A View from the River - November 27th

That's the title of a Ranger Talk that I will be doing at the Museum of Work and Culture on January 17, 2010.  The talk will be on the Blackstone River's historic mill villages.  I just finished this slideshow based on the Plainfolk song Blackstone Valley that I plan to use at the end of my presentation.


A View from the River from Erik Eckilson on Vimeo.

Thanks to Cheryl Thompson Cameron and Keith Hainley for allowing me to use their pictures.

I can't believe that I just had a six-day weekend, but couldn't squeeze in any paddling. I had some time on Friday, but the weather didn't cooperate. I guess its good to be busy with family and friends.

Links:
Historic Mill Villages from woonsocket.org

Bernon Mills - November 21st

It was other busy weekend without much time to paddle. I did get out for a couple of hours down at River Island Park. Level was good – 3.5 ft., 1,400 cfs.

I was surprised to see how much progress the developer of the Bernon Mill Estates condominium project has made. The number 1 mill still needs a lot of work, but the number 2 mill is ready for sale. I’m not a big fan of condominium developments, but condos often seem to be the only viable way to save these old mills. This developer has done a nice job maintaining the integrity of these historic mills which are two of the oldest in Woonsocket.

Links:
My pictures
Pictures of the Bernon Mill Estates from tblades810
History of the Bernon Mill Village from woonsocket.org

What to do on a rainy day - November 14th

Normally, I’d say paddle, but I’ve been fighting a cold this week, so I didn’t think that would be a good idea. I finally bought a new external hard drive to hold all my paddling pictures and videos, so I spent a couple of hours organizing my files.  In the process, I found some clips from a park-and-play session at River Island Park last spring that I put together in this video.


River Island Park from Erik Eckilson on Vimeo.

Not as good as paddling, but not a bad way to kill a couple of hours.

Indian Summer – Ashton to Albion - November 8th

You couldn’t ask for a nicer day – sunny and warm - so I decided to take my canoe down to the Blackstone River in Ashton for a quick paddle. I usually paddle the canal/river loop from Ashton down to Lonsdale, but this time I decided to go upstream from Ashton to Albion.

I don’t paddle this section of the Blackstone very often – probably because its such a short trip. Its no more than a mile-and-a-half from the Ashton Dam up to the Albion Dam. The most prominent features on this section of the river are the two huge bridges that carry traffic from Route 295 over the river. On the Cumberland side, the pike bath takes landlubbers on a pleasant trip along the river. On the Lincoln side, the banks are steep with huge rock outcroppings that plunge down into the river.

I had forgotten how different the river looks once the leaves have dropped. With the leaves on the trees, the river feels isolated - like paddling through a green canyon. Once the leaves drop, signs of civilization are everywhere – houses, businesses and traffic. I am always amazed that the banks of the Blackstone escaped the development that occurred elsewhere in the valley.

I only took me 20 minutes to paddle upstream to the Albion Dam. The water was low, but I was able to surf some small rapids below the dam, and chat with a fisherman who was also taking advantage of the beautiful day. The trip back was even quicker, so I played in the waves below the Ashton Dam for a while. A small group gathered on the bridge below the dam to see if I would take a swim. Fortunately for me, the crowd was disappointed.

Links:

My pictures

Halloween on the Piscat - October 31st

Had a fun day today at the MVP/AMC year-end paddle and BBQ on the Piscataquog in Goffstown, NH.  RICKA was well represented with eight boats - six kayaks (Tom Jr., Tom Sr., Paul, Bob, Andy and Steve) and two canoes (me and Jeff). We were the first group on the river, and the last group to reach the take-out.  The Piscat is an easy class II with a couple of nice surf waves. I was doing pretty well on this one until I got spun sideways with my paddle on the upstream side (end of video).

Halloween on the Piscat from Erik Eckilson on Vimeo.

I didn’t get to stay to enjoy the BBQ, but I did get home in time to give out candy for Halloween.

Links:
My Video
River description from American Whitewater

"Love the Rock" Part 2 - New Boston Run on the Farmington - October 18th

When I pulled into the small parking lot at the Bear’s Den Rapid Sunday morning, there were already two cars in the lot. It was 9:00 AM, and we had agreed to meet at 9:30 AM, so someone had arrived early.

Walking down to the river I could see Jeff Budz and Geoff (GMK from NPMB) hard at work releasing a canoe that had gotten pinned the day before. Before I could get my drysuit on to help, they had popped the canoe off the rock. Good work.

After Saturday’s poling trip, I was back at the Farmington River on Sunday to run the New Boston section in my whitewater canoe. The run is about 7 miles. The first and last couple of miles are class II with one class III rapid at the end. The middle is class III – a narrow creek-like run with lots of rocks and several 2 to 3 foot drops.

We pretty much had the river to ourselves. I guess the lousy weather and low release kept people away. We had 4 canoes (me, Matt, Aaron and Jeff) and 2 kayaks (Geoff and Jeff).

 
I had done this run with Matt two years ago at a level of 4 feet, and did pretty well. I swam going over the biggest drop at Decoration Rock, but otherwise ran it clean. No such luck yesterday. Yesterday’s level was 3.7 feet which made for a boney, technical run. I spent the day bouncing off, riding up on, and flipping over on rocks.

I swam twice in the middle section – once below the first big drop after the slalom course, and once just above Decoration Rock. Both times I rode up on unseen rocks, got spun sideways, and was unable to hold the upstream gunwale out of the water – a sure recipe for disaster in a fast moving river. This is the section above decoration Rock.

By the time we got to the last rapid – Bear’s Den - I was cold and tired. Temperatures had only been in the high 30’s, and it had rained and snowed on-and-off all day. I watched as Scott and Matt ran the rapid, but didn’t feel confident. Sure enough, I flipped about half way through. Thanks goodness for drysuits.

Scott and Matt run the Bear's Den Rapid from Erik Eckilson on Vimeo.

I’d love to do this run again with a little more water – everyone said it would be easier. Maybe next year.

Links:
Jeff's video of my run above Decoration Rock
River description from American Whitewater
New Boston Gage

“Love the rock” - Farmington Poling – October 17th

“Love the rock”. That’s what they taught me in my first whitewater class. If you end up sideways in the current, broached against an obstruction, you need to lean into the obstructuction to keep the upstream gunwale out of the water. If you don’t, the boat will pin and you will never get it off.

That’s what happened to Joe.

I hooked up with Jeff, Matt and a few other polers for a fun day on the lower section of the Farmington in New Boston. We put-in around 11:00 and spent a couple of hours picking our way through the boulders as we worked our way up to the Bear’s Den Rapid. The river was not particularly high, but there were several class II sections with lots of rocks and ledge.

The last rapid below Bear’s Den is the most difficult. Marshall went first and took a swim. Aaron went next and almost made it, only to lose his pole. Joe went third. He got spun sideways and his boat quickly pinned on a large boulder. We worked for 20 minutes to get his boat off the rock to no avail. We finally decided to return the next day with more help. Then we will run the upper section in whiterwater boats.

More to come.

Links:
My Pictures
Jeff's video of Matt and I poling
Jeff's video of Joe about to wrap his canoe