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| Jim O'Brien Memorial Paddle Group Photo |
I got together with Dan, Pat, Paul and Andy to
run the Knightville section of the Westfield for the Jim O'Brien Memorial Paddle. This is an annual trip in memory of
a local boater who died six years ago in a tragic whitewater accident. Once
again, the open boaters were significantly outnumbered on this trip – 34 kayaks
to 3 canoes. Still, it’s a fun class II/III run, and I’ll paddle with the yakkers
if I have to.
The level was about 5’,
1,000 cfs. – a typical dam release level. We
put in at the picnic area at the base of the Knightville Dam, and took out at
the Gazebo on Route 20. The river is mostly class II rock dodging until you
enter the Gorge in the Gardner State Park.
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| Dan approaching the Gorge Drop |
There are two drops in the
Gorge section. The first is an unnamed rapid that is about 25 yards long that I ran to the right (there
is also a trickier shoot to the left that I ran a few years ago with Glenn). The second is a 3-foot
ledge known as the Gorge Drop. It can be seen from upstream by a big rock in
the middle of the river. You run this just to the right of the rock, and move
left to catch the eddy, or at least avoid the big haystacks downstream.
From the Gorge Drop down to
the take out there are some nice rock gardens separated by sections of
quickwater. Run took about 2 hours at a leisurely pace. No swims to
report.
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| Racers swimming the Hill & Dale Rapid |
The good news is that there
were plenty of canoes on the river (mostly tandems) for the Westfield River WildwaterRace. Supposedly, this is the oldest consecutively run canoe
race in the US. On the way home we
stopped at a rapid called Hill & Dale on the novice course to see some of
the carnage – we weren’t disappointed.
A pinned canoe in the middle of the river told us that the safety boats
had been busy. We saw about 10
boats come through in 15 minutes, and half of them dumped, and there were
plenty of gunwale grabs on the rest.
Links:
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| At the put-in - photo by Paddler Shawn |
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