The Vermont Paddlers Club

With the encouragement of Jamie Dolan, two newbies (Ryan Konopinski and myself) headed to The Ledges takeout to make our first decent. The previous night had seen snow in the mountains and rain in the valley. Temps were in the low 40’s and the flow was very low. We met Nathaniel from NH who had skinned up Mad River in the morning and joined us for the run. We started suiting up and began to wonder where Jamie was but soon he appeared from the river below having completed a solo run. We shuttled the boats up and then walked the entire run with Jamie as he described each rapid in reverse order all the way to the put in.

There were quite a few FU Rocks to accept new plastic as we worked our way down through the Boulder Garden. To be perfectly honest, my paddling showed my nervousness with hesitant strokes which resulted in a few “alternative” lines, rock broaches and a backwards slot run. Next time I will just remember to just paddle hard and lean forward!

As I find with new rivers, most of the run seemed like a blur. At Jamie’s suggestion we walked Schott slot and we were at Rooster Tail before I knew it. Everyone managed it quite well. Next was the horizon line indicating Toaster. Again, all good but I got flipped in the turmoil after. 

Ryan and Nathanial liked All American Boof/Squared Off so much they ran it again.

All in all, a very pleasant (if not anxious) first run with no swimmers and a limited number of rolls. Being led by someone who has run this section 100 times or more sure helped! Ryan and I shared a few stories and the elation of having our first decent behind us with many more to come!