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Jun 19, 2026: Dead River Throwback Cruise

Solo Throwback canoes:  TC Kyle Duckworth in a mid-90’s Old Town Appalachian, Kenny DeCoster in big boat from 1982, Will Smith in 1970’s-era Tripper, Dan Pelletier in an old Dagger Legend

Tandem Throwback canoe:  David Baird and son Finn in a Novacraft Prospector

Playboat canoes: Ross Cameron, Krea Galway

Throwback kayak: Devon Carter in a big ol’ glass boat

Other kayaks: Gary Cole, Suzanne Cole, Ron Chase, Jean Miller, Cath Kimball, Stephanie Golman, Janet Lorang, Bill Stafford, Jeff Swett, Mason Galway

Shredder: Alan Fuller and Deb Harris, Bob and Jan Radowicz

Rafts: Adam Chase, John Brower, Kevin Morrissey, Danny Pelletier, Ian Olgilvie, Amy DiFrancesco, Mike and Stephanie Timberlake, Andrea Reising, Ryan and Schweta Galway

Duckie: Porter Towne

 

Those expecting a mellow 1800 cfs flow for the Throwback Cruise were disappointed. Those expecting excitement and chaos were not.

Two days before the trip, the region received 2-1/2” of rain, with the result being that the Dead River was running over 6000 cfs when we showed up at Webb’s Campground on Friday. Realizing that even if Brookfield Power brought the release down to 1800 cfs the following morning, Spencer Stream would be adding another 1500 cfs at the put-in, West Forks homeboy Adam Chase offered to procure a couple of rafts for those who would find the Dead running too high for their comfort. That enabled a half-dozen people to enjoy a thrilling raft ride rather than a long, wet, exhausting day, and cut down significantly on the carnage.

Will Smith was fired up for his first run of the Dead. His skills were solid, but he found his 17-foot Tripper to be a bit much to handle in the heavy waves of the Dead at 3500 cfs. After a couple long swims he decided the second half of the run would be a lot more fun in a raft, so he ditched his boat at the gravel pit and hopped on board the raft captained by Stephanie and Mike Timberlake. As a result, he got a good look at all the rapids, and knows he’ll be back again at the right time in the right boat.

16-year-old Krea Galway was planning her first Dead run in a solo canoe. Her dad Ryan told her she could set out from the put-in, and when the rapids got too big for her, he’d take the canoe and she could jump in the raft. He never got the chance. Krea was solid and confident, and ended up making her solo first descent at twice the level she planned on! She had a couple very proud parents.

We had some new folks along and enjoyed getting to know them in camp. Janet Lorang, Stephanie Golman, Porter Towne, and Ian Olgilvie got their first taste of Chowderhead hospitality and we hope to see them again. We were also pleased to have our club president Bob Radowicz and first lady Jan at the Throwback for the first time.

An incident late in the run brought home the importance of a strong, capable, and supportive group when things go south. Cath Kimball flipped in her kayak, and before she could roll up (and she was quick to point out that she DID roll up!) she hit her forehead hard on a rock. There was a bit of blood and almost immediately one eye was swollen shut. Luckily the rafts were on the scene, along with Dan Pelletier and his first aid kit, and an MD in David Baird to check her out. We lashed her kayak to the back of a shredder and Adam loaded her into his raft. They charged ahead to get her off the river and to a clinic. Andrea Reising drove Cath and her car back to Portland the next day. She’s going to be fine.

The MVP award goes jointly to Adam Chase and Dan Pelletier. Adam called in his Forks connections to get us a couple of rafts, and that saved the trip for half a dozen people. And he took charge to get Cath safely off the river and to help. Dan was everywhere in his aptly-named Dagger Legend, and single-handedly fished several swimmers out of the river. He’s an expert canoeist, an inspiring paddler, and the ultimate team player.

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Jun 6, 2026: Dead River @ 2400

Brent Elwell (TC) K-1, Abraham Marr (K-1), Ron Chase (K-1), Kenny DeCoster (OC-1) and Mike and Stephanie Timberlake (Shredder)

This trip turned out to be ridiculously easy to organize and execute.  I had paddled with the PPCS trip the day before which had both a much larger group size and higher volume of water (4000 cfs) which makes a few rapids much harder and consequential – especially Lower Poplar Falls.  The expected forecast of rain and heavy wind did not happen.  Ironbound organized an excellent shuttle for us.  We were able to compete our run in under four hours.  We saw only one paddling group the entire day on the river.  New PPCS member, Abraham Marr, joined our group for his first paddle down the Dead.  He did fine.  I enjoyed camping at the West Forks Family Campground this weekend.  Despite the rainy weekend, it proved to a quiet and peaceful camping experience.

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Jun 6, 2026: Dead River @ 4000cfs

Participants – K1: TC Ken Gordon, Paul LeClair, Pat Cavanaugh, Brent Elwell, Jeff Bickford, Gary Cole, Suzanne Cole, AJ Held, Mark Nelson.   OC1:  Kenny DeCoster.  Row Frame Raft:  Christoper and Elwin Corey

A wet and cool forecast did not prevent a dozen Chowderheads from showing up to paddle the Dead River 4000 on June 6.  The day’s weather was much better than predicted and the hardest rain held off until we had reached the takeout.  The water level provided good surfing and challenging runs in the harder rapids but other than two swimmers in Lower Poplar, always difficult at 4000 cfs, everyone had good runs all day.

 

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Aug 11, 2024: Dead River at 1800cfs

K1: Ron Chase, Brent Elwell, Clyde Mitchell, Matt Nathaniel, Jessa Solis
OC1: John Brower, Kenny DeCoster TC

Shredders: Don Skolfield and friend, Chris and son, Skip Morris and Brian Perver
After all the rain on Thursday and Friday and a great many emails, many decided against paddling the high water. Still on Saturday, about 20 people paddled the Dead at 4000+ and resulted in a little bit of carnage. By Sunday, Spencer dropped from 1650 cfs to 750 cfs and all the feeder streams were lower. 10 paddlers put in at Spencer with about 2500 cfs and ended the day with 3000+ cfs on the lower Dead. This was not the “beginner”/ 1800 cfs/ Throwback Cruise level that I advertised, but a mid-level run that our experienced group enjoyed.

Temperatures in the 70s and partly cloudy skies greeted us on the river. Skip and Brian joined the group at the gravel pit to retrieve the canoe that was lost on Saturday. We had an uneventful ride down the river riding wave trains and surfing waves until Mile-long Rapid. 1/3 of the way down, a kayaker flipped and tried to roll. Another kayaker paddled up to the overturned boat, grabbed both sides, and righted the boat and paddler in midstream. I had never seen anything like it before. A long nasty swim was probably averted. The rescuer’s paddle was picked up and returned so he could stop paddling with his hands.
Further on down the rapid, Brent was already on the rock with the broached canoe that had disappeared underwater the day before. Overnight the canoe had broken free from being submerged to broaching higher up on a rock further downstream so it was actually accessible. I paddled over to join him. I steadied the boats balanced on the rock and tied in the retrieved gear bags as Brent wrestled the canoe off the rock and sent it down lower Mile-long. It broached again in a quieter stretch of river and Skip and Brian took over installing an airbag and towing the boat to the Upper Poplar Portage, where it was paddling out on Monday at low water.

The rest of us made it out to the public take out without further incident. One thing about paddling the Dead is that it’s often an adventure that generates stories to be told around a campfire.

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Sep 14, 2024: Dead River at 3500cfs

Suzanne and Gary Cole TCs, Patti and Tom Rutka, Paul Sarli, Paul LeClerc, Eric and Jack Kingsley, Jessa Solis, Kevin McKenzie, Loren Starcher.

We couldn’t have had a better day on the Dead. Warm and sunny, in our 6 kayaks and 3 inflatables, we made our way down river. We had a couple of people who were unfamiliar with the river and we enjoyed showing them the way through the more challenging rapids. Although 3500 is gentler than 5500, we found plenty of excitement. 

We wondered if we were ahead of the bubble as surfing at Quatro was not as good as usual, but it was hard to tell and we paddled on. It seemed too early to have lunch above Hayden’s, so we continued on and ate at Enchanted Stream. Some of us wanted to run the chute next to Elephant rock, but it was clogged with North Country rafts going round and round. We had to make a quick left and run the other side of Elephant.

Mile Long seemed pretty calm (we were probably comparing it to 5500) until the last bit. Our discussion after we made our way through the slot at the bottom was, “I don’t remember that big wave hole, do you?” On we went, some of us surfing here and there. Spruce Ledge wave was flat and things were uneventful until Poplar. We made our plans, where we were running it and who was following who.  A few had to switch to Plan B, but we all came through in good shape. 

We floated to the takeout reveling in our adventurous day. Two of us were enjoying our conversation so much that we floated right past the takeout. We ended up dragging our boats through the alders and up an old road back to the takeout.