Monday, April 21, 2025

RICKA trip on the Knightville section of the Westfield - April 19, 2025

Group picture for the Jim O'Brien Memorial
In 2010, well-known local paddler Jim O'Brien died in a tragic boating accident on Hubbard Brook. Each year, his friends organize a memorial paddle in his memory on his home river – the Knightville section of the Westfield. Its dam-controlled so there is always water, and there is always a big crowd. It is the bumper-boats of whitewater paddling, and Paul posted a trip on the RICKA Whitewater Message Board.

The Westfield River arises in the Berkshires and flows generally southeast for 78 miles to its confluence with the Connecticut River in Agawam. The river has lots of great whitewater paddling on three branches that join in Huntington to form the main stem - the North Branch (sometimes called the East Branch) that includes Pork Barrel, the Middle Branch, and the West Branch that includes Knightville.

Paul and I heading down
This is also the weekend of the Westfield River Wildwater Race, so there is a big crowd along the river as well. As I was bringing my boat up to the put-in I saw racers coming down the expert course, and saw Rick at the finish line at the gazebo. 

After dropping my boat up at the dam, I drove back to the parking lot at the Huntington Health Center and waited for Aaron to pick up for a ride back to the put-in. We got into the group picture before heading out with the rest of the crew. We had a mixed group (2 canoes and 2 kayaks) and first-time runs for Aaron and Logan. The river was at nice level 5-feet, 1,100 cfs – a typical dam release level. 

Aaron running the Gorge Drop
The run is mostly class II rock dodging until you get to the Gorge in the Gardner State Park. We had one swim on the top half, but after a quick rescue we were back on our way. The Gorge Drop is a 3-foot ledge to the right of a large jumble of rocks. The easiest line is just to the right of the rocks. From there you can either catch the eddy behind the rocks, or ride the haystack waves downstream.

I went through first and caught the eddy behind the rocks. Unfortunately, I didn’t get my camera out in time to catch Paul and Logan coming through, but I did catch Aaron. From the Gorge Drop down to the take-out is quickwater and more class II rock-dodging. Here's my edit from Aaron's helmet camera video.



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