Contoocook, N. Branch

This rapid was named after a lost camera part carried by Scott Underhill in one of the first descents back in the 80's. This rapid deserves a good scouting. Take out on river right about two ledge drops below the small concrete bridge and scout. The rapid takes a hard right through a shallow rocky drop then takes a left dropping precipitously over three ledge drops. The final drop contains a tight slot that is often clogged with wood. The most common run is boofing a rocky pourover to the left of the slot.

When the roadway reappears on river left look for the Stone Bridge downstream. The river right arch is easier, taking the river left arch descent takes you through three rather sticky holes one after another. Get ready to punch your way through or work your way out of them. Most boaters chose to take out here at the bridge then shuttle around the 1.2 mile flat swampy section to the next rapid.

There are two options here. This is amoung the toughest rapid in southern NH. The North Branch splits just after a long flat section leading down from Stone Bridge rapid. The right channel is shorter in distance but drops more dramatically over this distance. Scout from river right. The left channel is longer and narrower but still packs a punch. The initial drop is about 5' from a deteriorating rock dam, the river then takes a sharp right and drops steeply over the 1000+ feet in lenght. Along the way there are many pinning spots in this narrow channel. Always scout this drop since a fallen tree could easily block the entire channel.

This is a rather long complicated rapid. There are many channels and routes to chose from. Be especially cautious of wood here since some channels are very narrow and blind. Most of the rapid can be viewed from Liberty Farm Road which follows on river left most of the way.

The Cleaver is the final drop on a rather long stretch of mostly class III and IV rapids. This one is difficult to scout from the river bank because of the steep bank and lack of eddies above. It is easily scouted from the takeout and route 9 which follows on river right. The best route to take over the Cleaver is about 8' from the river right bank. From here you will drop a few vertical feet. Do not run the center because the water piles up behind and under the enormous cleaver boulder. The run on river left is possible but is more difficult than the right side.