The Vermont Paddlers Club

Nine hardy souls came out to run the Mad on a cool and rainy night. The river Gods blessed us with about 2 inches of rain in the past 36 hours. I estimate the river was around 800cfs when we put on and about 1300 when we took out.

We had something old (big long old school boat), something new (cute little play boats), something borrowed (an old school play boat) and something blue (again, the long boat).

There were a few mishaps along the way. The number of boaters made rescue and equipment pickup a quick process and we continued our progress downstream.

One scary moment occurred near the last rapid when one of our group was upside down for quite some time. A hand of god was needed to get him upright and it took a minute for him to come to his senses. (I spoke with him the morning after via e-mail and he is OK) It reminded everyone in the group the need for safety and alertness on the river.

Of note: there is a big tree at horseshoe. It does not interfere with the run but makes scouting a bit tricky. There is also a tree hanging down on the right wall in the next rapid after horseshoe (one I call alleyway and I have heard others call washing machine). It is avoidable and even if you hit it you just end up with small branches scraping along your helmet.

JimP