White River

Ran the Stockbridge to Bethel section on 4/28/13. Had not run this river or section before, but since there is a dearth of published info on this section post Hurricane Irene, I figured this might help. We put in just downstream of Stockbridge Center on a roadside pull-off on Rt. 107. Took out about 7 miles downstream at another Rt. 107 roadside pull-off which is downstream of Gaysville center and just upstream of the Tosier (sp) Restaurant. We ran the river at what I would describe as a lowish medium level. The online Ayers Brook gage was reading about 75 cfs and the White River at West Hartford Gage was reading about 1700cfs. In only a few spots where the river had really gotten scoured and made wide by the Hurricane did the boats scrap the bottom. All the rapids were full enough and most had clean multiple lines. In my opinion there were two rapids that approached the Class 3 level. Both were upstream of Gaysville. The first one (of these two) encountered was a relatively straight forward abrupt drop and chaotic follow-up with some hole dodging required. It was boat scouted. The second one was probably slightly harder and is better described as an S –turn with holes and some large boulders (again this was upstream of Gaysville). This second rapid (the S turn) was followed by about 75 yards of very fast water flowing into a river wide pine tree strainer. The strainer at this level was a mandatory portage. If you swam in the S turn there is plenty of time to swim to shore before the strainer, but boat retrieval would be difficult. The strainer is beefy, healthy, and new – having come down in late winter or early spring. The strainer is also visible from the road if you are heading towards Bethel on Rt 107 (again before you get to Gaysville). This was the only river-wide strainer on this stretch at this point in time. All the other downed wood was fairly obvious and relatively easy to avoid for competent beginners. After the strainer, there was one more probably Class 2 plus rapid before you reach the bridge at Gaysville. After Gaysville to our take-out, the river became increasingly easier.

There is widespread evidence of Hurricane Irene’s damage all along the entire stretch. Fresh rocks, gravel and sand bars towering high above you; embankments stripped, eroded, and raw; debris piled high in the trees and this is more than a year after the Hurricane. Yet the river still retained some beauty.