First run of 2009 – Branch River

Mike said that there would be ice, but I had no idea.  I did this run last year with Chuck and Tommy, and things were pretty fluid, so I thought I knew what to expect.  Boy was I wrong. 

I got together with Mike yesterday for a belated New Year’s run on the Branch River in RI. Its about an 8 mile run with lots of flatwater, some quickwater and 4 short rapids.  There are also two short portages.  Mike and I were joined by Joe and Ken – avid sea kayakers who haven’t been able to paddle on the bay lately because of the cold, windy conditions.  I was in my whitewater canoe.  Mike was poling his Explorer.  Ken and Joe were in whitewater kayaks.

We met at the dam in Harrisville around noon.  As we unloaded our boats, a small crowd gathered to watch us put in.  I don’t know where they came from, probably the nearby library or diner, but they seemed very interested in what we were doing.  I guess they don’t see a lot of paddlers in January.  We got our boats in the water and headed downstream.

Directly below the put-in is a rapid that nearly flipped me when I ran this section last year.  An old dam forms a ledge across most of the river which is then channeled into a shoot on the right side of the river under a bridge.  The trick is to catch one of the eddies below the ledge.  That allows you to set up for an easy run through the shoot.  Last year I missed the eddy and ended up broached on a rock downstream.  This year I had better luck.  I wouldn’t call it a clean run, but I made it through.

As we paddled downstream, the river twists and turns though pretty woodlands covered in snow.  After about 20 minutes, we came to the next rapid – Whipple Drop.   Its another broken dam resulting in ledge with a 2-½ foot drop.  No problem – everyone made it through clean.

We paddled for another couple of miles and approached the first portage at the Glendale Dam.  Mike told us there would be ice here, and he was right.  A solid sheet of ice extended back from the dam as least ¼ of a mile.  Mike poled into the ice acting as an icebreaker for the smaller boats.  It was slow going, but eventually he pushed up onto ice that was thick enough to walk on.  At that point, we were able to get out and walk to the take-out on ice close to shore dragging our boats behind us. 

After a quick break for lunch, we put in below the Oakland Dam.   Joe and Ken did a short seal launch into the river.  I followed – nothing big, but it was still fun.  For the next 3 miles, the river is mostly quickwater with two short rapids – the Glendale rapid and the Atlas Pallet or Mohegan rapid.  Since it was getting late, we moved along quickly to get the next portage.  We expected to find ice, and we did.

Once again, ice extended back at least ¼ of a mile from the dam.   Mike poled up to the solid ice and we were then able to get out and drag out boats downstream.  As we approached the next dam, though, we realized that we had made a mistake.  The portage was on the other side of the river.  Joe got back in his boat, and using ice picks, pulled himself across the ice to the other sided dragging a rope behind him.  He was then able to pull Ken and I, boat and all, across the river.  From there, the portage was just a short walk away.

Except for Joe’s seal launch down a steep curving slope (didn’t get this one on video) at the next put-in, the rest of the trip was uneventful.  We pulled into the take-out at around 4:00 and shuttled back to get the cars before dark.  It wasn’t the trip I expected, but it was still a lot of fun. Some video here:

Branch River from Erik Eckilson on Vimeo.