Fife Brook - Deerfield Riverfest - August 2, 2026

I made arrangements with Aaron to do a tandem run at Fife Brook on Sunday. It was Deerfield Riverfest weekend, so I expected there to be a lot of people around - there weren't. With the heavy rain last week there were other rivers were running, and the Fife Brook dam released at over 2,000 cfs on Saturday, which may have scared some people off. Fortunately, Conrad was leading a Boston AMC trip, so we were able to hook up with him.

There are two sections of the Deerfield with summer releases that are popular for whitewater paddling. Advanced paddlers often head to the Dryway in Monroe Bridge. This is a class III-IV section for experienced whitewater paddlers. We would be paddling the Fife Brook section, which is mostly class II, with the exception of Zoar Gap at the end that is class III. This would be my 24th run on Fife Brook, and my second paddling tandem with Aaron.

Heading downstream

We met the group at 10:00 at the Zoar Picnic Area to arrange the shuttle. With high water conditions, the release from the Fife Brook dam continued throughout the night, so we didn’t need to wait for the water to come up. The original release estimate was 1,500 cfs, but it was actually releasing closer to 1,000 cfs for most of the late morning/early afternoon.

We got on the water around 11:00 and practiced ferries and eddy turns/peal outs at the put-in before heading downstream. Just downstream from the put-in is the first rapid known as Hangover Helper - a ledge extends across most of the river resulting in a 2-foot drop followed by a long wave train. We ran the drop and played in the waves before moving downstream.

Jeff on his Paddleboard

The next rapid - Carbis Bend - is similar but smaller. A ledge extends out from the left side of the river producing a couple of easy surf waves. Aaron and I got there first and were able to do some surfing before the kayaks arrived.

Just downstream from Carbis Bend is Freight Train, which is a long wave train that ends with a large surf wave. The rapid takes its name from the speed that many people build up running through the waves, and the railroad bridge just downstream that carries freight trains across the river. We were able to drop into the big surf wave below the railroad bridge for some surfing.

Running the Island Rapid

After Freight Train we took a break at the Bridge to Nowhere before running Pinball. Pinball is a rock garden that’s a great place to practice eddy turns, peel outs and ferries. Aaron and I ran the rapid backwards ferrying from rock to rock until we needed to head downstream to stay with the group.

After Pinball is the Island Rapid. As the name describes, the river is split by an island. The usual route is to the left with large waves and fast moving water where the river reconnects at the end. Aaron and I were able to catch the eddy on the left and get some pictures of others coming through.

Below Zoar Gap

After the Island Rapid comes Zoar Gap – the largest rapid on this section of the river. We scouted it from the road and confirmed the usual line - just right of center down the shoot at the top, then left down the shoot at the large boulder.

Aaron and I went down last. We caught an eddy on the left on the way down, and then ferried out before turning downstream into the Gap. Aaron guided us down the first shoot and lined us up perfectly for the second drop. Always trust your bowman. My record at Zoar Gap is now 22 attempts with 14 successful, 6 swims and 2 walks. I have been successful on my last 7 attempts. Here is Aaron's video of the run.

Here are the major rapids as best I can identify them.

• Surfing Carbis Bend – 0:00
• Running Freight Train – 1:11
• Surfing below the Railroad Bridge – 2:02
• Running one of the unnamed rapids – 2:28
• Back ferrying/surfing down Pinball – 2:40
• Close call on a rock in Pinball – 3:30
• Miami Beach – 3:55
• Planning from the eddy above Zoar Gap - 4:33
• Running Zoar Gap – 4:54
• Below Zoar Gap – 5:36
• Mini Gap – 5:55
• Train goes by – 6:15

Links:

My Pictures

Two views of our run through Zoar Gap

Aaron's Video

Rob's Video of Zoar Gap Runs 

Zoar Gap runs over the years

Fife Brook Release Schedule

Charlemont Gage
River Description from American Whitewater

Fife Brook in River Trippers - June 14, 2026

Bob has a group doing a wilderness trip on a remote Canadian river next month and wanted to practice whitewater in river trippers, so he organized a trip on the Fife Brook section of the Deerfield. With my sore knee, tandem paddling sounded great, so Aaron and I headed up with my Mohawk Whitewater 16.

There are two sections of the Deerfield with summer releases that are popular for whitewater paddling. Advanced paddlers often head to the Dryway in Monroe Bridge. This is a class III-IV section of river for experienced whitewater paddlers. We would be paddling the Fife Brook section, which is mostly class II, with the exception of Zoar Gap in the middle which is class III. This would be my 23rd run on Fife Brook, but the first in a tandem.

Aaron was at my house at 7:30 to drop off a new-to-me Mad River Explorer 17 and head off to the Deerfield. We met the crew at 10:30 at the Fife Brook put-in to run the shuttle down to Shunpike. The release was 800 cfs. from 11:30 to 2:30, so we practiced ferries and eddy turns/peal outs at the put-in before heading downstream.

Just downstream from the put-in is the first rapid known as Hangover Helper - a ledge extends across most of the river resulting in a 2-foot drop followed by a long wave train. We ran the drop and played in the waves before moving downstream.

The next rapid - Carbis Bend - is similar but smaller. A ledge extends out from the left side of the river producing a couple of easy surf waves. Aaron and I did a couple of surfs, but there were too many kayakers cutting our place in line, so we moved on.

Just downstream from Carbis Bend is Freight Train, which is a long wave train that ends with a large surf wave. The rapid takes its name from the speed that many people build up running through the waves, and the railroad bridge just downstream that carries freight trains across the river. We missed the tight eddy on the right, but were still able to get on the big surf wave.

After Freight Train we took a break for lunch at the Bridge to Nowhere before running Pinball. Pinball is a rock garden that’s a great place to practice eddy turns, peel outs and ferries. Aaron and I ran the entire rapid backwards ferrying from rock to rock.

After Pinball is the Island Rapid. As the name describes, the river is split by an island. The usual route is to the left with large waves and fast moving water where the river reconnects at the end. Aaron and I were able to catch the eddy on the left and get some pictures of others coming through.

After the Island Rapid comes Zoar Gap – the largest rapid on this section of the river. We scouted it from the road and confirmed the usual line - just right of center down the shoot at the top, then left down the shoot at the large boulder.

Aaron and I went down last. We caught an eddy on the left on the way down, and then headed over to catch one of the of the rocks on the right. We ended up further downstream than I expected, and before I knew it we were in the Zoar Gap rapid.

Fortunately, Aaron had a better sense of where we were than I did. He guided us down the first shoot and lined us up perfectly for the second drop. Always trust your bowman. My record at Zoar Gap is now 23 attempts with 13 successful, 6 swims and 2 walks. I have been successful on my last 6 attempts.

After the gap, we continued downstream to the Shunpike Rest Area. On the way home, we stopped at the Picnic Area in Shelburne Falls for Ozzy’s hot dogs and potatoes. Here is Aaron's video of the run.

There are a lot of unnamed rapids, but here are the named ones as best I could identify them:

Hangover helper 0:37
Carbis Bend 1:08
Freight Train 2:07
Surf wave below the RXR bridge 3:51
Minefield (ferry practice) 7:05
Mimi Beach 9:38
Island Rapid 10:02
Above Zoar Gap 10:54
Scouting Zoar Gap 11:33
Running Zoar Gap 12:17
Running Zoar Gap - Slo-Mo 12:54
Mini Gap 13:55
Bam Dance 14:30
Spin Out 15:04
Conjunction Junction 16:05
RXR Bridge on Lower 17:04
Waves on left before take-out 18:10

Links:

My Pictures

Aaron's Video

Fife Brook Release Schedule

Charlemont Gage
River Description from American Whitewater

Mohawk Whitewater 16

Running Stokers on the Scantic

Of my 8 canoes and kayaks, the Mohawk Whitewater 16 is one of two that I inherited from my father (along with the Spirit II). Mohawk built the Whitewater 16 in the 1980's, and at the time was considered a pretty hot whitewater boat. It was later rebranded as the Intrepid. It is 16-feet long, 36-inches wide with a flat bottom. It weights a ton and will take a beating.

My boat was built in 1989. My father bought it new in the early 1990’s and had it outfitted for whitewater with larger bench seats, knee pads, thigh straps and float bags. We used it for annual whitewater trips on the Androscoggin in the 1990’s with the Boston AMC. That was my introduction to paddling.

Running Staircase on the Scantic

Since then, the Mohawk Whitewater 16 has been my go-to tandem boat for anything other than lake paddling. As a solo boat it is a beast unless you have gear in the front. It is great as a tandem or as a poling boat. Even with the flat bottom it has good secondary stability, at least when you are kneeling. It surfs great and poles easy.

And it is tough. I wrapped this boat on a rock when I was poling at the Manville Dam. It took us a while to get it off, but it popped back with one foot stomp, and I have been paddling it ever since.

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My Pictures

Tandem at the Scantic Spring Splash - March 29, 2024

Opening Ceremony 

I’m not much of a canoe racer, but I’ve always loved watching the carnage at the Scantic Spring Splash Canoe and Kayak Race – especially the tandem canoes. I have run the Scantic many times in my solo canoes. This year I wanted to try a tandem run, so I partnered with Aaron for a run in my Mohawk Whitewater 16.

The Scantic arises in Hampden, MA (southeast of Springfield) and flows general southwest for 40-miles to join the Connecticut River in South Windsor, CT. We would be running the "Expert Course" from Quality Avenue in Somers to the Powder Hollow Barn on South Maple Street in Hazardville – about 5-miles. 

Competition takes a swim above Trestle

Much like RICKA’s old Branch River Race (AKA Rhode Island Whitewater Championship), the Scantic Spring Splash is a downriver race with four significant rapids. On the Branch the rapids are below the Harrisville Bridge, Whipple Drop, Glendale and Oakland. On the Scantic they are Trestle, Stokers, Chimney and Staircase. 

I dropped off my boat at the put-in and headed down to the barn to register with Aaron and pick up our bib. We got number 29. We then caught the shuttle bus back to the put-in. 

Running Stokers

After the mandatory safety meeting we got on the water at around noon with our class – Men's OC2 – Masters (AKA the “old fogey” group). There was only one other boat in our class, so we were guaranteed to place. We launched first and headed downstream. 

Even with the dam release the river was very low - .75-feet, 22 cfs on the Broad Brook gage. The race starts off with 2.5-miles of quickwater, and we scraped and bumped our way down the upper section. At one point we grounded on a gravel bar and got passed by our competition. The first of 5-times that the lead would change,  

Below Stokers

The removal of the Springborn Dam in 2017 created the first major rapid – Trestle. As we approached the rapid we saw our competitions swimming down the left side.  We went right, checked to make sure they were OK, and continued downstream. We were back in the lead. 

Shortly after Trestle is Stokers - a 3-foot ledge that needs to be run about 10 feet off the left bank. We ran the drop fine, but filled the boat up with water and needed to pull over to empty it out.  As we were emptying the boat our competition passed us again.

Running Staircase

We got back on the water and continued down some more quickwater. It wasn’t long before we saw our competition stuck on a gravel bar on the left.  We passed them to the right and were back in the lead. 

After some more quickwater we came to the next major rapid – Chimney.  It’s an “S-turn” through some rocky ledges that is run down the center. We made it through fine, but got hung up on a gravel bar at the bottom. Unfortunately, our competition grounded on the same gravel bar and blocked us in. They got back on the water first, so they were back in the lead.  

Staircase from the Bridge

We continued downstream to the last rapid – Staircase. It is exactly what you would expect - a series of ledges that look like a staircase with a large shoot at the bottom. We could see our competition out in front of us. At this point, our only chance to win would be if our competition swam the big drop at the bottom They didn’t, and neither did we.

It was fun paddling under the bridge at the finish line to the cheers of spectators above. We finished second in out class with a time of 57:19 - that was 32nd out of 55 racers. We hung around to collect our trophy at the awards ceremony before heading home.

Link:

My Pictures

My short video of the run

Aaron's longer video of the run

Richard Tanguay Slideshow at Stokers

Stuck on Staircase Video

Spring Splash Video from Staircase

Scantic Spring Splash website 

2025 Race Results at PaddleStats.net

Broad Brook Gage

White River - Stockbridge to Bethel - April 28, 2024

Running the Ledge Drop

First was Easter, then I got sick with the flu, then I had other family issues to deal with, so I didn’t do much paddling in April. Fortunately, I was able to catch Bob’s trip on the White River in Vermont.

The White River arises in the Green Mountains and flows south and then east through the hills and farmland of central Vermont before emptying into the Connecticut River at White River Junction. When the river is up there are miles of quickwater and easy rapids to enjoy. Two of the most popular sections are Granville to Stockbridge and Stockbridge to Bethel (Upper on American Whitewater). I had paddled the section from Granville to Stockbridge twice before (1, 2), so I was glad we would be paddling the section from Stockbridge to Bethel on this trip. The trip is around 11-miles, and I would be paddling tandem in my Mohawk Whitewater 16 with Bill.

Running the Ledge Drop

We needed to meet the group at the bridge over Route 100 in Stockbridge at 10:00, so Bill was at my house at 6:00 for the 3-hour drive up to the put-in. We had rain on-and-off as we drove through NH and VT, but it stopped by the time entered Stockbridge. We arrived at the put-in at about 9:45, and the rest of the group was ready to go. We quickly got unloaded and ran the shuttle down to Peavine Park in Bethel.

We launched at 10:45 and headed downstream with 9 boats – 1 tandem, 3 solos and 5 polers. This section of the river starts off much like the section above with quickwater and easy riffles. The river was a little on the low side at 5’, 1,500 cfs on the West Hartford gage – perfect for the polers, but a little low for the paddlers. Rock-dodging was the order of the day and we had to pick our lines carefully to avoid the shallows. 

Running the Ledge Drop

The river runs along Route 107 for almost the entire trip. We stopped for lunch just below the bridge at Blackmer Boulevard. There are two class II(+) rapids below the Blackmer Bridge – the first a rocky ledge drop that we ran to the left, and the second is a shoot with large waves that we ran center/right. From there it was more quickwater and rock-dodging down to the take-out.

With a long drive home ahead of us, Bill and I packed up our gear, said our goodbyes, and got on our way. The rain started up again just as we were pulling out – lucky us. There is also the Lower section below Bethel that I would like to try sometime.


White River from Erik Eckilson on Vimeo

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My Pictures

My Video

West Hartford Gage
White River - Granville to Bethel
White River - Bethel to West Hartford

Halloween BBQ on the Piscat - October 28, 2023

The crew at the put-in

For 20-years the MVP and NHAMC have been sponsoring a Halloween Paddle and BBQ during the fall drawdown at the Gregg's Falls Dam on the Piscataquog River. I did my first whitewater trip here in 2005 after taking the NHAMC Whitewater School and purchasing my first whitewater boat, and have padded here many times since. This year would be the third time paddling tandem with Jonathan in my Mohawk Whitewater 16.

The Piscataquog River arise in Deering, NH and twists and turns for 35-miles before flowing into the Merrimack River in Manchester. We would be running the class II section below the Gregg's Falls Dam. I met Paul at the MacDonalds in Uxbridge for the trip up to Goffstown. As usual, I missed the exit in Manchester and we arrived late after taking the long way around the reservoir. Jonathan was already there, and Conrad and Ellen arrived shortly after.

Paul at Powerline

We dropped off our boats at the dam and ran the shuttle down to the road behind the prison. By the time we got back to the put-in there was a long line waiting to launch. The release was a little lower than usual due to issues with the dam – 5’, 700 cfs. The day was sunny and in the low 80’s – can’t beat that.

This section is about 3-miles long with the most consistent rapids in the first mile. The section just below the dam was a little boney at this level. Conrad and Ellen got hung up on the rocks, but Jonathan and I made it through fine. We did get into the big eddy for the surf wave below the power lines, but got flushed downstream before we could catch the wave. We did our best to turn the boat into a submarine at the surf wave above Henry Bridge, but didn’t swim!

Surfing the wave above Henry Bridge

From there is it mostly quickwater with a couple of easy rapids on the way down to the take-out. There is a squirt line where the river takes a sharp right turn. We pulled into the eddy, and got spun around on the strong eddy line. The last rapid is a rocky drop just above the take out. We got into the eddy on the left, but once again got flushed downstream before we could catch the surf wave.

After the run we headed back to the dam for the BBQ – hamburgers, hot dogs and good company. Great day as always.

Piscat Tandem Surfing - 2023 from Erik Eckilson on Vimeo.

Links:

My Pictures

Surfing above the Henry Bridge in 2023

Surfing above the Henry Bridge over the years

River description from American Whitewater

Goffstown Gage

Piscat Drawdown and BBQ - October 28, 2017

I had a good time with Jonathan, Sandy and Brian at the Piscat Drawdown and BBQ. With the recent rains water was flowing over the dam when we arrived, and the release was a little higher than usual - 6 feet, 1,000 cfs. The higher water made for bigger waves, fewer eddies and a quicker runs. Jonathan and I did two tandem runs in the Mohawk, and we had two successful surfs at the playspot above the bridge - no swims.


Piscat - tandem surfing in the playhole from Erik Eckilson on Vimeo.

Steak tips were great as usual.

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My Pictures
Goffstown Gage
River Description from American Whitewater

P-netters on the P-Cat in NH - October 24, 2015

You never know where you’ll meet another P-netter. I’ve been paddling the P-Cat Drawdown and BBQ on the Piscataquog River in Goffstown, NH for years. In fact, it was one of the first whitewater trips that I did when I started paddling back in 2005. It’s a short class II with a great BBQ after.

I usually attend this trip with the local RI crew, but none of them were interested this year. Instead, I signed up for the trip with the NHAMC and ended up in the “open boat group” – 4 tandems, 3 solos, 2 duckies and one kayak. One of the leaders was HikingMike (hope I got that right) from P-net. The river was at it's usual release level - 5.5 feet on the Goffstown gage.

I paddled tandem, which was a nice change. I got the bow, and Jonathan (also a solo open boater) got the stern. We made a good team and clicked pretty much right away catching eddies, ferrying and surfing. To me, the highlight of this trip is a playspot that has a habit of pulling open boats in sideways, and then spitting them out. I’ve had lots of practice demonstrating how not to side surf in this particular hole.

I warned Jonathan about my luck, but he was willing to venture in anyway. We did pretty well on our first attempt – stayed straight and backed out without incident. Now figuring that a 16’ tandem wouldn’t get pulled in sideways, we got a little more aggressive on our second attempt. As the bow got sucked down into the hole we immediately got spun sideways. We lasted for a couple of seconds before getting “window-shaded”. My 100% swim rate at this hole is safe for another year.  Great trip as usual.

Surfing with Jonathan

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Goffstown Gage