Six Bridges – the Assabet River through Maynard – January 28, 2012

It was an absolutely beautiful day, so Andy and I decided to check out the class I/II section of the Assabet that runs through the old mill town of Maynard. We put-in off Taft Road just below the Ben Smith Dam. The river was as a nice level – 4', 600 cfs on Maynard gage.

We surfed the waves below the dam before heading downstream. Six bridges cross this 1½ mile section of the Assabet as it flows through downtown Maynard.

• Great Road Bridge – ran to the right through a 2’ drop
• Mill Street Bridge – ran through the center, but the right arch is also an option
• Florida Road Bridge – flatwater under the bridge, but there are some nice waves just downstream
• Main Street Bridge – some easy waves leading up to it, but it can be run anywhere
• Walnut Street Bridge – fast moving current under the bridges pushes right, some nice wave below the bridge
• Waltham Street Bridge – ran in the middle since the left and right arches were blocked by construction steel

The river also runs by a collection of restored mill buildings now known as Clock Tower Place.  At one time, this was the world headquarters of computer pioneer Digital Equipment Corporation. 

We took out at the Elks Hall on Route 62 and shuttled back to Taft Road for another run. Good time, but I wouldn’t want to run it any lower.

Andy running the drop below the Great Road Bridge

Links:
My Pictures

River Description from American Whitewater
Maynard Gage

Lonsdale Drive-in Part 2 – Muskrats on the Blackstone - January 14, 2012

The Muskrats - Erik, Cheryl, Frank, Jim and Kent

I was back at the Lonsdale Drive-in today to paddle with a small group from RICKA - Jim called us the Muskrats. The day was bright and sunny and the temperature was around 33°, but it seemed colder because of the wind.

When I arrived at the put-in, Cheryl, Kent, Frank and Jim were already there. I got my gear on quickly and we headed down to the river. Last week I noticed a lot of trash in the area, so today I brought a trash bag and picked it all up. Suasco Al – the Trash Paddler – has become a good influence on me.

Frank breaks the ice

Last week, I paddled upstream to the Pratt Dam. Today we decided to paddle downstream into the Valley Falls Pond. It was a pleasant trip down with the wind to our backs. I knew it would be a different story on the way back up.

We paddled across the Valley Falls Pond to explore some of the coves on the far side. Frank was our icebreaker as we entered the first cove on the Valley Falls side. The ice was about ¼ inch thick.

Cheryl, Jim and the swans

We headed back out and paddled over to a cove on the Cumberland side. Once again, Frank led the way through the ice. This time we ended up in a small ice-free pond along with two mute swans. They weren’t very happy to see us, but we left them alone, and they did the same.

We headed back out and began to paddle back to the put-in. With the wind and current against us, it was a tougher trip. We stopped about half way up for a warm drink, and then paddled on. We had talked about paddling a little further up stream, but everyone decided to call it a day while we were still warm.

Heading back - Cadillac Mill and Cumberland City Hall in the background

Links:
My Pictures

Blackstone - Lonsdale Drive-in to the Pratt Dam - January 7, 2011

We almost hit a record yesterday.  The high was 61° in Providence - just 1°off the record high for the day of 62°.  I had a bunch of stuff to do, but I was able to get out for a couple of hours in the late afternoon. I did the section of the Blackstone from the Lonsdale Drive-in to the Pratt Dam. The water was really moving, but there were no signs of ice.

Almost New Year's on the Willimantic – January 2, 2012

Heading downstream

I started off 2012 on a river that I haven’t paddled in several years – the Willimantic. I pass this river frequently on my way out to the Farmington, but the last time I ran it was with RICKA in April 2007. It was great to paddle it again today.

The Willimantic River is located in northeast CT and flows south along Rt. 32 from Stafford Springs to Willimantic where it joins the Natchaug River to form the Shetucket River. It takes its name from a section just upstream from its confluence with the Natchaug where the river drops of ninety feet in a mile. This section was named "Wilimentuck" (land of swiftly moving waters) by the Native Americans who fished there. Almost the entire river (24 miles) can be paddled, except for the dammed section in the city of Willimantic, which has been proposed as a future whitewater park.

A typical section of quickwater

We had a nice group of paddlers - two canoes (Erik and Tommy) and five kayaks (Earl, Frank, Al, Brian and Natalie). We met and Nye-Holman State Park at 10:00 to run the section from Plains Road to Merrow Road - about 8 miles. After running the shuttle, we got on the river around 11:00. The level was OK – 4.2’, 400 cfs on the Coventry gage. This is a fun level, but just about the minimum for a fluid run.  We had to be careful not to get hung up on the many rocks lurking just below the surface. It would have been a great level for poling.

The river starts off narrow and rocky as it twists and turns through a pretty hemlock forest. Small riffles and easy rapids alternate with quickwater for most of the run. Below the Nye-Holman State Park (where we stopped for lunch) the river widens out, but is still shallow. There are a couple of easy surf waves below the Route 195 Bridge, and we did our best to take advantage of them. We arrived at the take out at Merrow Road at around 3:00. Nice run – great way to start off the new year.

Surfing a wave below the Route 195 Bridge

Links:

Paddling on the Willimantic from the Willimantic River Alliance
Coventry Gage

2011 Year End Review

For me, 2011 was another great year for paddling. I try to do at least one big trip each month, and here are some of the more significant ones:

• January – New Year’s run on Fife Brook
• February – Crystal section of the Farmington
• March – Otter Brook
• April – Quinapoxet, Quninsigamond
• May – Knightville section of the Westfield, Quaboag
• June – Sudbury
• July – Fife Brook again
• August – Easy Whitewater Trip in the Lower Deerfield
• September – Lower Millers
• November – Nashua, Lower Millers again
• December – Crystal again, Plummers Landing, Clear and Branch, Assabet

Unfortunately, I broke my monthly streak of continuous paddling in October due to my brother-in-law's passing. 

With last winter’s snow, I was also able to get in a little snowshoeing in 2011:

• Purgatory Chasm
• Lincoln Bikepath
• Diamond Hill
• Blackstone Gorge

I added a few new videos to my collection of Blackstone River videos. I now have the river pretty much covered from Riverbend Farm in Uxbridge down to the Slater Mill in Pawtucket. I also included a couple of sections of the Clear/Branch Rivers.

I had a great vacation in Narragansett – my first attempts at ocean paddling.

As for last year’s resolutions, I did OK. I did get out to paddle with SuAsCo Al – three times in fact:

• Scouting the Sudbury with Al
• RICKA Trip on the Sudbury
• Assabet with Al, Tommy and Jeff

I still need to work on my C1 rolling, and I need to do some overnight camping trips. It’s good to have some goals for next year.

Overall it was another great year, and there are still plenty of rivers I would like to paddle. Here is my RICKA Year in Review video.


RICKA Trips 2011 from Erik Eckilson on Vimeo.

Happy New Year everyone.

Assabet - Acton to Concord - December 31, 2011

Al running the broken dam

As 2011 came to a close, I got out for one last run with Al, Tommy and Jeff on the Assabet River. We ran the section from the Acton to Concord. The level was great - 3’, 300 cfs on the Maynard gage.

On the way to the put-in, I checked out the class II section of the Assabet that runs through Maynard. It starts below the Ben Smith Dam just upstream of where Route 117 splits off of Route 62. There are a few features by the big clock in Maynard center (Walnut St.). The last bit and the gage can be seen from the parking lot where the river goes under Routes 62 and 27. The take out is at the Elks Hall on Route 62.  Minimum lever for running this is 250 cfs.  It looked fun at 300 cfs.  It's a short run, maybe a mile.  The Boston AMC use to do their Spring Ice Breaker run here.

Tommy practicing peal-outs

We put in at the Acton Canoe Launch which is on Route 62 (Powder Mill Road) near Moscarriello's Equipment and the intersection with  High Street.  The day was cloudy and damp, but it never rained.  It was colder than I expected, and we found 1/2 inch thick ice on some of the standing water.

The river starts off as flatwater with the occasional riffle until we reached the broken dam at Damondale.  This is a class I drop with a big big rock in the middle and a big eddy on river left.  Jeff and I ran it first followed by Tommy and Al.  Everyone made it through without difficulty.

Approaching the Old North Bridge

We continued downstream passing by the Leaning Hemlocks and the Memorial to George Bartlett (who arranged many outings on the SuAsCo rivers in the 19th century) before reaching Egg Rock where the Assabet River converges with the Sudbury River to form the Concord River. We paddled up to the Minute Man National Historic Park before taking out at the Calf Pasture on Lowell Road in Concord.  Great day.

Links:
Al's Trash Paddler blog entry
Assabet River Gage in Maynard
Minute Man National Historic Park

Upper Nipmuc - December 28, 2011

I got an early morning call from Paul today looking to run the Upper Nipmuc. Level was about 4.25' - just about the minimum for this trip. Paul says that 4.5' is better. We put in at the Round Top Fishing Area off Brook Road in Harrisville and took out at the gage behind Paul's house. We could have continued down all the way to the Harrisville Fishing Area on the Clear River (Sherman Farm Road - Rt. 96). Paddled over three beaver dams. Portaged around six blow-downs.  Very pretty little river - great run.



Links:
Fishing Areas and Boat Launches in the Town of Burrillville