Piscataquog

With the floodwaters of two weeks ago still running down New England rivers, especially dam-controlled ones, I was looking for one last time on the river before winter. I hooked up with the Contoocook group again, minus Ron, who was unfortunately out of commission for kayaking after hurting his shoulder on the beginner reunion trip, in addition to already being out of commission for hiking due to knee and ankle problems. Poor guy.

Anyway, the trip was the Piscataquog, just outside of Manchester, NH. It was a 2.5 mile trip, starting at 10 AM. I had to be in Waltham at 2 PM for a meeting for a group project for school, but with the short trip not too far away, I thought I could squeeze in one last whitewater fix.

Well, the plans didn't work out too well for numerous reasons. Daylight savings ended the night prior, so I decided to stay up for the extra hour. It ended up being a little more than an extra hour, so I was a little tired the next morning. Also, it took a little longer to get there than I expected, so it was 10:45 by the time we finished the shuttle and got going.

I didn't waste any time flipping, getting swamped surfing a wave in sight of the put-in. I rolled, but overdid trying to "save" it, doing a full 360 back into the water.

There were a few more tough rapids, including one ledge that extended from river left to the center where there was a nasty looking hydraulic. We pulled out on river left just before this, and I decided to ferry out to the other side, avoiding the ledge completely and getting to the other side of the hydraulic. I flipped on the ferry and ended up swimming, but I was relieved and surprised when I made it through to the right of everything. I also managed to flip turning into an eddy, which was a first,--I guess I was just tired--but rolled that time.

We got to a bridge a little past halfway and it was about 12:40. Unfortunately, I had to get out and hitch to the takeout to make it to my meeting. After about ten cars went by, I gave up holding my thumb out and was just jogging when an old boater picked me up.

I made it back by 2, but the meeting had been canceled and I had not received the email saying so. It was kind of a frustrating end to a subpar trip. Next year I'll use the extra hour for sleeping.