Participants: TC Kenny DeCoster, Norm Rehn (OC1’s) and Ron Chase, Pat C., Paul L., Blake Fouracre (K1’s)
None of the usual suspects (except Ron) had contacted me about the Little Suncook Drawdown trip, so I was pleasantly surprised when six paddlers gathered at the Cumby’s in Epson, NH on Saturday morning. There were two new members, Pat and Paul, a potential new member, Blake, Norm, Ron, and I. It had rained a bunch midweek and the river was running high and fast. But to our disappointment there was a strainer right across the bottom of the first and most exciting rapid. Somebody had cut off the very end of the branch, but that only left a 6’ opening to the right eddy. Small opening to aim for after multiple ledge drops and holes. 5 of us passed, but Pat couldn’t resist the temptation and made the run look easy and slithered passed the obstruction.
The river was lively and rocks were less of an issue. Still, we had some mild carnage. Paul missed his first boof off the dam, flipped, and got sucked back into the froth. Luckily, the adjacent landowner was standing on the dam with a long pole and fished Paul out in a flash. Pretty convenient rescue. Paul redeemed himself on the second run and stayed dry. Further downstream, Norm must have slipped out of his eddy and got knocked out of his boat by a branch. It took a while to land his Whitesell full of water in the high water. After a cold swim, Norm had had enough and took out at the next bridge and headed home to warm up. Otherwise everyone had good runs.
On the second go round, Ron rested his hip, played shuttle bunny, and took pictures of us boofing the dam. I discovered that Blake had only paddled a kayak twice before on the Deerfield! I wouldn’t have guessed that by the way he was dodging rocks and strainers. He may soon be a new member with some natural talent. By the second time we reached the Cumby’s take out, the temperature had warmed to 60 degrees to top off a great day of paddling.