Pawcatuck – Lower Shannock Falls to Alton – September 1, 2019

Running Lower Skannock Falls

I sent an email to Bill and Jonathan to see if they wanted to paddle on Sunday. Jonathan wanted to do something with current, so we decided on the Pawcatuck from the Lower Shannock Falls down to Alton. Bill wanted to paddle tandem, so I brought the Mohawk.

We met at 10:00 at Alton Landing to run the shuttle. The day was beautiful – sunny and warm, and the river was at a nice level – 2’, 70 cfs. on the Wood River Junction gage – low, but still fluid.

Lunch at the Carolina Canoe Campsite

We checked out the rapid at Lower Shannock Falls, and Bill and I decided that it was a little too low to run in the tandem. Jonathan ran it in the Courier, and made it look easy. From there, we continued down through the Carolina Raceway (moving pretty well) to the Carolina Canoe Campsite (getting overgrown) where we stopped for lunch. The Richmond Dam was too low to run, but the surf wave below it was prefect.  

Last year I ran a trip from Richmond down to Bradford, and the section below Richmond was full of blow-downs. Fortunately the WPWA has been in there with chainsaws and cleared a path. It was a bit of work paddling up the Wood River to Alton, and I felt bad for Jonathan paddling solo, but as always he managed fine.  Great day!

The crew at the take out below the Alton Dam

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Wood River Junction Gage