Post by dbradford on Apr 21, 2008 11:40:16 GMT -5
Saturday April 19 ‘08
Pomeroy Bridge to Second Falls
Water conditions were very high, with the Elmcroft Hydrometric measure at about 2.9 meters. I have nothing really to compare it to, because this is the first time I’ve done this stretch. We set out around 8 am, and had our pick up in place at Second Falls by about 11.
Had our kayaks in the river at Pomeroy Bridge by 12:30. The 770 upriver from Second Falls was not in great shape, with muddy sections. A few people were out setting grass fires in the middle of no-where and this took away from the scenic drive a bit.
At the landing in Pomeroy it looked like someone had launched a canoe earlier, but we saw no signs of watercraft all day long. We had the river to ourselves and man, what a river! The rapids were roaring and frothy bundles of raw power. I would not recommend this trip by canoe for at least another week or so… until the water drops maybe a foot or two?
Our first big tangle with rapids was at First Falls, or Little Falls, just below where the Piskahegan comes in to the river. I have never run this stretch of the Magaguadavic, and was immediately impressed with the power of these rips. I made it down through with my trusty old kayak, though cutting through some of the bigger waves was rough, and the wash coming up over almost knocked me backwards. After I got through the worst of it, I turned in time to watch my paddling partner get pulled in under the nasty waves. Early times to be swimming for sure, but aside from a cold face, he was equipped with 7mm neoprene so all was OK.
That first taste of whitewater made us change our plans a little bit; from then on, whenever a serious stretch was looming, my partner pulled out to portage, and I would wait, then paddle down through them.
All went fantastic from this point down to Turnover Rapids. As the name implies, you are bound to get turned over in this stretch… at least this time of year. My partner out and on his portage, I headed into the dead center of the coolest rapids ever. They were nasty, and I ended up being flipped twice, but they were not so bad as to stop me from rolling back up, and there was so much water that I never saw a rock while flipped.
We stopped here for shore lunch and then continued on our way by about 3 pm. There were more serious rips down below; the most serious being McDougall Falls. I have heard of people taking boats down through this, but not me, not in April, and not with so much water. It was an easy portage on the right hand side. Fantastic and beautiful place! There are a couple of camps just below, and I can only imagine how wonderful it would be to ‘drift off’ at night with sounds like that to listen to.
The last serious run is called Indian Rips I think. They were really the only excitement in the middle of a lot of slow water right down to the Second Falls. My partner tried to pull out on the left side going down, but his paddle broke in half…it made for rough going through the rips for sure. I recommend caution to any person heading down these rips in high water. Maybe there is a portage on the right side??? Anyway, they were still fantastic waves for the kayak to slice through.
From there down to the Falls it was very tame, and the paddling even became a chore as a swift breeze picked up (coming upriver of course).
No, I didn’t even consider trying the Second Falls this day… I couldn’t see any clear way through them that wouldn’t end up with me swimming, so at 6 pm we were loaded up and on our way back upriver.
Aside from the slow moving stretches, what a fantastic day trip! I definitely want to do this run later with lower water so I can see some of the river features causing all those rapids.
Sorry that I have no pics; it didn’t seem like a good idea to bring the wife’s camera along for this trip…
Derek
Pomeroy Bridge to Second Falls
Water conditions were very high, with the Elmcroft Hydrometric measure at about 2.9 meters. I have nothing really to compare it to, because this is the first time I’ve done this stretch. We set out around 8 am, and had our pick up in place at Second Falls by about 11.
Had our kayaks in the river at Pomeroy Bridge by 12:30. The 770 upriver from Second Falls was not in great shape, with muddy sections. A few people were out setting grass fires in the middle of no-where and this took away from the scenic drive a bit.
At the landing in Pomeroy it looked like someone had launched a canoe earlier, but we saw no signs of watercraft all day long. We had the river to ourselves and man, what a river! The rapids were roaring and frothy bundles of raw power. I would not recommend this trip by canoe for at least another week or so… until the water drops maybe a foot or two?
Our first big tangle with rapids was at First Falls, or Little Falls, just below where the Piskahegan comes in to the river. I have never run this stretch of the Magaguadavic, and was immediately impressed with the power of these rips. I made it down through with my trusty old kayak, though cutting through some of the bigger waves was rough, and the wash coming up over almost knocked me backwards. After I got through the worst of it, I turned in time to watch my paddling partner get pulled in under the nasty waves. Early times to be swimming for sure, but aside from a cold face, he was equipped with 7mm neoprene so all was OK.
That first taste of whitewater made us change our plans a little bit; from then on, whenever a serious stretch was looming, my partner pulled out to portage, and I would wait, then paddle down through them.
All went fantastic from this point down to Turnover Rapids. As the name implies, you are bound to get turned over in this stretch… at least this time of year. My partner out and on his portage, I headed into the dead center of the coolest rapids ever. They were nasty, and I ended up being flipped twice, but they were not so bad as to stop me from rolling back up, and there was so much water that I never saw a rock while flipped.
We stopped here for shore lunch and then continued on our way by about 3 pm. There were more serious rips down below; the most serious being McDougall Falls. I have heard of people taking boats down through this, but not me, not in April, and not with so much water. It was an easy portage on the right hand side. Fantastic and beautiful place! There are a couple of camps just below, and I can only imagine how wonderful it would be to ‘drift off’ at night with sounds like that to listen to.
The last serious run is called Indian Rips I think. They were really the only excitement in the middle of a lot of slow water right down to the Second Falls. My partner tried to pull out on the left side going down, but his paddle broke in half…it made for rough going through the rips for sure. I recommend caution to any person heading down these rips in high water. Maybe there is a portage on the right side??? Anyway, they were still fantastic waves for the kayak to slice through.
From there down to the Falls it was very tame, and the paddling even became a chore as a swift breeze picked up (coming upriver of course).
No, I didn’t even consider trying the Second Falls this day… I couldn’t see any clear way through them that wouldn’t end up with me swimming, so at 6 pm we were loaded up and on our way back upriver.
Aside from the slow moving stretches, what a fantastic day trip! I definitely want to do this run later with lower water so I can see some of the river features causing all those rapids.
Sorry that I have no pics; it didn’t seem like a good idea to bring the wife’s camera along for this trip…
Derek