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Aug 6-8, 2021: Roll Dam 410 cfs

A sizeable and ever-changing group assembled at Roll Dam for runs on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. A few arrived later, a few left earlier, a few tapped out for Canada Falls on Saturday, but there was always an enthusiastic group ready to have fun on a low-level run at Roll Dam. The weather gods and the bug gods were both kind throughout the weekend. There were graceful, upright runs (yay, Erin), swims and self-rescues. There were rolls, both hit (yay, Evie) and missed (most of the open boaters, including the TC; though John Brower never flipped, not even at the slide at Canada Falls I’ve heard). Lots of little surfing waves kept us busy and smiling. When Charlie Berliant’s paddle broke at the beginning of the run on Sunday, he thought he’d have to walk out. But Mark Berry broke out the neoprene hand-paddling mitts and used them while Charlie borrowed Mark’s paddle. There’s always something new to try or see at Roll Dam!

Helen Hess (TC), Genio Bertin, John Brower, Morgan Baxter, Rick Gause, OC-1, Gary & Suzanne Cole OC-2 and K-1, Jeff Bickford, Mark Berry, Asa Berry, Jeff Swett, Bill Smith, Troad Richmond, Charlie Berliant, Erin-Kate Sousa, Adam Wales, Evie Wales, K-1, Jen and Sasha Wales, tandem ducky.

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Jun 6, 2021: Dead River

This was my first shuttle with Webb’s Shuttle since the pandemic.  It is still a great deal as no one gets very excited about driving in for vehicles after a long day on the river.  We were fortunate to have a contingent of New Hampshire based boaters join the trip.  They included Mike Russell, Derek Ahl, Brian McCormack and Emma Erler. Another new member Matthew Briere also joined this trip.

We had very nice weather on this trip.  In fact, I think a couple trip members remarked it was a near perfect paddle day.  Other pluses included: few biting insects, low river traffic and plenty of surfing opportunities.  It looked like everyone enjoyed the day on the river.

Participants: TC Brent Elwell K-1, Derek Ahl K-1, Michael Russell K-1, Connor Marland OC-1, Brian McCormack K-1, Julia Richmond K-1, Ron Chase K-1, Tom Sawyer OC-1, Emma Erler K-1, Matthew Briere OC-1, Ryan Galloway OC-1

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Jul 10, 2021: Magalloway River, 1200cfs

This trip was the first time of the season at 1200 cfs.  I had paddled the prior two Saturdays at 900 cfs.  Paddling it three Saturdays in a row was due to the drought conditions that Maine has endured this year.  Nonetheless, this river has an incredible amount of play and one of the best shuttles of any river in Maine.  The first run of the season subjected us to an incredible number of trees in the river.  The start of the river had the most trees that I have ever seen and most were not in very good places.  However, most of these were removed before this trip started.  Another feature to be aware of are the number of fishermen on the river (the fishing is very good on this river!)  The weather was outstanding and bugs few. Surprisingly, there were few other boaters and we had the river pretty much to ourselves.   We had knocked ourselves out surfing and called it good after a couple runs.

Participants: TC Brent Elwell, Mark Nelson, Randy Berube, Julia Richmond and Kenny Decoster

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Jun 5, 2021: Dead River (4000cfs)

Participants: Kayaks – TC’s Suzanne and Gary Cole, Emma Erler, Charlie Berliant, Jean Miller, Bill Stafford, Paul Bicknell, Tom Rutka, Jeff Swett, Troad Richmond, Jeff Bickford, Loren Starcher, Jamie Dolan, Jordan Schlitzer, Devon Carter, Pat Cavanagh, Paul LeClerc, Randy Berube; OC1 – Patti Rutka; Shredder – Paul Peters, Connor Marland; Raft – Deb Harris, Wayne Adams.

This level was a step up for some of our participants and a revisit to the “old 3500” for others. In recent years, the 3500 release shrank from what we were use to because of more accurately measured releases. So, in order to get back to the “old 3500”, they now release 4000 cfs. Some of the rapids seemed big to us old timers; we aren’t sure if it is because we had grown accustomed to the recent years levels or if it is in fact bigger than the old 3500. 

Clouds and warm weather ushered us down the river. With such a large group, we created subgroups to look out for and keep track of each other. There was good surfing at all the usual spots and those who were not as familiar with the river followed us old timers. We had a bit of excitement with four swimmers. Many thanks to the people who helped out with the swimmers towing boats and boaters to shore. 

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May 1, 2021: Lower and Middle NH Swift

Participants:  Brent Elwell, Kevin Rogers, Kenny DeCoster, Kirk Ross, Hal Earle and TC

River levels this Spring have caused several trips to be canceled and my NH Rivers trip was in danger until heavy rains on April 30 saved the day and provided us with great paddling in the North Conway area.  After a brief discussion at the meeting area, we reached consensus on the Middle and Lower NH Swift.  We don’t usually paddle the Middle Swift, but the water was high enough that we were in hopes that it would come down a bit on the Lower if we did a warm up paddle up higher.  This plan worked out well as the Middle, between Rocky Gorge and Lower Falls, was very fluid and provided us with a good warm up and more time on one of the most beautiful rivers in New England.  Gusty winds did provide challenges for our open boat crew, as the gusts had a tendency to change the canoe’s direction at the worst possible time on occasions resulting in a pinned canoe and a chance to practice swiftwater river rescues.

We portaged Lower Falls and immediately noted that the water was still higher than the gauge in Cabin Gorge was indicating.  A good part of the discussions on the trip involved how and why the gauge level seemed inaccurate.  No good answers, but the river from Lower Falls to Cabin Gorge was quickly paddled.  After a quick scout of the Cabin Gorge rapid, we all had good runs and were pleased to have one of the “Big Two”, the other being Staircase, behind us.  The rest of the trip was an extremely enjoyable run down one of the most sought after whitewater rivers in New England.  It’s difficult to beat the combination of bright sun, warm weather and an excellent level on the Lower Swift, and the post trip confab at the take out was an enthusiastic recount of the day’s action. 

Photo of Kirk Ross running Staircase on the Lower Swift