Fife Brook – August 6, 2022

Paul below Hangover Helper

It has been a while since I’ve been out in my whitewater boat, so I decided to test out my cranky knee and do a run with Paul on the Fife Brook Section of the Deerfield River.

I met Paul at McD’s for the ride up to Charlemont. After dropping him off at the put-in, I drove back to the take-out to drop off my car and catch a ride back in one of the shuttles. There were lots of groups getting organized, and I found an empty seat in a car with the CTAMC. It was Deerfieldfest weekend and the Dryway wasn’t running due to an issue with the dam, so there were crowds everywhere.  

Erik in Pinball

The Fife Brook Dam was releasing at 800 cfs – a medium low level. We put in at around 11:00 and began working our way downstream. The crowds at Hangover Helper and Carbis Bend were huge, but eventually we found some space to ourselves. We surfed the ledge below Freight Train and played in Pinball before taking a break for lunch at Miami Beach. We then ran the Island Rapid before heading down to Zoar Gap.

My record running the Gap is mixed - 15 attempts with 7 successful, 6 swims and 2 walks. I pulled over above the Gap to take some pictures before running it myself. Once in the Gap, I caught the eddy on the left below the first pour-over, and then went right of "Oh Shit Rock" though the second drop. It wasn’t pretty, but I made it. So my record in the Gap now stands at 16 attempts with 8 successful, 6 swims and 2 walks. My knee was fine.

Zoar Gap from Erik Eckilson on Vimeo.

Links:

My Pictures
Fife Brook Dam Gage from Safe Waters

Charlemont Gage

River Description from American Whitewater

River Description from Zoar Outdoors

Fife Brook Release Schedule