High Water, but no Paddling - January 13, 2018

Last weekend, Bill and I were snowshoeing along the bike path in Ashton, and the Blackstone was frozen solid. This weekend after the rain and the big warm-up, the ice was gone, and the river was cranking at at 8 feet, 4000 cfs at the Woonsocket Falls and Manville. 

Woonsocket Falls and Manville Dam from Erik Eckilson on Vimeo.

With higher water levels, I decided to go check out the Branch River.  It was running at 7 feet, 1800 cfs, but I knew it would start to drop quickly. The ice was gone, and the big tree that had previously blocked the Glendale Rapid had floated downstream and is now below the Nasonville Dam. The trees and the big pile of debris that had blocked the middle channel below Atlas Pallet (where Chuck pinned his boat during the first PARI attempt) is also gone. 

Branch River from Erik Eckilson on Vimeo.

Unfortunately, the chill is back today, and no one is interested in paddling, so I am off to hike at Purgatory Chasm with Bill and the Papa Joe crew.

(p.s. This video was done on Saturday. By Sunday the river had dropped to 900 cfs, and by Monday was 500 cfs. The highest I had run it in the past was 600 cfs two days after the first PARI attempt. Monday would have been the day, but I had other stuff to do.)