I got together with Mike yesterday for a belated New
Year’s run on the Branch River in RI. Its about an 8 mile run with lots of
flatwater, some quickwater and 4 short rapids. There are also two short portages. Mike and I were joined by Joe and Ken – avid sea kayakers
who haven’t been able to paddle on the bay lately because of the cold, windy
conditions. I was in my whitewater
canoe. Mike was poling his
Explorer. Ken and Joe were in
whitewater kayaks.
We met at the dam in Harrisville around noon. As we unloaded our boats, a small crowd
gathered to watch us put in. I
don’t know where they came from, probably the nearby library or diner, but they
seemed very interested in what we were doing. I guess they don’t see a lot of paddlers in January. We got our boats in the water and
headed downstream.
Directly below the put-in is a rapid that nearly flipped me
when I ran this section last year.
An old dam forms a ledge across most of the river which is then
channeled into a shoot on the right side of the river under a bridge. The trick is to catch one of the eddies
below the ledge. That allows you
to set up for an easy run through the shoot. Last year I missed the eddy and ended up broached on a rock
downstream. This year I had better
luck. I wouldn’t call it a clean
run, but I made it through.
As we paddled downstream, the river twists and turns though
pretty woodlands covered in snow.
After about 20 minutes, we came to the next rapid – Whipple Drop. Its another broken dam resulting
in ledge with a 2-½ foot drop. No
problem – everyone made it through clean.
We paddled for another couple of miles and approached the
first portage at the Glendale Dam.
Mike told us there would be ice here, and he was right. A solid sheet of ice extended back from
the dam as least ¼ of a mile. Mike
poled into the ice acting as an icebreaker for the smaller boats. It was slow going, but eventually he
pushed up onto ice that was thick enough to walk on. At that point, we were able to get out and walk to the
take-out on ice close to shore dragging our boats behind us.
After a quick break for lunch, we put in below the Oakland
Dam. Joe and Ken did a short
seal launch into the river. I
followed – nothing big, but it was still fun. For the next 3 miles, the river is mostly quickwater with
two short rapids – the Glendale rapid and the Atlas Pallet or Mohegan
rapid. Since it was getting late,
we moved along quickly to get the next portage. We expected to find ice, and we did.
Once again, ice extended back at least ¼ of a mile from the
dam. Mike poled up to the
solid ice and we were then able to get out and drag out boats downstream. As we approached the next dam, though,
we realized that we had made a mistake.
The portage was on the other side of the river. Joe got back in his boat, and using ice
picks, pulled himself across the ice to the other sided dragging a rope behind
him. He was then able to pull Ken
and I, boat and all, across the river.
From there, the portage was just a short walk away.
