Black River NY Area

[sdbrassfield]

What kind of WW opportunities are available this time of year in the Watertown area? Is everything crusty or is the water moving?

I am heading up there Thursday thru Monday and will carry an OC if there are any class II-IV oportunities relatively close by for Saturday or Sunday. Not looking to fly any dams, just a good river or creek run. Any locals out there that can guide a creek or river trip?

When we are done, you can follow me down to balmy NC to run the Nanty or Noli the following weekend...?

[Oci-One Kanubi]

... there's the Class II Salmon River 25 or 30 miles south of Watertown by I-81 at the Pulaski (NY-13) exit. It is tame, but pretty, and if it is not trout season it would be a pleasant float if you cannot find any boating companions for the Black or any of the Adirondacks streams.

When I was there it was kinda low, but I just checked the AW description, and AW's correspondent says that it has "a ton of surfing. The higher the water, the better. Get there at 2000 cfs in the spring if you can." It is running 2500 today.

I seem to remember a number of fishing gear/guide/outfitter places in Pulaski (pronounced "pyoo-lass-kye") so if it is not trout season you might be able to hire a shuttle driver at one of those places. If it is trout season, you probably don't want to be on the river, but I'm guessing it's way too high right now for trout fishing.

Put-in off NY-13 east of I-81. I don't remember where; I think we just drove upriver 'til we found a likely spot at a suitable distance, where we could get on without trespassing. We certainly didn't find the place described in AW, and I think we paddled longer than the 3.9 miles AW describes.

Take out in the town of Pulaski. From US-11 in town, take Bridge Street west ro Riverview Drive and turn left. This is not much more than the access road to the city sewage treatment plant, and there are several places where you can pull off the road. It will be a steep climb up from the river; I'm pretty sure this is the place described as "Black Hole", and we saw some other boaters taking off there. Take close note of what it looks like so you don't float down to Lake Ontario; if you get to the outflow from the sewage treatment plant you'll know you already went a hundred yards or so too far.

If you hire a shuttle driver, he could leave his car at the takeout, ride with you to the put-in, then bring yours back to the take-out and drive off in his own. Be sure to have two sets of carkeys so he can lock it up.

But I hope you actually hook up with some NY boaters; they're a nice buncha folks, and they have some really GREAT streams just a little way east, in Adirondack State Park, and AW is showing a lot of green in NY right now.

[adamin]

There is also the Moose, which has sections of various difficulty. Not sure if the ice is out of it all, yet.

Hudson (2 or 3 hours away) is thought to be clear at this point. If you were headed over this way I can find out for sure.

Smaller creeks may not be all frozen over still (though some are) but lots of ice causing hazards on the banks regardless.

The season is still early in these parts.

[sdbrassfield]

I thought it would likely be pretty early in the season and crusty in places there. I guess I will save the paddling up there for later in the season. I will be staying in Carthage, outside of Watertown. Last time I looked, a chance of snow/freezing precip is forecast for every day this weekend.

I will be heading up there 3-4 times between June and October so I will carry boats up to paddle then. I still would prefer to hook up with some folks who know the rivers for some action.

Would love to try out the Moose, Black and/or tributaries...Anyone interested please drop me a line so I can contact you before I plan on being up there or let me know if anything is planned in advance so I can possibly coordinate my trips up there during special events...BTW, when is Moosefest...?

[Sir Adam]

Moosefest is in October I believe. Although it's a good time, i usually avoid it and run the Bottom other weekends, when there is a release and it's NOT such a zoo;). That said, it's been a number of years since I ran the Bottom.

[Oci-One Kanubi]

Moose Festival, as I recall, was usually the second or third weekend of drawdown releases, and, I think, the second weekend in October.

Since I lived 7 or 8 hours away in greater Washington DC, for such a long trip my friends and I used to take advantage of the three-day weekend of the Columbus Day holiday, which always seemed to be the weekend before Moose Festival.

I think, if it is convenient to go on Festival weekend, that you can count on an optimal release level. On Columbus Day weekend we sometimes got less and sometimes (for me) way too much water.

All three sections of the Moose that I have done are lovely; the Middle, Lower, and Bottom. But from North Carolina, where I live now, it is just too much of a hike, and I'm really getting spoiled by the warm weather down here. In Maryland we boated nearly every weekend, year round, because if you quit for cold weather you'll be quitting for 4 or 5 months at a time. Down here, if it is a cold weekend, I just have to wait a week or two and it will warm up again, so I'm turning into a fair-weather boater.

[the great gonzo]

The word 'release' for the Moose is actually a bit misleading. The flow out of the dam in Old Forge is in itself very small (I think 400 cfs), the majority of the flow on the lower and bottom Moose is natural flow coming down the Middle Moose.
What most people usually refer to as a 'release' at the Moose is the non-diversion of water at the dam above Agers falls. Above Agers, the river level is always whatever the flow in the system is, Agers and below the flow is the natural flow with the release and otherwise the natural flow minus the diversion.
Hence the vast variation of Water levels on the Moose, even during Moosefest. In 2005 the level was, if I remember correctly, almost 6 while last year it was under 4.

martin a.k.a. the great gonzo!

[sdbrassfield]

Thanks for all the replies.

I look forward to hooking up w/ some of you folks when I travel back up after the "thaw". I will be traveling up with the wife for long weekends about every 6-8 weeks to see my daughter and grandkid...If you are ever in the NC/Southeast area drop me a line and we can get together to paddle some white stuff...

[NZMatt]

Hiya Oci-One

It's not just other weekends the levels can be unpredictable. I've been there for the fest and atleast twice we had too much water for my liking on the Bottom - good news is that the other sections get to be more fun. Of course - it did prevent me (my last 2 years in NY) from trying the bottom (atleast the first half) in my OC1. Darn it all!

Of course, I've also woken up at the fest with 3inches of snow on the car....while sleeping in it. Brrrr! Makes for a cold start for a Moose run.

Matt