Recent content by eckilson

Just like the dams are different in different part of the country, the solutions to dam removals will be different as well. Again, in New England every river is dammed, often multiple times. Most of those dams are relatively small and have been in place for hundreds of years. The backwater and...

I'll bet the answer differs depending on where you are located. I my area (New England), dams were built as early as the 17th century to provide power for sawmills, grist mills, foundries, etc. The dams were small initially, but once they were built the damage was done to the river ecosystem...

That angled curling wave at the bottom is pretty tough to get through if you are standing up - I think I'll continue to kneel. ;)

I have never seen anybody try to pole through the Gap, but someone must have.

One thing about our group - there is usually no shortage of video. Here is another video of our group going through Zoar Gap - 2 kayaks, a paddleboard and us. You can see us catch an eddy at the top and wait our turn. Here is the video from the boat. It is 6-minutes long, but here is...

Most people stay at Country Air Campground https://countryairecampground.com/ There is a long list of campsites on the AW Deerfield Fest page (scroll down) https://www.americanwhitewater.org/engage/events/deerfield-festival/ I did a swiftwater session at Zoar a couple of years ago - it was fun.

I know, I go here a lot, but it is fun to run whitewater in the summer. With all the rain we have had recently there were actually other rivers up this weekend (Westfield, Housatonic), but Fife was closer for me. I did another tandem run in my 40-year-old Mohawk Whitewater 16 with Aaron as my...

The good news is that I am a long way from needing a knee replacement. At this point about the only thing that I can't do is the one thing that I really want to do - kneel for an extended period in the canoe. The only surgery in my future short term is potentially an arthroscopic repair on the...

A few years - yikes. At seven months I guess I am well on my way to that now. I get that recovery times are longer as we age, but I don't want to wait that long, so I look for short cuts like NSAIDS. They are good at taking away the pain but not so good for the rest of the body when you take...

Good to hear. I'm scheduled for a cortisone shot on Tuesday. We'll see how that goes. I'm also going back to the physical therapists to make sure I am doing the right exercises now that we know that there is a tear in addition to the arthritis. Keeping it moving makes all the difference. I...

Don't worry Glenn - don't plan to give up my canoes any time soon regardless of what happens with my knees. I am quite happy to paddle sitting if that is what it takes. But I have to admit that I am a lot less dogmatic about single vs. double blade than I used to be. I'm a half-hour from some...

Thanks everyone - sorry hear that there are others with the same affliction, but good to see that I am not alone and that you guys are continuing to paddle. I know eventually age (and probably arthritis) will end my whitewater paddling, but I would rather it be a few years away. While I haven't...

Thanks - I'll give that a try.

I have had a sore knee since December that has made it impossible to kneel in my canoes. Doctors initially told me it was arthritis and recommended physical therapy and NSAIDS. Physical therapy has gotten me to the point that I no longer take the NSAIDS and has pretty much eliminated the pain...

For short trips (overnight to a couple of days) I have the Polar Bear 24 Pack Original Nylon Soft Side Cooler. Probably not as well insulated as the new Yetti inspired coolers, but the shape is perfect to fit behind the seat of my Wildfire (and Yellowstone Solo) - you can see the green cooler...