Pemigewasset

WARNING: In the fall of 2012, an expert kayaker drowned in a deadly sieve on the Upper Pemi. As of the spring of 2017, that sieve is still very much in play.

The sieve is located in Wham, Bam, Thank You, Ma'am: the marquee rapid directly beneath the Sentinel Pine Covered Bridge.

Specifically, the sieve is located on river *left* underneath the giant boulder that forms the left shore, right alongside the tight chute (3-4' tall) that forms the top drop of the rapid.

Be careful -- it's easy to see the sieve / rock pile on river *right* at this drop, but much harder to see the fatal sieve on river *left*. But it's definitely there. This is a major hazard.

Please note that there is a climbing rope attached to the rocks directly underneath the bridge on river right that aids a portage around the top two stages of the drop.

10/15/11 Boated from I-93 down, river was clean and nothing had changed. I did see a log in the basin drop right after the flooding.

It is possible to portage the sieve in Wham Bam (Sentinel Bridge Rapid) through a crack in the rock on river left directly above the sieve. The portage is probably not as easy as river right, but it avoids having to make the sketchy seal launch back into the river if you portage river right. To execute the 'crack in the rock' portage on river left, catch an eddy above the obvious horizon line just upstream of the covered bridge that contains the nasty sieve on the left. You'll have to portage a bit down the left bank until you are basically looking down into the sieve. Basically the large rock that creates the sieve also has a dry crack about 10 feet above river level. You can pass boats through this crack and then re-enter the river just downstream of the sieve. The footing is good, but obviously watch your step, because if you slip making the portage you will fall directly into the sieve. Apparently there are some people who actually run this rapid top to bottom, but a missed line looks almost certainly fatal. Be safe!