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Cheap Thrills and the SFHWL Principle
Saturday May 30th, 2009Organizer: Allan Berggren
Predominantly: advanced WW
Water Level: medium low
Author: Allan Berggren
Painted Gauge (ft): 1
River Gauge (loc): Downers Covered Bridge (Black R)
Kayakers (K1): Allan Berggren, Barre Pinske
I posted before about paddling the Mill Brook in Brownsville, Vt.
Water level was 1 at the covered bridge over the Black River in Downers, so Barre Pinske and I made the short run of the Black River gorge. He was in a playboat modified for creeking by adding upper deck flotation, and I was in my CFS. He got to lead through, which is always a thrill the first time.
On the Steep Features Hold Water Longer (SFHWL) principle, Barre and I drove 12 miles to the Big Feature Gorge of the Mill Brook north of Brownsville. Barre cut a couple logs (leaving a big one at water level which can be boofed at runnable levels), then I rock-hopped to get to the Big Smiley 12-ft slide/falls, then on to several smaller features before taking out 200 yds downstream, just below the bridge that carries Brook Rd across.
Local water, big fun.