Post by dbradford on Apr 27, 2009 8:39:52 GMT -5
Sunday April 26, 2009 Kayak run
Paddlers: Derek, Darin, Tyler
Rivers… Digdeguash and Magaguadavic (looking for a little whitewater!)
We started our day on the Digdeguash, left our takeout vehicle at the covered bridge in lower Rollingdam on the 770, and put it at the Tryon Settlement Bridge. Overall length of the run was 10km. The top 5km of this run was uneventful; no rapids, no drops, no waves. Reading over past postings others had made, I was expecting more swift water. At the bridge in the middle of our run (Sorrel Ridge?) there was a cute little set of falls, well a drop really, because it couldn’t have been even 10’. Definitely was worth getting out and checking the lines before going over it though. We opted to gun down the dead center; anything from dead-center to far right seemed easy, but I wouldn’t recommend going far left due to some ledges and boulders at the base. The rest of the run was uneventful. Any swift water I would maybe class as 1+ and we all chalked this run up to a good one to take the ladies on with canoes and refreshments. In all it was a nice run, but not what we were looking for. The only place I put on the nose clips was at that drop just below the bridge going over to Sorrel Ridge. We took out at the covered Bridge and decided we should finish our day where we knew there would be some rapids…long rips on the Magaguadavic.
Put in was at Milligan Brook, which is on the dirt road coming down from Pomeroy. I think this is still considered the 770 on the maps. We took out just below Turnover Island where the road comes right alongside the river. Overall length of this run was 6.1 km. With the water levels showing 3.1m the night before, we were expecting some fun in this section, and got it The first good rapids on this stretch are called Billy Smith Rips, and they were fun, but nothing compared to turnover rapids or Long Rips; we hit these rapids dead center and I was remembering getting flipped twice on this section last year just as I watched Darin and Tyler’s helmets bobbing up and down, sometimes out of sight when they would drop into a trough. It was a very thrilling stretch, with no flips or swimming necessary. We considered carrying the kayaks back up to the top and doing them again, but there really wasn’t much anything in the way of a bank to walk on. The main waves in this part seemed not quite as fierce as last year; I’m thinking the extra 20cm of river height might have calmed them somewhat? The biggest waves couldn’t have been any more than 5 footers.
After enjoying the last rips just below Turnover Island we took out and called it a day. Aside from some very red faces from a bit too much sun, it was a great outing. Don’t have any pictures to attach: I’m thinking that a waterproof camera is going to be on my birthday wish-list.
Derek
Paddlers: Derek, Darin, Tyler
Rivers… Digdeguash and Magaguadavic (looking for a little whitewater!)
We started our day on the Digdeguash, left our takeout vehicle at the covered bridge in lower Rollingdam on the 770, and put it at the Tryon Settlement Bridge. Overall length of the run was 10km. The top 5km of this run was uneventful; no rapids, no drops, no waves. Reading over past postings others had made, I was expecting more swift water. At the bridge in the middle of our run (Sorrel Ridge?) there was a cute little set of falls, well a drop really, because it couldn’t have been even 10’. Definitely was worth getting out and checking the lines before going over it though. We opted to gun down the dead center; anything from dead-center to far right seemed easy, but I wouldn’t recommend going far left due to some ledges and boulders at the base. The rest of the run was uneventful. Any swift water I would maybe class as 1+ and we all chalked this run up to a good one to take the ladies on with canoes and refreshments. In all it was a nice run, but not what we were looking for. The only place I put on the nose clips was at that drop just below the bridge going over to Sorrel Ridge. We took out at the covered Bridge and decided we should finish our day where we knew there would be some rapids…long rips on the Magaguadavic.
Put in was at Milligan Brook, which is on the dirt road coming down from Pomeroy. I think this is still considered the 770 on the maps. We took out just below Turnover Island where the road comes right alongside the river. Overall length of this run was 6.1 km. With the water levels showing 3.1m the night before, we were expecting some fun in this section, and got it The first good rapids on this stretch are called Billy Smith Rips, and they were fun, but nothing compared to turnover rapids or Long Rips; we hit these rapids dead center and I was remembering getting flipped twice on this section last year just as I watched Darin and Tyler’s helmets bobbing up and down, sometimes out of sight when they would drop into a trough. It was a very thrilling stretch, with no flips or swimming necessary. We considered carrying the kayaks back up to the top and doing them again, but there really wasn’t much anything in the way of a bank to walk on. The main waves in this part seemed not quite as fierce as last year; I’m thinking the extra 20cm of river height might have calmed them somewhat? The biggest waves couldn’t have been any more than 5 footers.
After enjoying the last rips just below Turnover Island we took out and called it a day. Aside from some very red faces from a bit too much sun, it was a great outing. Don’t have any pictures to attach: I’m thinking that a waterproof camera is going to be on my birthday wish-list.
Derek