The Vermont Paddlers Club

After a full day of rain Monday and more on Tuesday (through noon and beyond), we agreed the steep 1/2 mile of the Browns River below Old Pump Rd. would be prime for an after work outing. So at 5pm, I met JAMIE, JODY, JOHN, and JUSTIN for a JOLLY JAUNT in JERICHO. If only JIM had showed up it would have been some kind of harmonic convergence. But PAUL showed up instead, and things went downhill from there. Well, sort of. I suggested we drive up to scout the big drop below the OPR bridge. I have never run this stretch at such a high level, and the way the water was surging and swirling and reflecting off the rock walls at the hole half-way down made most everyone queasy.

By this time it was getting close to 6 pm, and with no other class III options in close proximity the group drove over to Barber Farm Rd. to set shuttle at the VT 117 bridge to run Mill Brook in Jericho. Since Tropical Storm Irene, Mill Brook has been virtually unrun, due to landslides into the river in at least 2 places leaving behind a jumble of trees in both cases. Even before Irene, Mill Brook had a reputation for sporting big wood in inconvenient places.

With all the water in the brook this afternoon, we were able to put-in way up on Nashville Rd., a hundred yards above the big waterfall "that nobody runs". Our better judgement was to leave it that way, at least for this day, and we carried around on the left or the right. A route certainly exists for running this falls, bouncing down the far right side, or perhaps even the far left.

From there down to Fitzsimonds Rd., where we called the trip on account of darkness, one encounters seemingly endless class II rapids with one short III just below the Field Rd. bridge, but there is a ton of wood in the river. More specifically, there are tons and tons of wood in the river. Thankfully, we were an experienced, nimble, and good-spirited group, able to size up the hazards, lift or boof over several of the logs, and make quick carries where that was impossible.

I was having a really good time, with something new to contend with around each blind corner. That said, this type of run is certainly not for everyone.

My feet are still sore from the mile plus walk up Browns Trace and down Tarbox Rd. to where we had left our nearest shuttle vehicle. It was close to 9pm, and pitch dark, by the time the last of the boats was loaded and we all headed for home.