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| Pat runs the put-in drop |
With all the rain we had earlier this week a lot
of local rivers have been running, so I decided to take an afternoon off to do
some paddling. Paul immediately
suggested the 3-mile section of the Quinapoxet River from River Street in
Holden to the Wachusett Reservoir in West Boylston
The "Quinny" or "Mighty Quin"
is a class II/III run that can be tough to catch. The minimum
level for this river is about 8.5 feet. Many people say 9.5 feet is a good
level. We ran it yesterday at 10 feet, 500 cfs. which turned out to be
perfect. We had 5 boats – 4 kayaks
(Ed, Paul, Jon and Pat) and 1 canoe (guess who).
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| Ed does some surfing |
The trip starts with quickwater and some
easy class I/II rapids. There is also a nice play hole at the put-in, but
it was a little too big for my liking, so I took a pass. Ed did some surfing there, as did Jon
who pulled off a nice combat roll.
About 2 miles downstream the action picks
up with a class III rapid at the old Springdale Mill. The easiest
line though this rapid is to stay left and catch the big eddy just downstream
of the old breached dam. Jon went
first, went a little too far right, but was able to get into the eddy. Pat went next, went way too far right,
and flipped in the big waves in the middle. He pulled off a nice combat roll before I pulling into an
eddy downstream. I pulled into the
eddy without difficulty, and Paul took his usual line down the middle just left
of center.
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| Paul running Springdale |
From there, there are some nice class II+ rapids
down to the take-out. I found
staying a little right resulted in a drier line through the 3-foot drop just
downstream of I-190. I got spun
around in the last big rapid above the take-out, ran most of the rapid
backwards, but eventually flipped at the end. The open boater is named Captain of the Swim Team again, but
who cares. It was another great
day.
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| The shuttle van, but where is the canoe? |
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