All this Rain

[tgneal]

With all this rain that has been falling in N.B. I am curious if anyone has been able to paddle those rivers that are usually too low in the summer.

I was looking at the water guage at Blackville and noticed it is higher than when my friends and I ran the Miramichi in late May.

Is anybody out there contemplating a rare August run of the Miramichi or any other N.B. river? We rarely have summers where the water is this high. Hopefully someone is taking advantage of it.
Take it easy,
Tom

[ldmrt]

The water's high enough here(Upsalquitch) for sure. You probably wouldn't even scrape a rock the whole trip. However, finding a beach that you could camp on would be the challenge, there's not one in sight!

However, I have absolutely no time to get on the river this summer. Work's been horrible, and the horses are demanding way too much of my time. My canoe's having a vacation this summer; hasn't even been out of the shed since last fall.

And all this rain is messing with my haymaking schedule too. Not a bale in the barn and we're halfway through August. It might be a lean winter in northern NB.

[liquidmonkey]

Paddled the North Nasis and Nashwaaksis from Estey'sBridge to Stone bridge on Sunset drive on August 9 and paddled the Tay River yesterday (August 10). The water was pumping on Saturday and had come down some on Sunday.

[mitchell]

Where did you put in on the North Nasis? Above or below the falls? How do you get to the put in? I have often looked at this stretch but don't know how to get there. Later,

Mitchell

[liquidmonkey]

We just put in at Esteys bridge so the North Nasis is very short before it dumps into the nasis stream. If you want to put in above the falls you have to drive out one of the subdivision roads off McLoed Hill (I know how to drive there but don't know the name) and go out somebodies long driveway. I usually let the homeowners know I'm out there as they are worried about lawsuits. They are kind, especially after you insist that you will take responsibility for your own actions (ie. hucking the falls in a WW boat). For a canoe, it wouldn't be worth puttin in above the falls as you's have to portage 2 -3 times in a short period and they are not easy ones. After the falls the stream goes of in different directions and becomes and Alder maze and sweeper fest. Sooo, Esteys Bridge is a good and easy starting point. Beware after you make a right turn on this stream there is a sweeper on the right that catches you by surprise. Somebody has marked it with pink tape but I swear the pink tape draws you even closer to its eveilness.

[mitchell]

Thanks for the info. I have done the stretch from esteys bridge several times. I knew you could get above the falls by going through his driveway but I didn't think he let anyone through. I have a whitewater playboat canoe and was interested in taking a look at this.

[liquidmonkey]

Have you seen the falls and the couple slides above the falls? They are scrapey at best even when there is plenty of water downstream! Everytime I've paddled them I've scraped signigicantly the whole way down until I got to the vertical drop. The drop may be 12-15 vertical with probably 10 foot slide lead in. I've got some photos if you've got an email.

Cheers

[mitchell]

Sure. Send them to [e-mail]
Thanks

Mitchell

[Ken Corbett]

Yeah, Kyle and I ran the Miramichi Aug 16-17.

We only had the weekend, so we ran all the way to Trout Brook the first day. Lots of water, sunshine, it was beautiful. Salmon anglers were working every campsite below Slate Island and many above as well, so we didn't have much choice anyway. It was cool to see the riverbanks lush green and the banks bursting in flowers.

Here's a picture taken Sunday by Longlookum.



Ken

[tgneal]

Ken,
Looks like you had a great time. I guess this time of year is salmon time on the old Miramichi.
Did you see anyone land anything?
Take it easy,
Tom

[Ken Corbett]

Saw a few fish jump, Kyle says he saw a foot-long grilse leap beside his boat. Lots of eagles and ospreys in the sky.

[mitchell]

Any more pics Ken? I have never been on this stretch with so much green.

[Ken Corbett]

I'll upload them to Picasa and let you know when. Gotta go thru them first.