Post by esspeegee on Aug 13, 2012 19:51:30 GMT -5
Paddled the St. Croix during that high water in early July. I wasn't sure what the higher volume would be but was eager to find out! :-)
Put in at St. Croix on July 6 (5:30pm)
Take out at Gleason Point on July 8 (11:00am)
Water level was 1650 cfs the whole weekend. That's 2X the highest level I'd experienced on the St. Croix.
We cruised quickly ... no rocks to dodge and no twists. We tried to find ways to slow down and enjoy the river or else we'd have easily made it to Gleason on Saturday afternoon.
Camped at American Cove on Friday night. And we made it to Horse Island South for Saturday night. Horse Island is a great site and I'd stay here again; can't say the same for American Cove. This is a picturesque little site but no breeze and many, many flies. Site selection was caused by the panic of seeing how far down the river we'd floated on our first evening. :-) In any case, it's not high on my list for next time.
St. Croix at 1600 cfs is fun and easy for anyone that is even relatively comfy in a boat. We watched some poor newbies tip and chase their coolers and beers ... more than once. They'd get swamped by larger standing waves in otherwise standard rips. We performed "cooler clean-up" duties a couple of times and then decided there were more relaxing ways to paddle the river. It was a super hot day so we knew that it'd be safe for these folks to go for a couple more swims.
We ran Little Falls on the Cdn side and it was significantly easier than at lower water levels. Big waves and no rocks. The wave train at the bottom was large and a lot of fun. We caught some air, for sure. :-) Border patrol were around and so we did not reverse-portage and ran them again. I regret not doing so using the (longer) Cdn trail.
Canoose Ledges were pretty smooth. Likely runnable in a lot of locations but we chose to run just left of center. Lots of froth but no bite. Looking at it from below, I think that the usa side would have been a fun and longer ride.
1600 is not the perfect level. It's actually a bit awkward because it's not high enough to make your heart race and it's not low / slow enough to allow you a relaxing paddle. I enjoy all the rocks poking through the surface and littering the shoreline. I definitely prefer reading the river and threading through the obstacles. 1600 cfs doesn't give you that ... but it sure was a beauty river just the same.
A great weekend on a very, very special river.
SpG..
Put in at St. Croix on July 6 (5:30pm)
Take out at Gleason Point on July 8 (11:00am)
Water level was 1650 cfs the whole weekend. That's 2X the highest level I'd experienced on the St. Croix.
We cruised quickly ... no rocks to dodge and no twists. We tried to find ways to slow down and enjoy the river or else we'd have easily made it to Gleason on Saturday afternoon.
Camped at American Cove on Friday night. And we made it to Horse Island South for Saturday night. Horse Island is a great site and I'd stay here again; can't say the same for American Cove. This is a picturesque little site but no breeze and many, many flies. Site selection was caused by the panic of seeing how far down the river we'd floated on our first evening. :-) In any case, it's not high on my list for next time.
St. Croix at 1600 cfs is fun and easy for anyone that is even relatively comfy in a boat. We watched some poor newbies tip and chase their coolers and beers ... more than once. They'd get swamped by larger standing waves in otherwise standard rips. We performed "cooler clean-up" duties a couple of times and then decided there were more relaxing ways to paddle the river. It was a super hot day so we knew that it'd be safe for these folks to go for a couple more swims.
We ran Little Falls on the Cdn side and it was significantly easier than at lower water levels. Big waves and no rocks. The wave train at the bottom was large and a lot of fun. We caught some air, for sure. :-) Border patrol were around and so we did not reverse-portage and ran them again. I regret not doing so using the (longer) Cdn trail.
Canoose Ledges were pretty smooth. Likely runnable in a lot of locations but we chose to run just left of center. Lots of froth but no bite. Looking at it from below, I think that the usa side would have been a fun and longer ride.
1600 is not the perfect level. It's actually a bit awkward because it's not high enough to make your heart race and it's not low / slow enough to allow you a relaxing paddle. I enjoy all the rocks poking through the surface and littering the shoreline. I definitely prefer reading the river and threading through the obstacles. 1600 cfs doesn't give you that ... but it sure was a beauty river just the same.
A great weekend on a very, very special river.
SpG..