BIG WATER

A tremendous amount of rain fell on the Adirondacks and brought the Hudson River up to 8.5 feet.

Hudson River Rafting Trip 07-08-10

July 8th was a beautiful day on the river. Sunny and warm and the river continues to flow above normal. I rowed my cataraft with Mom as a passenger and we had 2 other rafts, guided by Bazil and Heather.

Heather and crew on the Indian.














Looking upstream in Blue Ledge Rapid.














Looking downstream in The Narrows.














Mom and I in The Narrows (Thanks Jim Swedberg).













Fox Den Rapid.














Our photographer Jim Swedberg going through Fox Den Rapid.














Surfs up Bazil.

Hudson River Rafting Trip - 06-29-10 - Big Water

A couple times per year, you get days where the river is high and the air is warm. Heavy rain brought the river up from 3 feet to nearly 7 feet. The difference in volume is from 600cfs to 6000cfs. Not to be missed.

Nate in the Narrows. (Thanks to Jim Swedberg)













Becky guiding through The Narrows.













Video too!


Carnage in Mile Long Rapid just as this giant log lodges itself on Sneaker Sucker rock.














Brian and Eric get a closer look at the strainer.














Kettle Mountain Rapid is rowdy at high water.














The Boreas River was full too.














Bus Stop!














Cyclists from Bike & Build were excited about the high water.














Drove out to the Boreas River on Northwoods Club Road in Minerva at about 10pm. I wanted to check the gauge to possibly run the Boreas the following day. Saw a huge black bear running right down the middle of the road on the way out. The Boreas had already dropped to -0.5 on the painted gauge and it would be too low by tomorrow. Had to try.

Hudson River Ducky Shuttle - 06-27-10

North Creek Rafting Company is now offering inflatable kayak (ducky) trips on the Hudson River Gorge and other rivers when levels allow. Duckies are a great way to get up close and personal with the river. Previous rafting experience is required.

A ducky is also a great shuttle vehicle. After dropping the raft trip off at the put-in, I park the bus at the take-out spot. North Creek is just another 5 miles downstream, so Ellie and I float home and avoid the need for a second vehicle. It's the next best thing to running the Gorge today.

Ellie loves the river.














We came upon Tom Sawyer's raft.















The river is very relaxing to Ellie.

Hudson River Raft Guides Race 05-15-10

Every year the Hudson River Raft Guides from all the various outfitters, compete in a downriver sprint race called the GODS Race - stands for Guides and Outfitters Downriver Sprint. The race begins at the normal take-out and ends at Ordway Crossing, about 2.5 miles downstream. Most outfitters compete with a 2-person team and all boats are exactly the same.

North Creek Rafting Company was represented by Nate Pelton and Justin Bazil. This is Justin.



















Mass Start!














They started out very strong, about 100 yards ahead of the pack.














Taking on water.














Disaster struck in the first and only rapid on the course, Perry Ellers Rapid (Class II+). Nate and Bazil swam almost a half mile before getting the swamped canoe to shore (no float bags).














Everyone made it to the finish and a good time was had by all.














The race was won by two guides from an Indian Lake outfitter.

Hudson River Overnight Trip 04-07-10

April started out very warm this year which gave us some great early season river days. We took advantage of the weather and did an overnight trip on the Hudson from Newcomb to North River. We rafted 24 miles in two days and camped at the Hudson-Cedar confluence.

The crew ready to launch.














It was quite foggy the first day, luckily no big rapids either.
Here's Nate and Ellie in the fog.














Here's Eric and Sara in the fog.














Camp when we arrive.














Residential zone of camp.














The kitchen overlooking the Hudson and Cedar Rivers.














Ellie is the first one ready to go on Day 2.














Eric and Sara in Kettle Mountain Rapid.














The paddle crew and a gear boat.














Ellie loves the calm stretches where she can take her PFD off.

Moose River Rafting Trip - 04/03/10

75 degree and sunny on the Moose River is a fantastic start to the 2010 rafting season. The river level was perfect at 5.79 feet. We had three 14' 6 person rafts and a kayaker on our trip. A good time was had by all.













Eric runs a nice clean line at Mixmaster.











































Chris runs the holes.


Nate's boat before Mixmaster.















Nate's boat after Mixmaster.















Eric messing around at Elevator Shaft.















It's all good on the Moose.

Boreas River - 04/01/10

April Fool's Day on the Boreas.