River: Deerfield River
Section: The Dryway
Discharge: 1000 CFS
Class: III-IV
Date: 21-August-2011
The Dryway Put-In Before a Release
The Dryway is a 3 mile section of the Deerfield River in northwest Massachusetts near the Vermont border. It's fed by a dam release and is known as the "Dryway" because unless there is a scheduled release, the river is usually dry. When the water is flowing however, this is an exciting place to be.
With rapid names like "Labyrinth", "Dragon's Tooth", "Death Slot", and "Terminator Hole", the Dryway may sound a bit intimidating. For this section of river you need a good roll and you need to know what you're doing. There are several advanced class IV rapids which are described by American Whitewater as
"Intense, powerful but predictable rapids requiring precise boat handling in turbulent water," and as such, the
"risk of injury to swimmers is moderate to high, and water conditions may make self-rescue difficult."
The Dryway is a fast flowing, rock laden, adventure playground that will get the adrenaline flowing.
For our first descent of this river we were lucky to have been acquainted with an experienced paddler who had previously checked our skills and was prepared to guide us down. Our previous experience with "big water" made me quietly confident of our ability to paddle the Dryway, but there were still a few nerves as the release horn sounded and we prepared to gear up and head into the first rapid.
The put-in is just below the dam and across the river from an old decaying factory. Steep steps led down to a small concrete platform on the rivers edge. From here we launched into the water and set forth to head downriver into the first rapid called Factory rapid. This is class III rapid that was a good warm up. The nice thing about the Dryway is that the rapids start off relatively easy and then increase in difficultly as you get further downriver.
We paddled through Split Hair rapid (class III+), past Judy's Hole, and through Left Turn rapid (class III+). Things were going well. Our guides showed us the lines and pointed out the hazards as we caught eddies and made our way downriver. Jagged rocks were prevalent above and below the water providing a continuous set of obstacles to avoid. Some of the rapids were relatively long, meaning a mistake at the top could be costly. Erin and I got caught off guard a couple of times and our boats were flipped over. Fortunately our combat rolls came out to play and we were able to recover from these without incident. The river was fast flowing with strong currents and big waves to punch. It was a blast!
Dunbar Brook rapid (class III) was especially pushy, and was followed by by False Tooth rapid (class III) which precedes the Dragon's Tooth rapid (class IV). Dragon's Tooth (also called Fuzzy Bunny by our guide - if you don't want to be scared) is described as the hardest rapid on the Dryway and we pulled the boats over on river left to scout. The river converges forcing the water into a speeding torrent going down a rocky drop. The tongue leads towards a big recirculating hole followed by large waves that seem to come crashing from several directions.
We saw the lines we needed to make, and decided to go for it. Our guide led the way, followed by Erin, myself, and our second guide and safety boater. I saw Erin get flipped and at the top of the rapid, and remarkably she rolled back upright in an instant. Unfortunately the damage had been done. Disorientated from the flip she was thrown into the large waves and choppy water below the tooth and I lost sight of her.
I was luckier and charged down the tongue to punch the waves at the bottom. I was knocked sideways, but managed to stay upright through the turmoil. I saw Erin was now out of her boat and in the water. I pointed my boat in her direction and started paddling.
Boat and paddle recovered and still pumped up we headed downriver. Before we knew it we were at the next rapid called Labyrinth (class IV). With direction from our guide we blasted through it, navigating the currents, avoiding rocks, and punching waves.
We floated towards the take out feeling very satisfied with our first Dryway run. But it didn't stop there. We had so much fun that we drove the boats back to the top and put-in for a second run.
It was an awesome day on the river.
