We got some rain on Saturday that brought my local rivers up, so I decided to stay local and paddle a section of my home river – the Blackstone.
At one time, the Blackstone must have been a pretty good whitewater river with a 400-foot drop over 40-miles. Pretty much the entire river got dammed during the industrial revolution, so now it is pretty much all flatwater. There is one short, class II rapid known as the Millville Rapid that we often run. It is a series of three ledges with the largest at the bottom. We went to scout it yesterday and found the bottom ledge smiling at us. There was plenty of room on both sides to run it, but with just two of us we took a pass, and paddled a different section of the river.
Anyway, it just struck me as a great example of a hole smiling at you. When it frowns at you with the ends pointing upstream it is best to stay away.
At one time, the Blackstone must have been a pretty good whitewater river with a 400-foot drop over 40-miles. Pretty much the entire river got dammed during the industrial revolution, so now it is pretty much all flatwater. There is one short, class II rapid known as the Millville Rapid that we often run. It is a series of three ledges with the largest at the bottom. We went to scout it yesterday and found the bottom ledge smiling at us. There was plenty of room on both sides to run it, but with just two of us we took a pass, and paddled a different section of the river.
Anyway, it just struck me as a great example of a hole smiling at you. When it frowns at you with the ends pointing upstream it is best to stay away.
