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| Heading to the put-in |
“Winter is not just about skiing”. That’s what Jo-Ann told the reporter
from the Hartford Courant who came to get some pictures of our New Year’s Day trip on the Tville section of the Farmington, and she was right. New Year’s Day runs are definitely a
tradition around here. Ian said “to
have a good year if you’re a whitewater boater, you have to be in the water on
the first”. Well,
I was!
This year, I had a couple of options for trips on New
Year’s Day, but I decided to join a group from the Where’s the Whitewater at on Facebook to run the Tariffville Gorge or Tville section of the
Farmington. The run itself
is short - just 1.5 miles - but there are play spots for paddlers of all skill
levels. At yesterday’s level (2.1 feet, 900 cfs on the Tariffville gage) it is a class II/III run. The difficulty increases as
the level rises.
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| Running the Ledges |
We met at Tariffville Park
to run the shuttle down to the take-out on Tunxis Road below the Route 187
Bridge. The temperature was around 30º so we didn’t spend a lot of time
hanging around. The river starts
off easy with the few small ledges and nice surf waves. The best of these
are Cathy’s Wave and the ledge below it. At this water level, you can
surf these waves for hours.
As you enter the gorge the
intensity picks up a bit. I ran the Bridge Abutment Rapid to the right,
and the rapid approaching the play hole to the left. Below the play hole is a small ledge. I eddied out on the left before ferrying to the middle to run the drop. I ran the ledges further downstream by doing the opposite - eddying out on the right, and ferrying to the left to run the drop. There
is a nice surf wave (Typewriter) as the river turns left around an
island, but I wimped out and didn't try to surf it. Good time as always – Happy New
Year!
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| The crew takes a break |
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