PPCS Trip Reports

Souadabscook Stream

March 24th
T/C:  Ron Chase

Level: Class III/IV+

Participants: Adam Chase, Kim Perkins & T/C.

Thanks to "Scout" (a.k.a. Adam Chase) we were able to confirm that the Sou was open (our original plan had been Cobbossee Stream in Gardiner).  At 1.1’ on the gauge at the Emerson Mill Bridge, it was an excellent level for a cool, sunny spring day.  We were able to get some good surfing in at several spots, including under the snowmobile bridge and there were no major obstructions found in the river.  There was the usual drainage from "Mount Sawyer", the Hampden highpoint.  Since Scout had done yeoman’s work checking out the river, we let him lead us over Great Falls, which was also a good idea, as Kim and I couldn’t remember the line.  No one had any rock collisions in the drop, so it was a good line.  Also, some excellent surfing waves at 1.1’ in the falls runoff.

Sheepscot

Kings Mills to Headtide

Class II

March 31st

T/Cs: Carolyn Welch & Dave Lanman

Stream gauge was 846cfs. 

Morning Run:  11 paddlers, 8 boats.  Tandem canoes:  Steve Rubbard & Ron Adolf; Erin Woodsome & Carolyn Welch; Rich Sousa & Alice Tweedie.   Solo canoes: Bob Gagne, Dave Butler, Dave Lanman, Kenny DeCoster, Ken Severy. 

Afternoon Run: 10 paddlers, 7 boats.  All of the above, except Bob Gagne had to leave.

The weather was sunny but cool, with a light breeze.  For many, this was the first run of the season.  We gathered at 9:30am at the Kings Mills Road put-in, just below the juncture of Routes 218 and 194 in Whitefield.  We did our shuttle to Head Tide and were in the water about 10:30am.  The water level was medium-high, about a foot below the dam.  We played in the surfing waves, made eddy turns, and chatted on the flat water.  We admired Bob Gagne’s poling techniques. I don’t think Ron and Steve missed an eddy or a surfing spot on the way down.  From the rock garden, we noticed the annual snow sculpture, made by local residents, in a field through the trees on river left.  Ron Chase had pointed it out to us the previous year.  Last year it looked like a dinosaur, but this year it was an unrecognizable pinnacle.  Too much melt had occurred.

We reached Head Tide dam about 12:30pm, did the shuttle, lunched at river side at the put-in and were back in the water about 1:30pm or so.  The afternoon run mirrored the morning run, but the sun was lower and the glare obscured river hazards a bit more.  Ice sheets on the bank from the recent break-up kept adding their contents to our path.

Some of us stopped for a bite to eat in Wiscasset on the way home.  Good day for all.

 

Sheepscot - Kings Mills to Headtide, Class II

April 1st
T/Cs: Dave Lanman & Carolyn Welch

Stream gauge was 788 cfs.

Morning Run:  13 paddlers, 10 boats.  Tandem canoes:  Hildegarde Heary & Ian Crawford; Ron & Maddy Ross; Ted Leavitt & son Jesse.   Solo canoes: Bob Gagne,  Dave Lanman, Ken Hutchins, Dave Duggan.  Kayaks: Carolyn Welch, Skip Pendleton, and Denny Harnish.

Afternoon Run: 10 paddlers, 8 boats.  All of the above, except Denny, Ted and Jesse had to leave.

Some who had paddled the day before were glad to get back to this favorite stretch of river, but there were many new faces, including four folks who had not done the Sheepscot before. The weather was once more sunny and cool, and again, for many this was the first run of the season,

 We gathered again at 9:30am at the Kings Mills Rd put-in, did our shuttle to Head Tide, and were in the water about 10:30am.   A boat with some veteran tandem paddlers went over right at the start, but they recovered nicely, bailed and headed on down with the rest of us.  "Had to wash my jacket," one of them said.

The water had dropped from the day before, and was now about two feet below the dam.   

A few more rocks were exposed, but there was still nice cover, and no where near as bony as we have seen it (400 cfs is about as low as you want to go).  The ice sheets were still in evidence but getting smaller ever so gradually.

We reached Head Tide dam about 12:30pm, lunched at the dam and were back in the water about 1:30pm.  A stiffer breeze in the afternoon was annoying, but did not blow away the enthusiasm.  Those new to this river remarked about how much they enjoyed it. We will see them on the Sheepscot again.

Sheepscot River

April 8thT/C:  Ron Chase

Level: Class II (IV)

Participants: Doug Field & T/C.

For some strange reason, nobody was interested in my proposed Class IV trip on the Cathance.  It may have had something to do with the cold temperatures in the mid-30s and high winds.  I did find a willing victim for the Sheepscot in Doug Field, who is recuperating from knee surgery.  One of my favorite spring runs, it’s a combination of flatwater and Class II with a solid Class IV optional run at the put-in and a tricky optional slot run thru the dam at the take-out. It was about 600 or 700 cfs, which is perfect for running the washed out dam at the put-in.  The rest of the run was medium low with a couple of decent surfing waves.  By the time we reached the dam, we were near hypothermic and no one cared about the slot. Doug complained about some discomfort in his knee.  I, on the other hand, had no feeling in either leg.  We need warmer weather and higher water soon!

Lower Carrabassett Kingfield to Wire Bridge

Class I+

Middle Carrabassett - Valley Crossing to Clay Brook Rd bridge, Class II

Sunday April 22nd                                            T/Cs; Ken Severy & Carolyn Welch

7 paddlers, 6 boats.  Solo canoes: Ken Severy ,Dave Lanman, Dave Duggan, Roger Hassol;  Kayak: Clyde Mitchell;  Tandem canoe:  Dave Santillo & Carolyn Welch.

A bright, sunny, and warm day. We met at McDonald’s in Farmington at 9am, and convoyed up to the put-in across from Twitchell Fuel, then did the shuttle.  There still was snow at the put-in and take-out, and along the west shore.  We were in the water by 10:30am.  It was a medium level.  We played in the surfing waves and practiced our eddy sets, enjoying this lovely spring day.  We arrived at the wire bridge a bit after noon.

Dave Lanman left, and the rest of us decided to stop for sandwiches/lunch in Kingfield, and do the Middle section.  Roger had done this section the day before with some friends when the gauge under the bridge had been 1’.

We scouted the Packard’s Pool bridge, agreeing that close river left looked to be the best route.  Since it was getting on toward 1pm, we decided to take out on river left at the Clay Brook Road bridge, before the state highway garage.  We put in on river left just above the Valley Crossing Carriage Road bridge at Tufulio’s about 1:30pm.  The Kingfield Fire Station is at that location, with a paved parking lot.  The guys at the station said it was a municipal lot and we could park anywhere.  The gauge under the bridge was just below 1’.  The fine weather continued, probably over 70 degrees.  We had a most pleasant afternoon in the rock gardens, and were off the river a bit after 3pm.

Most of us reconvened at Gifford’s in Farmington for a well deserved ice cream cone.

Another great day on the water.

Upper Carrabassett

April 28th

T/C’s:  Brent Elwell & Troy Alexander

Level: 1.0

The trip will be offered as a turf and surf next year...a ski at Sugarloaf in the morning and a paddle of the Carrabassett in the afternoon.  Greg and I were able to do that this day.  The skiing and boating could not have been any better. 

The trip participants included Troy Alexander K-1, Kirk Ross K-1, Greg Winston K-1, and Morrill Nason & Brent Elwell S-2 (Shredder).  The weather was a bit on the nasty side with an intermittent drizzle and temperatures in the mid 40’s.  Troy and I had run this section the weekend before at a lower level with some scary ice shelves on the sides of the river.  Fortunately, the shelves were flushed out from the higher water levels in the week prior to the trip.  We put in on "Oh My Gosh Corner" and paddled down to Valley Crossing.  Greg, Kirk and Troy all had good runs at the major drops.  Except for Kirk losing a contact lens somewhere below Bailey’s Hole there were no mishaps.  The shredder did do a taco at Bailey’s Hole, but did not flip.  The Upper Carrabassett is always fun when it is at this level regardless your choice of boat.

Piscataquis/Union Rivers

May 5th

T/C:  Ron Chase

Level: Class II/III

Participants: Nancy Chase, Gary Cole, Sharon Pelotte, Greg Pelotte, Kim Perkins, Suzanne, Cole, Helen Hess, Mark Berry and T/C.

Due to impassable roads for Dead River access, I cancelled the "Forks Weekend" trip and replaced it with the Piscataquis on Saturday and Union (West Branch) on Sunday.  We were particularly happy to have Mark Berry join us for his first club trip. Mark is one of several new members that I’ve met for the first time this spring; that also includes Helen Hess, who joined us for the Sunday paddle.  It’s great to have some fresh faces on the river and we welcome all of you.  On Saturday, we had a cloudy, cool day and medium water levels when we put on the Piscataquis just above Barrows Falls.  No names will be mentioned, but we had some "bottom feeders" on the falls.  The falls had some nice surfing waves and hard-to-catch eddies, so several of us carried up for a second run.  After the run, "Kimbo" Perkins invited the group to his newly-renovated house in Alton.  It was the first night that his wife Tammy was away on her vacation and so naturally, he threw a party.  On Sunday, we had medium water levels on the Union.  It started out cloudy, but by lunch it was a beautiful, sunny day.  There were several fairly decent surfing spots and except for a minor misadventure at Hell’s Gate, we had an uneventful but very enjoyable day.

Safety Team for Souadabscook and Marsh Races

April 14th & 15th

T/C:  Kyle Duckworth

Volunteers: T/C Kyle Duckworth, Morrill Nason, Greg & Sharon Pelotte, Ron Chase, Jason Hook, Steven West, Nate Gardner, Scott Gee, Paul Plumer, Greg Winston.

For the second year in a row, the Maine Canoe and Kayak Racing Organization (MaCKRO) kicked off the Taylor Pelotte Surfathon fundraising effort for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Maine.  In 2006, MaCKRO became a co-sponsor of the Surfathon and donated proceeds from the Souadabscook and Marsh Stream downriver races to the  cause.  In return, the PPCS agreed to provide safety personnel for these two races.

On Saturday, the Souadabscook was at 9", a rather low level that minimized the number of capsized boats.  Most of the PPCS members, stationed on shore and in boats at the various rapids along the river, had to be satisfied just providing peace of mind to the racers.

Sunday was a different story.  Marsh Stream was running at a healthy 2’, and there was plenty of carnage to keep safety personnel interested.  Paul Plumer, stationed on shore at Pine Island Rapid, had four throw bags handy and was using them all.  Swimmers were also fished out of the river below the railroad bridge and at the surfing wave near the takeout.  The only disappointed Chowderhead was Greg Winston, who did not have to save anyone from going over Flatrock Falls, a mandatory portage.

It wasn’t all work for the safety crew - we got a chance to run both rivers after the races. T/C Duckworth wants to thank all those who volunteered their time for a great cause and for their fellow paddlers.

Penobscot Paddle and Chowder Society