gray season

"Get ready for gray season-you are gonna hate it". People warned me about November in New England. Cold and rainy, and no snow. Wait a minute-I love cold and rainy. The Middlebury is my favorite river in New England. You see the bottom of your soul above the Birth Canal at high water. Especially when you are alone. The first shot is Fallopian Tube and the entrance above it. Next is the view downstream. It's intense!

Cunnilingus is a chunky ledge that drops straight into Rebirth, the most intimidating rapid on the river. It is a little tight in there.

Tester is in the easy, fun section below Rebirth.

mount carrigain

I hiked Mount Carrigain on Monday. The air was clear and the views were spectacular. Carrigain is one of the more remote peaks in the Pemi Wilderness.

spring to do list

New England has a reputation for short, low volume rivers. This is true for the most part, but it does not have to be. There are several big drainage's begging for exploration. They require some extra effort. I took advantage of the dry weather and scouted out several rivers and creeks in New Hampshire this summer. My spring hit list:
1. West Branch Peabody-This steep creek drains the Great Gulf of Mount Washington. It has only seen a handful of descents, most resulting in horror stories. It looks good. Instead of hiking down to the river from near the top of Washington, I am going to walk up as high as I can from the bottom. This will avoid the heinous cascades at the top of the creek, but mean a much longer hike. 7+ miles of Class V and V+ creeking.
2. Upper Dry River-Another Mount Washington run, the Dry starts near Tuckermans Ravine and descends to Crawford Notch. I hiked the entire river this summer and it looks good. 7 to 8 miles of Class IV and V whitewater.
3. Upper Upper East Branch Pemi-This one may be more work than it is worth, but I have to do it at least once. It involves 11 miles of easy hiking for 11 miles of Class II, III and IV paddling on a big river. It is at the bottom of the largest wilderness area in the state.
4. North Fork of the East Branch Pemi (Thoureau Falls)-The North Fork has been run by Greg Hanlon and crew, but has not seen a descent in many years. Thoureau Falls is likely a first descent and looks runnable. 5 miles of difficult hiking for 15 miles of Class II - V+.

These pictures are from a recent scouting mission of Cascade Brook. I have not run it yet, but it looks like a mile and a half of pure whitewater bliss. Can't wait for Spring.

fall

Fall has fallen here. The morning temperatures are in the 30s and 40s, and the leaves are quickly changing color. The South is famous for it's autumn dam releases on the Gauley, Yough, and Russell Fork. The Adirondacks have a similar schedule of September and October releases. September starts off with a bang on Labor Day weekend. The mighty Raquette runs on Saturday, followed by Beaverfest Sunday and Monday. The Raquette is a classic big river run. It is short, but it packs a powerful punch in a couple of miles. Unlike most 'Dacks rivers, there is no flat water and no warm up. Colton Falls is the put in. It hands out some vicious beatings. This dude in a yellow Habitat is styling the entrance boof. I rallied for 6 runs, hiking my shuttle each time.

The Beaver is an hour from the Raquette. The Moshier section only runs once a year, so damn near every paddler from New Jersey to Quebec shows up. There is plenty of action at the biggest rapid, Moshier Falls.

A huge slide lies above the put in, tempting paddlers to eat a little gnar for breakfast. It's good.
(Beaver pics of me by Kenny Unser)

The Eagle section of the Beaver releases in the afternoon, and everyone heads over there for some steep but easy "Class Fun".

I recently bought a back pack for extended hiking trips. My first outing was a 2 day, 35 miler in the Northern Presis. I underestimated my mileage on day one. What was supposed to be 15 miles turned out to be 20. I made it to Unknown Pond just before dark. I almost left my tent at home, but decided to bring it at the last minute. It was a good thing, because a wicked storm rolled in that night. I hunkered down in the tent and drank some whiskey as the wind ripped over the pond. Backpacking takes trail running to a whole new level of misery!

Looking south to Mount Washington.

expresidents

The Northeast dried out, and after one last Taureau trip, I knocked the dust off my hiking boots. Taureau pics by Chris Gragtmans.

Mount Washington is the real deal. It rises to 6500 feet in the Northern Presidential range. It is hard to catch a clear day there, but I had a good one recently. I hiked a 25 mile loop from highway 302 to the summit of Washington on the AT. I returned via the isolated Dry River Trail. The light was perfect in the pre-dawn hours. I hit the trail at 5 a.m.

Washington Summit from a few miles away.

The valley I returned on with the summit in the background. There is some promising whitewater on the Dry.


Alenda and I hiked a 9 miler on Franconia Ridge in mid-August. It was a great time.

The Fall Adirondack releases start next week. Time to bring the boats out!

news from the northwest

Drew Austell sent some pictures in from the Hood River area. He had a great summer, firing shit up on a daily basis. Here he is on the Green Truss and EF of the Lewis.

exploring quebec, the franconia's and the northeast kingdom

Chris Gragtmans met me in Quebec last week to do some paddling and scouting in the Laurentides. He ran this Class VI drop a few years ago. The slide is the entrance to the 40 foot spout above another massive slide. At the bottom of the waterfall half the flow goes into a heinous crack. Needless to say, I was not interested. I ain't no huckster.

We did paddle some amazing whitewater on the Taureau. It was my second trip there and it still blew me away. This might be my favorite river of all time. It combines the power of the Russell Fork with the difficulty of Linville in a deep wilderness setting.

A few weeks ago I ran a 30 mile trail loop that traversed Franconia Ridge in the White Mountains. It is called the Pemi Loop. It is relatively short, but gains 10000 feet of elevation. The majority of the trail is above tree line and extremely technical. I thought I could do it in 7 to 8 hours and it took me close to 12. The wilderness area at the bottom of the Notch is chock full of class IV and V rivers that are miles from any road. I should have my work cut out for me this Spring.

On the way to Quebec I stopped in Northern Vermont for a trail run. Known as the Northeast Kingdom, the area has a lush, Southern feel if you get tired of the Western style White Mountains.