release, but that was not the case.  Greg was the only participant.  We had beautiful weather with sunny skies and temperatures in the 80’s.  We took a couple runs and each took a turn biking the shuttle.  The river seems to be less busy than previous years.  We saw only a few other boaters: mostly kayakers and one raft.  An interesting thing at the takeout is there is a portable toilet, but it is located a couple hundred yards down the dirt road from the takeout.  Judging by the number of signs posted at the takeout warning not to use the land as a toilet, it would be good to look for the portable toilet.

 

Posted on

Jul 12, 2025: Magalloway River, 1200cfs

Participants-  Ryan Galway OC-1,  Suzanne Cole K-1,  Gary Cole K-1,  Sean Green K-1,  Brent Elwell K-1,  Mark Nelson K-1,  Bryan and Alyssa Wolf 2 person inflatable/K-1,  Bob and Jan Radowicz 2 person inflatable,  TJ Farnum K-1

The day started out in Southern Maine as overcast and foggy.  After making the trek up through the mountain pass in Graftons notch to the small town of Wilsons Mills I was welcomed with sunshine and favorable temperatures for this western Maine classic.

For those who aren’t familiar the Magalloway is a short run.  Probably no more than 3 miles from the class III start to finish of this run.  For what this river lacks in distance it makes up for in excitement.  The put in literally launches you into a class III+ rapid that you can not see down stream of from the launch point.  This can make for a challenging start,  and I have seen many a class IV boater be humbled by this first rapid.  Thankfully everyone in our group aced this challenging rapid as well as the rest of the run.  We had no swimmers for the day and  only a couple of well executed rolls.  We had a few first timers ( Sean,  TJ,  and Bob and Jan) all had solid runs with no issues other than a lost paddle at the put in.

After the first run. Bob and Jan bid us farewell after helping with a shuttle for the second.  We took a brief  lunch after run 2 and the numbers dwindled further.  We had 4 total boats for the third and final run,  as Bryan transitioned to his kayak.  It was fairly quick,  but well appreciated as it was probably the best mix of air and water temps possible.  It really was a perfect weather day on the water!