Paddling, Skiing What else?: Driest Spring Ever???

New England has had a tough spring, this due to the fact that we had a very light snowpack this winter and warm temps in the end of March. The warm weather melted all of the snow before we knew it! With that said after all of the snowmelt was gone and the creeks were low, it seemed like it just wouldn't rain! This made the next couple weeks rough because normally at that time everything in New England is running 24/7 during the first couple weeks of April. Along with the low water, I have missed a lot of the days it has rained enough to bring things like the Middlebury Gorge or the New Haven ledges up to a runnable level due to school, prior commitments and most of all, not being old enough to drive yet! With these things in mind I have still gotten in some good boating over the past month.

Looping at "Hurricane"

I was able to catch one run on the Middlebury Gorge at the end of March just before I went home to Massachusetts on spring break with Justin Beckwith, Nick Gottlieb and Christian Woodward. It was a low level, but still a fun run. When I was home I paddled a decent amount on the class II-III section of the Deerfield, The Fife Brook section. Fife Brook is much different now after Hurricane Irene, most changes were for the best luckily. One major addition to the river was made, Hurricane Hole! Hurricane Hole is in the first rapid of the Fife Brook section, it is a wide hole and in the middle there is a great, retentive, deep, very fun spot at 900 cfs or greater. A typical release is 850, so sometimes you will hit the rock in there, but I am learning how to avoid doing that! The hole is great for loops, cartwheels and just about every other move you can think of at the right level. I spent a good amount of time there over break playing in my new Pyranha Jed! It is a great boat, very good for aerial moves, it is very slicy for cartwheels and it fits me perfectly.

Cartwheel at "Hurricane"

Another place near my house that runs 365 days a year is known by the locals as "the Indian River." The dam that is a mile downstream from the Crabapple Whitewater base and has some great slides right below it. Its a cool place to go because you can put in when work is done, get a good flatwater workout on your way to the dam, walk around the dam, hike up the slides, have a blast and then paddle home! I was able to run these at higher water one afternoon. (see video)

First drop

The other day I was able to paddle with Christian Woodward, a great guy, that even came to pick me up so we could paddle! We routed over to the Middlebury Gorge, when we arrived our dreams were crushed, levels were low, Christian had paddled the day before at a great level and we were hoping it held overnight, but it didn't... We were there so we put on anyways. The section above and below the gorge was rocky, but the gorge as always, was still very fun! We debated doing another lap there, even with the low water, but decided we would head to Texas Falls. I had been there earlier in the year and almost ran it, but the water might have been a touch high. Texas Falls is a set of 3 drops in a very tight, walled in, undercut gorge. The first drop is a double drop, a 6 foot drop into a 4 foot boof, then you are in a calm pool above the last 2. The Second drop is a bit funky, a 7-8 foot drop, with a funky entrance, into a tight, very undercut walled hallway. At the end of the hallway is a perfect 10 foot boof. The perfect 10 has a teacup-pothole on either side of it, so you want to try and boof straight off of it. below the big 3 there are a couple other small drops, which were low at this level and another big drop that definitely needs a lot of water to run. Here are a couple pictures, one of me boofing the second tier of the first drop, and myself dropping into the hallway.