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Oct 19, 2019: Little Suncook, NH

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.

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Oct 19, 2019: Farmington River, New Boston Section, 4.4ft

Participants: TC Jean Miller, Tom and Patti Rutka, John Brower, Al Perrie, Ed Quierolo

You normally want to bring your oldest gear on the New Boston whitewater release weekend. It is rocky. Paddling this section is much like playing a game of pinball with your boat. But the river gods were kind and gave us a great rain storm on Thursday so we had a nice level. In addition, we had sunny skies, beautiful fall colors and a great group. There are 3 sections of river to run on release weekend. The upper (Class 2), the middle (class 3-4), the bottom (class 2). We ran them all. The top section was great for admiring the beauty of the day. We passed through the race course on our way to the middle and saw a fleeting glimpse of Clay Cole.

Things heat up in the next section, the pinball game begins. There is a relatively new line through the Decoration Rock section. The old line on river right has a large strainer on it marked with a blue rectangle hanging from a tree. Everyone styled their way through the left side. The next feature to be reckoned with was Washing Machine, or Corkscrew, no one knows the real name. It wasn’t always pretty, but everyone got their line done. The last big feature is The Bears Den section. It needed a scout to find a way through the maze. Someone got bitten by the bear here, but no worries, it ended ok. Great trip!!

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Sept 21-22, 2019: West River

Participants:  TC Jean Miller, Suzanne & Gary Cole, Ron & Nancy Chase, Bill Stafford, Paul Bicknell, Charles Sweet, Andria Reising, Al Perrie

With warm and sunny weather, the West River weekend was as good as it could be.  We had a riverside lean-to with many PPCS members nearby. There were sightings of the families of Evan Eichorn, Ryan Galway, and Mike Faske. The West Fest is known for its crowds, but we did our best to avoid them.  Skipping the shuttle, we carried our boats down the Ball Mt dam face. There was some grumbling, but I personally love the carry down the Ball Mt. dam, it’s just so pretty. At 9 a.m. the river was still ramping up, so the first run was only 525 cfs.  There was no one on the river and it was beautiful. Suzanne and Gary put fresh eyes on the river and found waves to surf that no one ever considered.

The take out was our lean-to and with a quick lunch we were back on the river and ran it at 1480 cfs with quite a few more people.  On one of the shuttles, the trip leader had a little trouble with the police, but a smile and a promise set things right. After two runs, the paddlers were ready for a shopping expedition. People went home with new boats, helmets, spray skirts and air bags. Both Ron and Bill were very lucky to find helmets to fit.  Sunday morning was a repeat of Saturday morning, another beautiful day of paddling. Bill and Jean successfully ran the NECKRA sponsored Wild West River Stampede Race Sunday afternoon. On a sadder note, Ron was quite upset that one of his gift crème horns appeared to have been stolen. Everyone present denies it. It is rumored that this will be the subject of his new mystery novel. 

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Sept 14, 2019: Dead River 3500cfs

Participants: Ron Chase, Randy Berube, Charlie Berliant, Clyde Mitchell, Troad Richmond, Brent Elwell, Mike Fask, Andrea Reising, Tom Rutka, TC Suzanne Cole, TC Gary Cole (kayaks) John Brower, Norm Reins, Patti Rutka (canoes) Don Skolfield & Paul Peters (shredder)

Report: For a crummy forecast, we really lucked out. It rained a bit on the shuttle in, but once on the river, we only had clouds on this cool day.  The good news is that there is not much to report, everyone had good runs, many surfed a bit, and we all enjoyed each other’s company. It was fun to see two eagles tussled over a fish as we left Quatro. However, the most exciting part of the trip was getting on the shuttle. Kim had pleaded with PPCS members, and I repeated her plea, to sign up early for the shuttle because they were going away and had to arrange it ahead of time. I think a slight snag in this plan was that not everyone gets the listserve emails. However, most of us signed up early, but those who did not had to wait and see if there would be room. With a few cancelations, we all made it. A handful even had a lovely fresh air experience in the bed of the pickup truck.