The Vermont Paddlers Club

What a fun and exciting day! The LNH was at a nice mediumish level to start (2 ft on Gilbert Gauge) and it was raining lightly but still around 50 degrees. There were 7 thinking about running it and two opted out immediately. Not a bad choice as it was pretty much the first run of the season for both of them. Mike, Will and I had done this run the day before at a much lower level. Jim P and John G were both doing their first run of the season. A lot to be said for the first and second and …well just about any run of the season.

The water was moving at a good clip and getting splashed proved bracing. There were floaters in the river but not too many and they weren’t really a concern. And the rivers’ edge was fairly clear of ice, in case there was a swim. The opening rapid on the LNH is always an eye opener. What a way to start the paddling day. The run proved uneventful from a swim / roll perspective but what a hoot! When we got to South St Bridge Jim P decided his fun quotient was filled and got off. John G decided to keep him company. Meanwhile, as I pulled into the current to start down the rapid I began to hear people yelling my name. Good thing I’m hard of hearing and only heard them just before it was too late. Apparently, just as I entered the flow a large tree came in behind me. When I looked back to the guys yelling at me, I saw the log hitting my stern, Yikes! It turned out, both the log and I had good lines. I scooted far left, the sneak route at this level, with out issue. The log took the center line and ended up rolling a few times but always came up OK. We ended at Lover’s Lane bridge pretty happy with the level. Mike observed that the lower New Haven will undoubtedly become extremely popular in short order as there is a new micro brewery (Hogback Mountain) on its banks. Here's hoping that growlers are available there.

John G unfortunately left his boat a little too close to the river. During our run the river came up to 2 ½ ft. When he went to collect it at the South Street Bridge, boat and paddle were gone. After about 1 ½ hours he and Jim P were able to find and collect the boat. The paddle remains missing in action.

Onto the second half of the outing. Chris W and Chris F both had done this section before though maybe not at these levels. We started out at 2 ½ ft and ended at 3 ft. Our take out would be Eagle Park (the ledges put in). On our way to the put (just before the corner of Ripton Rd and S Lincoln Rd.) we scouted for both dangerous ice ledges (there really weren’t any), river wide strainers (none) and drops (three). On our scout of the ledge drop there was an easish line down river right. At lower water this line could be IV. But at this level it would be straight forward (HAH!). And due to the river side ice and water level, there was no stopping and scouting. You either ran it from the start or walked it.   We also checked out a few other drops. Once we put on, which was downstream of the normal spot due to snow / ice, we had an easy warm up to the first III rapid at Garland’s Bridge. We got out and looked at and each chose a different line. I took hard right, Chris W took hard left, Chris F took the dry way. Each line worked out okay though the first two had a little bit more excitement then expected (read that as we screwed up a bit). The next rapid is where the river splits due to an island. The left line was open and it usually isn’t. So we opted for the left This line involves getting by strainers on the river left bank (which you are beiing pushed into by the water), pushing past the flow which is driving right at this point(you want to go left) and lastly ensuring you don't broach on the rock that is at the head of the island (or the rock that is just past that as well), We all managed with varying degrees of non-finesse. But we were upright. After this we had relatively flat water until the ledge drop that we had scouted earlier. We were all set for our easy river right line but little did we know that due to the increase in river volume the rapid changed. No longer was it the easy tongue with small curlers. But we were in it and, wow, suddenly there are some big irregular waves, some noticeable curlers / holes and nary a tongue. I was able to watch Chris F come through the meat of it looking very stable. After this we were treated to some nice wave trains and hole avoidance through to the take out. Chris W gave us some excitement right at the end when he wet exited a bit prematurely but no harm, no foul. The run is officially recorded as no swims / no rolls.