RoySwkr
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One of the more notable features of the May flooding in NH was the cutting of a new channel for the Suncook River. Early press reports claimed that the new channel was a mile long and had caused 2 miles of the old river to go dry where the river previously split around a mile-long island. I made 3 visits to the area on foot and decided that the reports were exaggerated. Apparently the river had actually cut 1/3 mile through a gravel pit before rejoining the old E channel which formerly carried only 1/4 to 1/3 of the flow. This channel couldn't hold the entire river at normal levels much less flood levels so it had flooded a wide adjacent area which some observers thought was a new channel instead of just an overflow. My estimate thus was 1/3 mile of new river and 1 mile of dry river (1/3 mile above island, 1/3 mile of E channel before cutoff rejoined, and 1/3 mile of W channel before a side brook entered).
Historic account http://friendsofsuncookriver.org/page11C.htm
GIS map http://friendsofsuncookriver.org/suncook_poster.pdf
Only a canoe trip would satisfy my curiousity but my connections in the canoe community have declined and I couldn't turn up anybody who thought it was a good idea to run a river that was probably full of fallen trees and new rapids. Fortunately my sister once had a great talent for dodging trees in a current so when she came to visit I talked her into the trip. I borrowed a 15' ABS canoe with side flotation which would have been awkward if multiple carries had been necessary, but the short slippery boat turned out to be ideal.
From the bridge near Epsom Circle, we slid the canoe down a steep bank covered with poison ivy and launched into a new Class 2 rapid created by the flood. The river was still running brown two months after the flood and any obstacle below the water surface could not be seen but only detected by ripples. There was fast water for 2/3 mile but the fallen trees were easily avoided. Then we saw a more serious Class 2-3 rapid ahead with some routes apparently blocked by trees and pulled into an eddy. This is a new rapid caused by the drop in the river channel located at the break point in the gradient, so it will continue to rapidly erode and should probably be scouted every trip. My sister walked ahead and found a clear route that involved dodging a tree at the bottom of the first pitch and another one later, which we ran successfully but stopped afterward to pour water out which wouldn't have been necessary with a larger boat.
A short distance below, the new channel goes straight ahead where the river formerly turned to the R 180 degrees. No water was flowing into the old channel as the bed is probably 6 feet above the present river level. The gravel pit section contained some riffles and some fast corners with trees, and even one tree still standing in the middle of the river. I didn't notice where the river rejoined the old E channel.
Because the entire river is trying to flow in a channel that once held only 1/4 to 1/3 of the water, it was at spring levels rather than midsummer levels. There were numerous fallen trees which required crisscrossing the river to find a way through, but only one tree went all the way across and at this river level one end was under water so we were able to glide over it. More seriously, there were many leaning trees left over from the high flood levels including a couple of pines with twin trunks of over 18" each which when they fall across the river will be serious obstacles. We saw half a fiberglass canoe on one debris pile, don't know if it was destroyed trying to run this section or washed down from a lake above during the floods.
At the next sharp R, flood waters had continued ahead to create an overflow channel through Round Pond but most of the flow was back in the old channel. Shortly below this the former W channel entered and there was a slight channel readjustment due to the change in flow. Now we were in the original whole-river channel but the water level seemed high - my sister speculated that material carried down from the gravel pit had settled to the bottom causing the rise on the sides. There were signs of where flood overflow had occurred but mostly the river was back in channel. Fallen trees still existed but were easier to dodge. The rapid at Short Falls seems to have scoured down to some rocks and is now Class 2. For some reason the town park was closed with the only legal access a steep bank covered with poison ivy.
I'm not sure how many people want to brave poison ivy to run a tree-infested river with water too brown to see subsurface obstacles, but here's your chance!
Historic account http://friendsofsuncookriver.org/page11C.htm
GIS map http://friendsofsuncookriver.org/suncook_poster.pdf
Only a canoe trip would satisfy my curiousity but my connections in the canoe community have declined and I couldn't turn up anybody who thought it was a good idea to run a river that was probably full of fallen trees and new rapids. Fortunately my sister once had a great talent for dodging trees in a current so when she came to visit I talked her into the trip. I borrowed a 15' ABS canoe with side flotation which would have been awkward if multiple carries had been necessary, but the short slippery boat turned out to be ideal.
From the bridge near Epsom Circle, we slid the canoe down a steep bank covered with poison ivy and launched into a new Class 2 rapid created by the flood. The river was still running brown two months after the flood and any obstacle below the water surface could not be seen but only detected by ripples. There was fast water for 2/3 mile but the fallen trees were easily avoided. Then we saw a more serious Class 2-3 rapid ahead with some routes apparently blocked by trees and pulled into an eddy. This is a new rapid caused by the drop in the river channel located at the break point in the gradient, so it will continue to rapidly erode and should probably be scouted every trip. My sister walked ahead and found a clear route that involved dodging a tree at the bottom of the first pitch and another one later, which we ran successfully but stopped afterward to pour water out which wouldn't have been necessary with a larger boat.
A short distance below, the new channel goes straight ahead where the river formerly turned to the R 180 degrees. No water was flowing into the old channel as the bed is probably 6 feet above the present river level. The gravel pit section contained some riffles and some fast corners with trees, and even one tree still standing in the middle of the river. I didn't notice where the river rejoined the old E channel.
Because the entire river is trying to flow in a channel that once held only 1/4 to 1/3 of the water, it was at spring levels rather than midsummer levels. There were numerous fallen trees which required crisscrossing the river to find a way through, but only one tree went all the way across and at this river level one end was under water so we were able to glide over it. More seriously, there were many leaning trees left over from the high flood levels including a couple of pines with twin trunks of over 18" each which when they fall across the river will be serious obstacles. We saw half a fiberglass canoe on one debris pile, don't know if it was destroyed trying to run this section or washed down from a lake above during the floods.
At the next sharp R, flood waters had continued ahead to create an overflow channel through Round Pond but most of the flow was back in the old channel. Shortly below this the former W channel entered and there was a slight channel readjustment due to the change in flow. Now we were in the original whole-river channel but the water level seemed high - my sister speculated that material carried down from the gravel pit had settled to the bottom causing the rise on the sides. There were signs of where flood overflow had occurred but mostly the river was back in channel. Fallen trees still existed but were easier to dodge. The rapid at Short Falls seems to have scoured down to some rocks and is now Class 2. For some reason the town park was closed with the only legal access a steep bank covered with poison ivy.
I'm not sure how many people want to brave poison ivy to run a tree-infested river with water too brown to see subsurface obstacles, but here's your chance!
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