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| Put-in at the Corbin Covered Bridge |
Not Newport, RI - Newport, NH. I joined the NHAMC Class III Step-up trip on the Sugar River and Croyden Brook. As usual, I was the only open boater paddling with 21 kayakers.
The Sugar River originates at Lake Sunapee and flows generally west for 27-miles to join the Connecticut River. Tributaries of the Sugar River include the South Branch and the North Branch. The North Branch, known as Croyden Brook on American Whitewater, originates in Grantham and flows south for 10-miles through the town of Croydon to join the Sugar River in Newport.
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| Running Sweet Tooth |
The morning started with a run on a section of the Sugar River that I first paddled as a student in the NHAMC Whitewater School back in 2005 - Corbin Road to Route 103. The river was at a nice level – 4-feet, 1,500 cfs on the West Claremont gage.
We put-in at the covered bridge, divided in groups and headed downstream. The river starts off with easy class I/II rapids until you reach Sweet Tooth – the largest rapid on this section of the river
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| Heading down Croyden Brook |
Sweet Tooth is a jumble of large and small rocks. The rapid takes its name from two large boulders just left of center. Smaller boulders block the left side, so the usual route is just to the right of the large “Sweet Tooth” rocks. You can eddy out behind “the tooth”, or ride the standing waves downstream.
From Sweet Tooth to the take-out is pretty much continuous class II. We took a break for lunch before the second half of our trip – Croyden Brook. I have signed up for the trip on Croyden Brook several times with Joe O’Neil, but it always gets cancelled due to lack of water.
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| The big drop on Croyden Brook |
The whitewater section of the Croyden Brook is 3 miles north of Newport on Route 10. We consolidated our boats and shuttled up to the take-out where Route 10 crosses the river. After leaving some cars we headed up to the put-in 1.7-miles up the road across from Glidden Road at an abandoned bridge.
Croyden Brook is narrow and creek-like with wave trains and lots of rock to dodge. It reminded me of the Shepaug or the Jeremy in CT, or the Mighty Quin in MA. The largest rapid on the river can be seen from the road just upstream of the take-out. The river takes a sharp right turn and through a series of ledges. The line is to the right. I actually walked this drop so I could get some pictures of the rest of the crew going through.
Running Sweet Tooth on the Sugar River
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