Removing strainers in the Glendale Rapid – March 7th

Well, I didn’t get to do any paddling today, but I did get together with Paul to remove a couple of strainers from the Glendale Rapid on the Branch River. The first was a particular nasty strainer on river left that blocked pretty much the entire left side. Paul’s chain saw only took one swim as we made quick work of removing it. Mike B. stopped by for moral support.

While we were at it, we also removed a smaller strainer on river right. Since we didn’t have boats, and we were too lazy to walk all the way around on the road, we waded across the river just above the rapid. Paul made it across

carrying the chain saw, but I lost my footing a couple of times and almost took a swim down the rapid. At Andy’s request, we gave that strainer a couple of kicks before we tuned it into firewood.

The river was low (3 feet, 320 cfs), but just as we finished, a tandem canoe came down the river. They bounced off the rocks, but thanks to our work, were able to make a run right down the middle. I'm looking forward to running it with a little more water.