| Summary | |
| Owner | MITOC Gallery Administrator |
| Creation Date | 2006-05-14 20:00:18 UTC-0400 |
| Description |
Paddling the Wonalancet (Class III) May 14, 2006 Matt Weldon, Greg Wallace, Chris Glazner, Ryan Kerney, Graham Goldin Trip Report What do you do when skiing gets rained out? Go paddling. According to the AWA: The Wonalancet is one of those mountain streams that rarely comes up, but when it does it provides a delightful run on what is probably the best Class III river in all of New Hampshire. Several folks on the paddling list were biting at the bit to head out, given all the rain as of late. Seeing as plans were brewing to paddle a Class III, just the kind of stuff I'm looking to paddle as an advancing beginner, I joined the merry band of fairly advanced paddlers. We headed up Sunday night and stayed at Greg's parents place in Center Harbor, which is always fun. We were able to sleep in a little until 7:30, and then headed out to scope things out. Greg had wanted to paddle the Wonalancet for a while, but it had never been high enough to paddle. We passed by Bearcamp River, which was huge and flooding its banks, and the Cold Brook, a Class V creek which was also kicking. We were all relieved to find out the Wonalancet was at a very good volume--high, but not too high. After a little discussion, I decided to paddle it, too. As we were readying ourselves at the put-in, two paddlers from Ossipie, a father and son team, drove up and decided to join us to make a party of 7 headed down the river. After ferrying cars, we jumped in our boats and headed down the water. I had a blast running this river. It was very challenging for me, but having good paddlers around me increased my confidence. While others were playing in waves, I was concentrating on getting down the thing helmet side up, which didn't always happen. I ended up swimming twice: once when I hit a rock poorly and lost my paddle, and a second (and extended) time when I caught an edge and just couldn't get it together to try to roll. Everyone helped out or patiently waited, and I jumped back in my boat ready to head back in each time. You can't say I don't have a certain tenacity. Because the river isn't run often, there were a few sections with a lot of wood in them, which I portaged, while others carefully ran them. Along the way, everyone gave me valuable pointers and advice on reading the river, paddling technique, and how to identify a carniverous salamander :) We finished with a drop which I ran with a poorly chosen line (thanks for being ready on the throw bag, Ryan!). Apparently I have a knack for hitting rocks head on and running lines that weren't friendly...and usually making my way through it. I'm seriously going to work on river reading skills. The run finished with a relaxing Class II section in the town of Tamworth with a crappy eddy for a takeout. We bid the Ossippie Boys adeaiu, and took a look at some of the things we just ran (OK, I wanted some pictures...) as well as a few we didn't run. We grabbed a bite to eat in Center Harbor, talked with folks at the paddling shop Greg used to work with, then headed on back. A good trip, and many thanks to everyone else for helping me out so much! -Chris Stats for the river: Class III 4.25 Miles Avg Gradient 67 fpm Max Gradient 67 fpm --http://www.awa.org/rivers/id/1194 |