Mill River

Hi folks,

We had an interesting conversation with the owners of the house at the 'Mill Drop' - just upstream of the covered bridge. They own the land on river right and the land on river left as well (the rocks that are best for scouting and portaging). They have seen enough people getting hurt in this rapid that they really are anxious about folks getting out to scout or set safety. Apparently they do not mind (or at-least realize it is legal) folks just paddling through.

Chandler was diplomatic enough to ask them what they would prefer paddlers who do not wish to run the rapid to do. They suggested folks take out by the boat house and walk past their house and down the stone steps on river right. It also looks like it is possible to portage through the woods on river left. Here is what I'd recommend:

Scout the drop ahead of time from the covered bridge. If the Evans are home when you are paddling, its best not linger on the rocks - portage through the woods or by their boat house, past their house, and down the set of stone steps. If you do decide to set safety or scout from the rocks, expect to be confronted.

As an aside, I am pretty sure that boaters have the right to not only boat the river, but to also portage obstacles. Federal case law seems to grant to the public a right of way between the low and high water marks for navigable rivers. In Vermont, rivers are navigable if they are boatable. And the right to portage navigable rivers has been established in federal courts. But this argument has not been tested in a Vermont court. And certainly not the right to 'set safety' which I doubt people did in the turn of the century when a lot of these cases were held.

The Evans said that a local state trooper said he would be willing to come and make someone leave their land if they asked to. So while I suspect the right to portage and scout would ultimately be upheld by the state's courts, until we as a boating community are willing to invest the time and energy into having a ruling on this, it may be best to stay off the rocks by this particular drop.