Crystal Section of the Farmington - May 27, 2012

Bob and I headed west to run the Farmington River from Collinsville to Farmington. The river was at a nice level – 6.5 feet, 1200 cfs. on the Unionville gage - less that that and it starts to get boney, more that that and it starts to wash out. We had six boats – two canoes (me and Matt) and four kayaks (Bob, Ed, Sharon and Dennis). 

The section from Collinsville to Unionville is generally known as the Crystal section and is the site of an annual spring slalom race.  Rock gardens interspersed with pools make for a fun and relaxing couple of miles.  Just before the Route 4 Bridge is a ledge with a fun surf wave that is generally run on river right.  After a longer stretch of flatwater is the Boateater Rapid - a long wave train which is a great way to end the day.

Surfing the Crystal Rapid

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River description from American Whitewater 

Unionville Gage

Plummers Landing to the Stanley Woolen Mill - May 18, 2013

We had a good time running the Blackstone from PlummersLanding to the Stanley Woolen Mill.  We had six boats – two canoes (Tom and Erik) and four kayaks (Linda, Fiona, Frank and Jim).  The river was at 3.5 feet on the Northbridge gage which was low, but runnable – 4.5 feet would definitely be better.  Everthing was definitely lush and green.

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Northbridge Gage