Beaver (Taylorsville)
| Stretch: | Taylorsville Pond to Belfort Pond |
| Difficulty: | Class III to IV |
| Distance: | 0.6 miles |
| Flows: | 400 cfs releases (could go ~150 cfs lower and higher). Check out North East Paddlers Message Board for the scheduled released |
| Gradient: | 122 fpm average |
| Put-in: | Access at Double Eddy Rd |
| Take-out: | Access at Taylorsville Rd |
| Shuttle: | 0.7 miles (5 minutes one way) |
| Season: | September releases |
| Written: | © 2016 |
| Featured in A Wet State #118 | |
NY and Quebec 2016 2016: Day 1 Afternoon
After our morning lap on the Moose, we headed to the Beaver for an afternoon lap on the class III to IV section which was short but reportedly quite fun. At put-in, I was surprised to run into some of the ladies that I met the prior week at the Green River Take-over event that Laura Farrell through for the third year. Turns out they were up just for the Labor Day weekend! What a haul from North Carolina!
The run starts off with a bang. Which is good since it is only 4 or 5 rapids. The first rapid is immediately below put in and certainly sees the most carnage on the run, at least that I saw. It is a small rapid but has a large hole at the end. The rapid is best run driving far right even though the rapid looks best down the middle. Heading down the middle with find you directly in the hole. So do yourself a favor and go far right. Below is the main event, a low angle slide that is maybe 50 feet long. Downstream the fun continues with a few rapids, a slide or boof, and then a nice section of slides and ledges which deposit you at take-out.
The shuttle is short enough you can hike back to the top if you are so inclined. I think setting a full shuttle would be overkill. Probably would just be easier to take turns as a group driving up and down rather than setting shuttles each time. Regardless, we didn't have to bike our shuttle as the crowds were plentiful to hitch a ride back up.
That night, we drove around looking for a place to camp. We missed the memo that the festival was right near the Taylorsville put-in. We went with info in the guidebooks that you could camp at the put-in for Moshier. Which may have been true... if the road wasn't gated. We found a forest service road in the wilderness area, but were chased off by local land owners. Not wanting to hurt relations in an area away from home, we left. We were told by the locals we could camp at take-out of Moshier... but that was clearly marked no camping. So, we headed down the dirt roads. We ended up at the take-out for the Eagle section. Not ideal, we carried our gear into the woods and found a place to hide away, hoping to avoid detection. By this point the sun was setting and no one was around... so we made dinner and settled into bed.
Next: NY and Quebec 2016: Day 2 Morning - Beaver (Moshier)
Last: NY and Quebec 2016: Day 1 Morning - Moose (Bottom)
Thanks to Chad Christopher for sharing some pictures from the trip!
Mi 0.0:
- Beaverator (IV). The first rapid of the run starts as soon as you slide in. It would actually be tempting to slide in at the top and drive right to link it all up. But most people seem to slide in below the entry so we followed suit more or less. The crux for the normal run is the bottom which has a large hole. The most successful lines were to drive left to right across the top punching a hole and then stay right. Those who dropped middle or left usually went for a surf and potentially a swim. Big recovery pool below though!
- Great White Slide (III to IV). Mindless fun. Or... some mind required. Multiple lines for your pleasure. Easiest is far right... straight forward. Next easiest is down the middle, just make sure you find the nice soft spot in the entry hole else risk flipping at the top! Or you can go left through a couple of meaty holes. Or you can go far left and eddy out, then ferry back out to run middle. Or best yet, then ferry back to the left shore for a pocket eddy to catch. Everything funnels down at the bottom to a slide hole which flips a lot of people... and since a lot of class III boaters are out there, also swims them!
- Dogleg (III+ to IV). Just downstream is an island with two channels. The right is Dogleg. We entered and stayed far right. It was a bit rocky and certainly harder than the other channel. Flipping would suck honestly. Below the entrance move it is read and run. Scout from either side.
- Mindscrambler (III). The left channel around the island has a pinch at the end where the river gets just a few feet across and goes down a small drop with a lot of water hitting the right shore. It is straight forward... you may flip, but if you do there is a big pool below.
- Powerline Boof (IV). This was a very fun move. The bigger move was on the right, requiring a strong move back to the left across a cross current to boof a flake and land to the left. If you underachieve on getting to the flake it rejects you and you go down a narrow slot, occasionally upside down. It is ok, but not fun. The other line is on the left which is a mellower slide. Scout left.
- Exit Ledges (IV). The exit of Powerline Boof is a several move rapid full of low angle slides and a ledge in the middle at the bottom. At the bottom, most will boof the far left side of the middle ledge though other lines exist. The hole in the middle is a big one though so scout if you are going to get creative!
- Surf Wave (II+). Right at take-out are two surf waves... and a whole lot of people.
Take-out: Find you way to Belfort NY. On the North side of town (and the river) take a right on Long Pond Rd and follow for a hundred yards before turning right on Taylorsville Rd. After 0.3 miles bear right to drop down to the powerhouse and the parking.
Put-in: Go back to Taylorsville Rd 100 yards and turn right onto Double Eddy Rd. Drive up and find parking. Or just walk laps up. Whichever. It is short.
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