Ammonoosuc - Twin Mountain to Pierce Bridge - April 2, 2022

One in every crowd

When I started paddling, I often heard people talk about “paddling in the Whites”. By “the Whites” they meant the White Mountains and rivers like the Saco, Pemigewasset, the Swift and Ammonoosuc. Unfortunately, it’s a long drive for me and those rivers can be tough to catch. I've done a few sections of the Pemi and the Saco over the years, but never the Ammonoosuc. That changed today on a trip with the NHAMC.

After missing the last two weeks, I was looking forward to this week’s Class III Step-up trip. A couple of inches of rain on Friday brought all the rivers up, so there were lots of options. The decision was made to run the Ammonoosuc from Twin Mountain to Pierce Bridge, which includes the Boat Breaker Rapid.

The Twins - Twin Mountain

The Ammonoosuc River arises at Lakes of the Clouds in the saddle between Mount Washington and Mount Monroe. It rumbles down the mountains and flows generally southwest for 55-miles to converge with the Connecticut River in Woodville. The Wild Ammonoosuc joins the Ammonoosuc in Bath. In spite of its name, the Upper Ammonoosuc is not the upstream portion of the Ammonoosuc River, but an entirely separate tributary of the Connecticut River about 25-miles to the north.

It's a 3-hour drive up to Twin Mountain, so I got an early start. The sky was blue, but clouds hung low over the mountains as I approached the Franconia Notch. White snow on the mountain tops was a reminder of how cold the water would be. We met at St. Patrick's Church in Twin Mountain, geared up, and ran the shuttle down to Pierce Bridge. We had 14 paddlers - 13 kayaks and one canoe (guess who).

Boat Breaker

The day was sunny with temperatures in the mid-30’s as we headed out. The river was at a medium-low level – 3-feet, 500 cfs on the Bethlehem gage. The river starts off Class I/II down to the "Big Pine" turnout on Rt. 302 - this section was a little boney. From there, the river increases in difficulty to Class II+/III. The most difficult rapid is Boat Breaker just upstream of the take out at Pierce Bridge.

By the time we finished the clouds had cleared and we had an amazing view of Mount Washington covered in a fresh layer of snow on the way back to the put-in. I should have stopped and snapped a picture.

The crew at the put-in

Links:

My Pictures

Ammonoosuc Bethlehem gage
River Description from American Whitewater