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Jun 3-4, 2023: Dead 4000 & 2400

Saturday – June 3 Participants:

K-1:  Brent Elwell, Devon Carter, Paul LeClerc, Charlie Berliant, Greg Winston and Ken Gordon

OC-1:  Kenny DeCoster

Inflatables:  Jeff Swett, Bryan and Alyssa Wolfe,  Ron and  Adam Chase

Sunday – June 4 Participants:

K-1:  Adam Chase, Ron Chase, Paul LeClerc, Ken Gordon

C-1:  Mason Galway

OC-2:  Peter and Iris Hubbard, Ryan Galway and Will

OC-1:  Kenny Decoster, Matt Briere, Dan House

Following two days of summer like weather the paddling weekend arrived wet, cold and windy but it didn’t deter the 19 boaters who showed up at The Forks for Saturday’s 4000 and Sunday’s 2400 releases.  Saturday’s 4000 provided great play opportunities and challenging big water rapids.  Weather conditions were good considering the windy and cool temperatures but the rapid pace of the trip kept everyone paddling and warm.  Other than a few occasional rolls all members had successful runs and thoroughly enjoyed the day.

Sunday’s 2400 started with a scare when the shuttle was cancelled due to a lack of passengers, but paddlers arriving without shuttle reservations filled the quota.  Adam Chase volunteered to drive the van and also secured a driver to bring it back out.  The man of the day for sure.  He even provided a moose sighting on the drive to the put in.  The threat of rain and colder temps convinced us to shorten the trip so we started at the gravel pit instead of going all the way to the top.  The water level was excellent and provided paddlers an opportunity to have a more technical run with very pushy water.  There were a couple swims but paddlers were quickly rescued; Will even got to do some solo OC-1 paddling when he help reunite a boat and paddler. And the rain held off until we arrived at the take out – another great weekend on the Dead.

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Sep 17, 2022: Dead River @ 3500 cfs

Trip Coordinator: Brent Elwell K – 1

Participants: Ryan Galway OC-1, Mason Galway OC-1, Jeff Swett, Tom and Patti Rutka Shredder, Greg Winston K-1, Kenny DeCoster OC-1, Eli Ross K-1, Jeff Bickford K-1, Charlie Berliant K-1, Devon Carter K-1 and Paul Sarli K-1

The weather was spectacular with little wind and clear skies.  There was plenty of other river traffic including rafts and kayaks.  Mason and Eli provided ender entertainment below the Elephant Rock chute on river right.  There was no river carnage at Poplar Rapid on this trip which was okay by me.  Most paddlers opted for the middle route on this rapid.  It was a great day to be out paddling!

 

 

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Sep 18, 2021: Dead River at 3500cfs

Trip participants: Ken Gordon, Devon Carter, Emma Erler, Halen Earle, Deb Harris, Connor Cory, Greg Gerbi, Jeff Bickford, Clyde Mitchell, Mark Berry, Charlie Berliant, Greg Winston, TC’s Suzanne and Gary Cole.

Eleven kayaks and two rafts enjoyed this beautiful day on the river. There were quite a few groups on the river and we kept hop scotching with the Connecticut AMC. We benefited from the skill of one of their kayakers who retrieved one of our kayaks that got stuck in a retentive eddy at Spencer. Once boater and boat were reunited, we proceeded to paddle and surf our way down the river. Surf waves were everywhere, but Quatro had fewer waves to surf and Spruce Ledge wave was non existent. It was great to have new members make some great surfs and enjoy the river at this level. We ate lunch above Hayden’s, took breaks at Enchanted, above Mile Long, and above Upper Poplar. We had a couple of swimmers at Poplar as one flipped and swam while the other ran into trouble while retrieving the swimmer’s paddle. It took quite a while to get boaters and boats reunited as communication was difficult. It all worked out and everyone was fine. There were many rafts on the river, but they all passed us by early and we were probably the last boaters to get off the river.

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Jun 6, 2021: Dead River

This was my first shuttle with Webb’s Shuttle since the pandemic.  It is still a great deal as no one gets very excited about driving in for vehicles after a long day on the river.  We were fortunate to have a contingent of New Hampshire based boaters join the trip.  They included Mike Russell, Derek Ahl, Brian McCormack and Emma Erler. Another new member Matthew Briere also joined this trip.

We had very nice weather on this trip.  In fact, I think a couple trip members remarked it was a near perfect paddle day.  Other pluses included: few biting insects, low river traffic and plenty of surfing opportunities.  It looked like everyone enjoyed the day on the river.

Participants: TC Brent Elwell K-1, Derek Ahl K-1, Michael Russell K-1, Connor Marland OC-1, Brian McCormack K-1, Julia Richmond K-1, Ron Chase K-1, Tom Sawyer OC-1, Emma Erler K-1, Matthew Briere OC-1, Ryan Galloway OC-1

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Jun 5, 2021: Dead River (4000cfs)

Participants: Kayaks – TC’s Suzanne and Gary Cole, Emma Erler, Charlie Berliant, Jean Miller, Bill Stafford, Paul Bicknell, Tom Rutka, Jeff Swett, Troad Richmond, Jeff Bickford, Loren Starcher, Jamie Dolan, Jordan Schlitzer, Devon Carter, Pat Cavanagh, Paul LeClerc, Randy Berube; OC1 – Patti Rutka; Shredder – Paul Peters, Connor Marland; Raft – Deb Harris, Wayne Adams.

This level was a step up for some of our participants and a revisit to the “old 3500” for others. In recent years, the 3500 release shrank from what we were use to because of more accurately measured releases. So, in order to get back to the “old 3500”, they now release 4000 cfs. Some of the rapids seemed big to us old timers; we aren’t sure if it is because we had grown accustomed to the recent years levels or if it is in fact bigger than the old 3500. 

Clouds and warm weather ushered us down the river. With such a large group, we created subgroups to look out for and keep track of each other. There was good surfing at all the usual spots and those who were not as familiar with the river followed us old timers. We had a bit of excitement with four swimmers. Many thanks to the people who helped out with the swimmers towing boats and boaters to shore.