How’s this for single blading - Tville – November 30, 2024

Chris running Initiation on the West

Back in September I ran the class III section of the West River. The first rapid just below the dam is called Initiation. It’s one of those rapids that is relatively easy if you take the right line, but usually ends in disaster if you don’t – at least for me. I was standing off to the side taking pictures and watching folks go though when I see this guy coming down on a paddle board. I think he’s going to swim for sure, but he picked the perfect line and made it through fine. That’s the line I took. I figured if he can do it on a paddle board then I should be able to do it in a canoe.  

Well, it’s a tradition around here to get out on Black Friday to paddle off some of that Thanksgiving turkey. With the rain on Thanksgiving Tville was up, but I didn’t see any trips on Friday. Instead, I got together with Paul D. for a low level (1.5 feet, 500 cfs) run on Saturday. We were joined by Chris - the guy on the paddle board from the West. He was amazing to watch – ran every drop, surfed every hole and made it look easy. When he did fall off he just jumped back on - easy recovery. Almost makes me want to try a SUP - almost.   

Chris running the top of Double Drop

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River Bend Farm - November 24, 2024

Lining Practice

I had some paddling options today since last week’s rain brought some rivers up. Tville my first thought. It was around 500 cfs, which is low unless you are desperate. I’m kind of desperate. It didn’t matter anyway because I didn’t have time to drive there. Instead, I headed over to River Bend Fam to do the Blackstone Canal/River loop.

The river was at 3.5 feet - low but still fluid. At this level you need to be careful to avoid the blowdowns that block most of the fast moving water on the outside of turns. I brought a rope to make a bridle and a dry bag to use as ballast and practiced lining. Otherwise, the river section went quick. There were a couple of strainers across the canal as I paddled back upstream, but I was able to get around or over them without portaging.

Blackstone Arch

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Turkey Paddle at Wallum Lake - November 9, 2024

After putting out the Christmas lights in the morning, I headed over to Wallum Lake in the afternoon for the Turkey Paddle with the RICKA Flatwater crew.

Wallum is a 200-acre lake on the border of MA and RI. The northern end lies in the Douglas State Forest and much of the western shore lies in the Buck Hill Management Area. It is about 2 miles long and ¼ to ½ mile wide.

The forecast was for gusty winds, so I decided to bring my sea kayak. I was surprised when Chuck pulled in with a kayak as well. Fortunately, Cheryl and Tom were paddling canoes, so at least we had two.

We put-in at the boat ramp in the Douglas State Park (there is also a put-in in Burrillville that I have never used), and headed down the west side of the lake. There were gusty winds, so I was glad that I had my sea kayak. We made it down to the southern end at Zambarano Hospital before turning around.

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Pcat Drawdown and BBQ - November 3, 2024

Matthias and Greg

For 21-years, the MVP and NHAMC have been sponsoring the annual Drawdown and BBQ on the Piscataquog River. Jonathan and I were doing a tandem run, so we decided to round up a tandem boat posse. We ended up with the nice group – 4 tandems ( me and Jonathan, Marcy and Cathy, Matt and Tom and Matthias and Greg), 2 solos (Pierpaolo and Jerico) and one kayak (Paul).

The Piscataquog River arise in Deering, NH and twists and turns for 35-miles before flowing into the Merrimack River in Manchester. We would be running the class II section below the Gregg's Falls Dam. I met Paul at the MacDonalds in Uxbridge for the trip up to Goffstown. We dropped off our boats at the dam, met the group, and ran the shuttle down to the road behind the prison.

Matt and Tom

The release was 5.5 feet, 800 cfs. This section is about 3-miles long with the most consistent rapids in the first mile. There is a rocky set of rapids below the put in, another under the power lines, and another leading up to the surf wave above the Henry Bridge. We took out time heading down, and Jonathan and I tried our luck at surfing.

From there is it mostly quickwater down to the take-out. There is a squirt line with the strong recirculating current where the river takes a sharp right turn, and one last rocky drop just above the take out. After a second "bomber run" we headed back to the dam for the BBQ – hamburgers, hot dogs and good company. Great day as always.

Jonathan and I going into the surf wave

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Goffstown Gage

Fall Foliage Tour at the Blackstone Gorge - October 12, 2024

Rolling Dam

I got a cortisone shot in my heel yesterday, and the doctor told me to keep it dry and go easy. I was originally thinking of a Fife Brook run with the CTAMC, but that seemed a little ambitious. Instead, I decided to do the fall foliage tour with RICKA at the Blackstone Gorge.

The Blackstone River arises in Worcester and flows south for 48 miles, eventually becoming the Seekonk River at the Pawtucket Falls. Native Americans called the river the "Kittacuck", which meant "the great tidal river." Salmon and other migratory fish were plentiful in pre-colonial times.

Blackstone Gorge below Rolling Dam

When English colonists arrived, they called the river the Seekonk, the Narragansett, the Pawtucket, the Neetmock, the Nipmuck and the Great before finally setting on the Blackstone. It is named for William Blackstone who was the first European settler in Rhode Island. He built his house - Study Hall - on the river in what is now the Lonsdale section of Cumberland in 1635 - one year before Roger Williams settled in Providence.

The Blackstone River drops 438-feet in elevation on its way from Worcester to Providence. Early settlers built dams to power sawmills and gristmills to serve the needs of area farmers. With the coming of the Industrial Revolution, the river's steep drop and numerous falls provided ideal conditions for the development of small, rural textile mills around which mill villages developed. Much of this early history can be seen along this section of the river.

Launching above Rolling Dam

We met at the Rolling Dam just above the Blackstone Gorge. A hike along the river below the dam will give you a sense of what the Blackstone River looked like before the European settlers arrived. Its banks are lined with hemlock and mountain laurel, and its rocky course tumbles over a series of three ledges and a small waterfall at the end.

We put in above the dam and headed upstream. We had 8 boats – 7 kayaks and one canoe. The river was a little low - 3.1 feet on the Northbridge gage, 6.6 feet, 78 cfs on the Rt. 122 gage. Paddling upstream from the dam is always a pleasant trip, and the foliage was just about peak. We paddle up to the Triad Bridge site.

Heading upstream

By the middle of the nineteenth century, the Blackstone River Valley had grown to become a major textile manufacturing center. That growth would continue with the introduction of rail service in 1849. With the ability to move raw materials in and finished goods out, railroads linked the Blackstone River Valley to markets around the world.

On this site, three bridges were planned to allow three different railroads to cross the Blackstone River. The lowest, the Providence & Worcester, is still in use. The middle, the New York & New England that was eventually owned by J.P Morgan, has now been converted to the bike path bridge. The top, the Grand Trunk Line, was never completed.

Triad Bridge Site

The Grand Trunk Line was brain child of Charles Hays who was attempting to establish a rail connection from Montreal to the ice-free port of Providence. Construction began in 1912. Unfortunately, on the return trip from a meeting with London bankers, Hays was killed when the ship he was on, the Titanic, struck an iceberg and sank. Construction continued on and off until 1915 when the project was finally abandoned. While the line was 70% complete, not a single mile of track was laid. You can see the concrete footings for the bridge that would have crossed this site.

Just upstream from the Triad Bridge site is the Millville Lock – one of two remaining locks from the 1828 Blackstone Canal. The other is the Goat Hill Lock at River Bend Farm. Opened in 1828, the Blackstone Canal utilized a series of 49 locks to move the barges up and down the 438-foot difference in elevation from Providence to Worcester.

Millville Lock

The canal itself was little more than a muddy ditch with paths on each side for horses or mules to pull barges. The locks used to raise and lower the barges were impressive structures. Made of granite with gates at each end, each lock was approximately eighty-feet long and ten-feet wide. Once a barge was in the lock with the gates closed, it could be raised by opening the upstream gate and lowered by opening the downstream gate.

We continued upstream into Millville below the Millville Rapid. Millville is one of the oldest, and one of the youngest towns in Massachusetts. Originally settled in 1662, it was organized as Mendon's South Parish in 1766, and became part of the town of Blackstone in 1845. It wasn't until 1916 that it was incorporated as an independent town.

Shallow water in Millville

Early in its history, Millville was small farming community. A sawmill and gristmill were operating along the river by 1725. By 1830, woolen mills lined the banks on both sides of the river. Millville would eventually become home to a large rubber mill, which would become part of the US Rubber Company (later Uniroyal) in 1892. Remnants of this industrial past can be seen in the foundations and mill races along the river.

We tuned around in the shallow water below the Millville rapid and headed back downstream. Before we reached the dam, we turned left and followed the route of the Blackstone Canal into Blackstone. It later became the power trench for the Lonsdale Company’s Blackstone Mill.

The crew at the put-in

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Wickford Harbor - September 29, 2024

Paddling with Bill in the Spirit II

I was going to the RICKA Family Picnic, so I decided to paddle tandem with Bill in my Spirit II at the pre-picnic flatwater trip at Wickford Harbor. We paddled from Wilson Park out into Mill Cove, and then up to Mill Creek, and then past Calf Neck and Cornelius Island into Fishing Cove before returning. It was a little cloudy, but otherwise a nice trip. 

After the paddle we headed over to the picnic for lunch and the awards ceremony. It was cloudy and windy, so lunch was inside. Bill and I received the "Rubber Ducky" award from Chuck for our well documented swim at the Bradford Fish Ladder on the Pawcatuck River. 

Receiving the "Rubber Ducky" Award from Chuck

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Forth Swim of the Year – West River – September 21, 2024

Paul portaging the dam

It’s been a long time since I’ve had my whitewater boat out, so I decided to join Paul for a run on the West River. Unfortunately, the shuttle wasn’t running, so we would need to carry down the dam to the put-in. We met at 7:00 at Mc’D’s for the ride up to Jamaica, VT. I followed Paul so we would have two cars for the shuttle.

The plan was to do two runs carrying down the dam with my canoe cart. As it worked out, we couldn’t use the cart for Paul’s boat, and it was a little tricky even with just my canoe. Once I got down to the bottom I also realized that I didn’t want to have the cart strapped to my boat for the run. If I swam, which I did, the boat would be even harder to rescue, and more likely to pin. I left it at the put in.

Tandem canoe running Initiation

I took some pictures of folks running the top of Initiation before we headed out. At this level – around 1,300 cfs – there was a shoot down the center that terminated in a hole, so you needed to cut to one side or another. Paul went left, I went right. Once you are through that first drop, it’s a long wave train to the bottom. I pulled over to empty when we got down to the bridge.

I filled up again in the rapid below the bridge, and had to pull over to empty. I filled up again in the rapid above boof rock. Unfortunately, before I pulled over to empty I got pushed left, just caught the edge of boof rock, and flipped – swim number 4 for the year. I took me a little while to swim out, but Paul was able to corral my boat.

Paul heading down on his second run

The run through the Dumplings was uneventful – stay close to the rocks, and then hug the seam to the left of the large standing waves. Of course, I had to empty my boat out again at the bottom. We took out after the bridge at Jamaica State Park.

I didn’t feel up for a second run on the upper section, but I did want to do the lower section. We ran the shuttle down to the take out for the lower section at the Route 100 Bridge, then headed back to the put-in at the Ball Mountain Dam. Paul did his second run, and I carried my cart back up the dam. I met him at the put in for the lower section.

Running the lower section

The lower section was a little more active than I remember – easier than the top, but still worth the effort. There was a huge line of cars at the take out – everyone had the same idea. We packed up, got changed and headed out.

We stopped for pizza on the way home at Brattleboro Village Pizza. From there I got on I-91, and Paul took the back roads home.

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West River gage