Branch River Icebreaker - March 21, 2021

Up the Glendale Rapid

It has been seven-years since my last poling trip. From what I can tell, it was December 2014 with Matt McCay at Satan’s Kingdom. Not sure why I haven’t been poling since, but today I was out with Chuck, Mike and Matt H. for the annual Branch River Icebreaker, and it was a blast.

We were out on the Branch for the traditional third weekend in March, race weekend paddle. The weather was great – high 50’s and sunny. No ice to break on this trip. The level was low, but we have done lower. With a little rain on Friday it popped up to 2.5 feet, 150 cfs. It was a great level for poling, and the three drops (Whipple, Glendale and Atlas Pallet) were boney but runnable.

Running Glendale

Michelle dropped me off that the put-in around 10:00. Chuck and Matt were waiting, and Mike had already headed downstream. Matt and I poled up to the dam while we waited for Chuck to run the shuttle.

I was expecting to find a bunch of blow-downs above Whipple Drop, but those were gone. They were replaced by a bunch of blowdowns below Whipple drop. We made it through fine. We ran Whipple Drop with no problem, and took a short break at the Oakland Dam before heading down to Glendale and Atlas Pallet. It was a fun run.

Below the Nasonville Dam

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Branch River Gage

River description from American Whitewater

Crystal - March 14, 2021

I hadn't been to Crystal for years, and now I have been there three times in two months. Nice run, easy bike shuttle, and a paddling partner in Paul who is great to paddle with have made this an easy choice. It’s also nice to get my whitewater boat out.

Crystal is the 3-mile section of the Farmington River from the Route 179 River Trail parking lot in Burlington to the recreational parking area on River Road in Unionville. There are eight rapids that start out easy, and get progressively more difficult as you move downstream. We tend to spend a lot of time surfing and ferrying through the rock gardens. River was at a nice level - 6.2 feet, 1,000 cfs. Paul’s GPS said we paddled 4.5-miles on this 3-mile section, so that is a lot of paddling into the current.

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Crystal Gage

River Description from American Whitewater

River Island Park - March 7, 2021

It has been a year since the COVID lock-down started. The first trip I did after the stay-at-home order was issued was a solo run at River Island Park. It seems appropriate that I should be back there a year later for another run - especially after I got my mother her second COVID shot at Gillette Stadium yesterday. Nice level - 2.75 feet, 800 cfs. The hydro plant was shut down, so there was lots of water was flowing over the dam.

 

River Island Park from Erik Eckilson on Vimeo.

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River Church at Crystal – February 28, 2021

I decided to head out for a little "River Church" today with Paul at the  Crystal section of the Farmington. With yesterday's rain and snowmelt, the river was forecast to hit 700 cfs., but with the cold night it didn’t get close. It topped off at 5.8 ft., 500 cfs. - as low as I have ever run it. 

Some of the rapids were a little boney at the top, but there was usually water by the time you got to the middle. We spent over 2-hours on the river, so we found things to do. Bike shuttle on the road had a little more elevation than the bike path, but it was fine.  

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Paul's Pictures

Crystal Gage

River Description from American Whitewater

Martin Street Bridge - February 21, 2021

It was nice to get out for a little park-and-play below the Martin Street Bridge. A lady watching from the bikepath asked me why I didn't just paddled downstream - what's the fun in that. The river was at a nice level - 2.5', 700 cfs. Here is an hour-and-a-half condensed into 3 minutes. Martin Street Bridge from Erik Eckilson on Vimeo.

Diamond Hill - February 20, 2021

Heading out

I was up before dawn and anxious to get outside after a long, stressful week at work. With 6’ of light powder on the ground from yesterday’s storm a hike seemed to be in order. There was no Papa Joe Hike this weekend, so I was on my own. I decided to head over to Diamond Hill.

Diamond Hill is a massive outcropping of white quartz located about a mile from my house in Cumberland on the border with Wrentham and Plainville. It’s 350-feet from the parking lot up to the top of the hill, which is actually 481-feet above sea level. It is said that on a clear day you can see the Boston skyline and Mount Wachusett from the top. I can’t say that I have ever seen either, but the views are great. Diamond Hill is also the southern terminus of the 33-mile Warner Trail that runs from Diamond Hill to Sharon MA.

Snow covered trails

Diamond Hill was named in colonial times for the sparkling flecks imbedded in the rock. In 1877 the Diamond Hill Granite Company established a quarry here, which can still be seen at the southern end of the hill. In the 1930's the Civilian Conservation Corps acquired the property and established the Diamond Hill Reservation. Eventually two ski areas would operate on opposite sides of the hill - Diamond Hill State Park on the west, and Ski Valley in the east. Ski Valley has now been turned into condos, and the Town of Cumberland now owns the 373-acre Diamond Hill Park with 3.8-miles of hiking trails.

I arrived at the park just after sunrise. Temperatures were in the mid 20’s, and there was 6’ of light powder on top of a frozen base. I took my usual route through the woods to the right of the bandstand. The trail leads to the base of a huge cliff that was once an old quarry.

Top of the quarry looking north

At one time, you could climb the southern side of the quarry to access the ridge at the top of Diamond Hill. Today, a house sits at the top, so the trail cuts back along the bottom of the quarry and accesses the ridgeline a little further to the north. I climbed up the southern side of the quarry anyway to get some pictures, and then worked my way back down.

I then followed the trail below the quarry up to the rocky crest overlooking Diamond Hill Road. From here, the trail runs about a mile to the north. The views from the top are great – to the west is Tower Hill, to the east is the Diamond Hill Reservoir, and the north are the hill of Wrentham, MA.

Top of the quarry looking west

I took a break on the concrete footing of an abandoned chair lift before continuing along the ridge. There is a trail down the north side of the hill along the road, but I took the quick route down the sledding hill instead.

The loop is only a couple of miles long, but it seems like it is uphill all the way until you come to the big drop at the end.

Diamond Hill Road and the Wrentham hills to the north

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Diamond Hill Trail Map

Diamond Hill Town Park from RI Blueways/Greenways
Warner Trail
Warner Trail Guidebook

River Island Park - February 7, 2021

Yesterday would have been a great day to paddle, but I had to take my mother to Gillette Stadium to get her first dose of COVID vaccine – one down, one to go.  

I got out early this morning for a quick run down at River Island Park.  With the snow already on the ground, I wasn’t sure I would be able to cart the boat back upstream, so I decided to paddle the quickwater right around the park. The river was a a nice level - 650 cfs, 2.4 feet. The flurries started just as I drove back in the driveway.

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Woonsocket Gage