Outdoors: A Sunday paddle on the Winni

TILTON — Last week, I told you that the Upper Winnipesaukee from Shaker Road just off Route 140 on the Tilton/Northfield just east of I-93 in Tilton down to Riverfront Park in downtown Tilton was just about the perfect river for introducing a newbie whitewater paddler to flowing water. I also mentioned that it’s the perfect run for an experienced whitewater paddler looking for an easy “warmup” in spring. There’s some irony in the concept of “warmup” when the water is as cold as it has been; maybe “refresher” is a better description.

Anyway, I’m glad I listened to myself about the Upper Winni (grin). And, I can now tell you that at least 12 other people agree with me...

On Sunday morning, 13 of us (mostly members of the Appalachian Mountain Club which has a really active paddling program), arrived at the put-in in a downpour. It was raining so hard a number of paddlers roared in at the last minute because they’d been hanging out drinking coffee too long in the dry warmth of one of the restaurants just up the road . . .

It continued pouring as we unloaded a colorful flotilla ranging from a 17-foot long Kevlar canoe to a 6-foot 5-inch Jackson Fun whitewater kayak. Kayaks outnumbered canoes 8-5 on this particular day. After our gear was unloaded, we shuttled most of our cars down to the takeout in Tilton, got everyone back to the put-in, and it was time to paddle.

The first thing any whitewater paddler does in the morning is go to the American Whitewaters website (https://www.americanwhitewater.org),  checking the river flow gauges to see if you can paddle the river you had in mind. Go to the home page and under the top tab [River Info] click on [National River Database] then click on the state you want to see. It’s exactly like checking the latest snow report before you go skiing . . . On this particular morning, the gauge on the Winni was reading 1170 cfs (cubic feet per second), which is a nice average flow. Perfect.

As noted, it didn’t seem like the weather was going to be perfect, but just as the last of us launched our boats, the rain stopped. Not that rain is a big deal when you are whitewater paddling—you are likely to get pretty wet from the splashing water even if you stay upright. But is was still pleasant to have the rain stop.

The river starts out slow and we stopped at the first “quickwater” current we found to practice our basic paddle stokes and “ferrying” which is paddling across a current without getting pushed downstream. “Quickwater,” which is flowing water with no major obstacles, is perfect for this kind of easy refresher, just to get the feel of being in a boat again and get your muscles loosened and working.

The first Class I,” current (water flowing around scattered, easily-missed obstacles) was directly under  the I-93 bridge where some new rocks are pushing all the water toward one side of the rive. This is where we began practicing our eddy moves, safely  getting into and out of the slower-moving water behind a rock. The current in an eddy is flowing upstream, and if you don’t know what you are doing, the quick change from one current direction to another can flip your boat. Ours was a group of experienced paddlers, and no one had any troubles.  

Just as you get really comfortable, the river steps up in difficulty to a series of short Class II drops (faster water with more obstacles) with quieter sections between. An old bridge abutment (clearly visible from East Main Street above Tilton Island Park creates a “wave train” (a series of waves all in a line) which is great fun to run straight down (you get splashed). For more challenge, a couple of our paddlers tried to catch eddies along the side with varying degrees of success. Basically, they were trying Class III (more difficult) moves on Class II water.

Between stopping to play and stopping to chat (whitewater kayaking is often a very social activity) it took the group a little over two hours to make our way down the river. Several us decided to make a second run and that took only about 45 minutes as we stopped only at the most interesting river features and then only for short play sessions. In all, it was simply a great day on a wonderful river. I felt a little sorry for all the folks who stayed indoors because they were afraid they were going to get wet.

Life isn’t a spectator sport. Get out and enjoy!

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Tim Jones is the Founder and Executive editor of EasternSlopes.com, an online magazine devoted to getting people outdoors and having fun. Email Tim: timjones@easternslopes.com.