Ammonoosuc

Ran this on 4/10/16 at about 2.5 ft. We put in at the bridge near Fabyans, and took out at the 3/302 bridge. We ran into a lot of shallow sections at this level, especially early, in the run, but the middle section was worth it. It starts mellow, then picks up to a class 1+/2 rapid before hitting the falls, which are probably cl 4-5. We walked around them, using the Lower falls road, then put in in the basin below the falls. The section that followed was a sustained 2-3 rock garden for a while, before mellowing out again. After another shallow stretch, it picked back up into another sustained 2-3 section, before mellowing out to some 1ish stuff coming down to rt. 3.

Advice: Put in at the eastern end of Lower Falls rd. From here it's a short walk to the falls where you can either run the quick cl 2 above the falls, or continue past to the pool. Starting up at Fabyans doesn't get you much that's worthwhile, at least not at these flows. Take out at the last parking lot on the left side of 302, this will take you out before it mellows out, and avoids a scramble up a steep embankment. In retrospect, this is similar to what the other report said to do, but we were following the map, which is not particularly accurate.

EDIT: Ran this again 7/23/16 at 2.3' on the gage, this time setting in below lower falls. I looked at the one good rapid that was above lower falls, and it didn't look runnable at this level, or at least would have been extremely bumpy. The level here was clearly lower than when I ran it in April. The first rapid right below lower falls was very boney, only barely runnable. The flat water section following was still a lot of pushing along the bottom, though surprisingly not noticably worse than at 2.6'. However the last two rapids before the take out were definitely more class 3-4 than I recalled. Not overly pushy, but a couple sizeable holes, tight lines, very few eddies, and shallow enough that flipping would not be good, and swims would be painful. Not to mention many rocks that can catch you and flip you.

Not sure what changed between April and now, if I was just oblivious to the actual class of it then, or if the level changing significantly changed the nature of the rapid. Given the location of the gage, and this run was immediately following/during a significant rain storm, I'm wondering if the level in this section was higher than the gage might have indicated? Or if the level was accurate, if at higher levels some of the features/holes wash out? Either way, in the spring I was a cl 2ish boater, and felt fine on the run, now I am a 3-4 boater and some of this run sketched me out. Still a super fun run, but use caution taking this run at it's posted 2-3 rating.