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Down the Creek, cont'd
Thousands of waterways drain the high country of Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire. Most are mere rivulets for most of the year, their dry beds exposed and overgrown. In late spring, when heavy rains fall on mountain snowpack, each of these brooks becomes a potential playground for area kayakers. While creeks in Western states like Colorado and California peak on bright, sunny days when mountain snows melt most rapidly, Northeast creeks typically come alive only during and immediately after heavy rain. There are no fair-weather creekboaters in New England. "It's a cold-weather sport. It's a gloved-up, drysuited kind of thing," Hanlon says, referring to the head-to-toe waterproof suits that creekboaters wear on the rivers. New England creekers tend also to be more tolerant of low water than their Western brethren. "A lot of what we run is pretty low-volume," Hanlon explains. "Our tolerance for bone is higher--if a creek is really high, we'll, run something steeper and rarer with less water in it," he says, adding that Northeast creekers in the last few years have paddled creeks as steep as 700 or 800 feet-per-mile-a 15 percent gradient. That pioneering spirit was in evidence during last fall's drenching rains. "It was pick-your-creek throughout the months of October and November," Hanlon says with an enthusiasm with which only a die-hard creekboater could use to describe 17 inches of rain in a single month. "We found new stuff all over the place-I found a great new creek three miles from my house," he says, launching into a detailed description of the virtues of Trout Brook, which flows into the Connecticut River near Lyme, N.H. Such abundant choices are rare for Northeast paddlers, because New England's thin topsoil and abundant granite means that creeks fill quickly and empty just as fast. Hanlon describes a recent paddling trip to the New Hampshire's Sawyer River. On Saturday afternoon it was gushing with nearly 10 times the maximum flow for a safe descent; on Sunday morning it was too low to paddle. Not every Northeast creek is so fickle. Gulf Hagas is considered a whitewater classic in part because it holds its water better than most small streams, thanks to its swampy upper watershed. AMC's Maine Woods Initiative protects many of these wetlands, which provide a reservoir of biodiversity as well as water for paddling enthusiasts. To the North, Quebec abounds with creekboating opportunities, including the worldclass Taureau Gorge, which runs reliably throughout the year. The region also boasts a number of excellent dam-fed whitewater runs. “The reason that boating is so popular now is that we secured dam releases through re-licensing," Valera says. "That opened up paddling opportunities during the summer months when it's normally dry, and more people started to learn." As part of the federal dam re-licensing process, a coalition of paddlers and non-profits, including AMC, secured guaranteed water releases on rivers such as the Deerfi eld, Penobscot, and Kennebunk. These and other Northeast streams provide a learning progression for new paddlers, from relatively easy Class II runs to powerful Class IV rivers. Last year the American Whitewater Association, in conjunction with AMC and other organizations, secured weekend releases on the Canada Falls section of the South Branch of the Penobscot, a Class IV section that makes an excellent introduction to creeking. "To me, that was a great gift. I'll paddle that section the rest of my life," Urban says. AMC played an instrumental role in this re-licensing process, which continues today. "Since 1988 the AMC has worked together with American Whitewater on every major FERC re-licensing important to paddlers in New England," says Tom Christopher, American Whitewater's former conservation chair, who worked for years with AMC Research Director Dr. Ken Kimball, board member Norman Sims, and others. Their efforts have secured 642 guaranteed "paddling days" each year on six different river reaches and protected 49.5 miles of rivers and more than 20,000 acres of riparian land. The agreements also provided more than $1 million in enhancement funds and an additional $600,000 worth of improvements for paddlers. While creekboaters still must wait for heavy rain and snowmelt to bring up the steep waterways they crave, the scheduled releases allow them to enjoy a day on the river-and maintain their skills'year round. Many other paddlers are content to explore fl atwater streams and less-challenging whitewater. But devotees will tell you that there's nothing quite like riding the crest of an endless river wave, carving back and forth on its face as your friends look on and cheer. When the wave bucks you off, as it inevitably does, your reward is to catch your breath in the eddy, absorbing the beauty of the river and surrounding woods. No matter which paddling discipline you pursue, or how seriously, the sport is addictive. -Jeff Moag
Photo: Caleb Coaplen |
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AMC Outdoors, March 2006
