Woodstock section of the Pemi - October 15, 2022

View of the mountains

There were lots of options for trips yesterday – fall draw-downs at New Boston and the North Branch of the Pcat, RICKA Sea Kayak trip from Potter Cove, and the first hike of the year with the Papa Joe group. With close to 3” of rain on Friday, though, what caught my attention was an opportunity to get my whitewater boat out in the White Mountains up in New Hampshire. The original plan was to run the section of the Ammo in Littleton, but it dropped too fast. Instead, we ended up on one of my favorites – the Woodstock section of the Pemi.

The Pemigewasset River, also known as the “Pemi”, arises at Profile Lake at the base of Cannon Mountain in the Franconia Notch. It flows south for 65-miles to Franklin where it joins the Winnipesaukee River to form the Merrimack River. There are a couple of other sections of the Pemi that I have paddled including the quickwater section from Woodstock/Thornton to Campton and the whitewater section in Bristol. The class II section in Woodstock is one of my favorites.

Beautiful foliage

We met at 10:00 at the put-in behind the Fire Station (51 Daniel Webster Highway, North Woodstock, NH), and ran the shuttle down to the take-out at the Ledges (Death Valley Road at the third Route 175 Bridge, North Woodstock, NH). The river was at a medium level – 4.5 feet, 1,500 cfs. after having peaked at 8.5 feet, 9,000 cfs. on Friday afternoon. We had 4 boats – 3 kayaks (Tim, Steph and Steve) and one canoe (guess who).

Its about a 4.5-mile trip that alternates between quickwater and class I/II rapids. The foliage was just past peak, but it was still beautiful. The biggest rapids are the 2 foot drop at the beginning, which we skipped, and the Ledges at the end. I did a different line through the Ledges – left behind the big rock in the center, and then down the middle. It got a little congested behind the rock in the eddy.

Runnning the Ledges from Erik Eckilson on Vimeo.

Links:

My Pictures
Woodstock Gage
River Description from American Whitewater