Well, the paddling season has been great. Trouble is, our crew has barely been out hitting it. In may a few of us hit the South Branch of the Raritan River at about 7' on the gauge. Best run we've had there yet, but still holding out for 7.5-8' levels.
Memorial Day found Mike Ein, Keith Reed, and myself on the lower Lehigh Gorge with the Lehighton gauge reading about 2600. If it was 1300 at the Rockport put-in and with all the creeks gushing from the previous night's thunderstorms, it was our biggest gorge run ever! We all had a swim or two and felt the power of the river in a new way.
A mellow run on the upper in mid-June was the last of the spring paddling. The early summer found us all distracted and we did not paddle as a group until August 20-21.
What a fine weekend! Several experienced boaters and four beginners on sit-on-top boats made for a nice group and great introduction to whitewater paddling. We paddled the Touch of Class section from Glen Onoko to Bowmanstown on Saturday. On Sunday we were joined by others and a group of nine tackled the lower gorge. The level was about 1000-1200cfs over all. The trip was capped off with a torrential downpour and thunder and lightning just as we came into the climax of the run from Oxbow to Snaggletooth, very dramatic.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
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