2 Days on the Lower Haw
| River: | Haw |
| Skill: | Intermediate |
| Trip Date: | 02/08/2022 |
Despite the cold temps, the Haw was up, and I was lucky enough to get to paddle for two straight days with some great people.
On Tuesday, we had just 3 boaters – Larry Ausley, John McDonald and myself. The opportunity to paddle with two former CCC Presidents who also happen to be fantastic people does not come around often, so I tried to make the most of it.
The river that day was moving around 1800cfs and actually rising (slowly), despite no rain in the immediate area. Several weeks of snow, sleet and rain had soaked the ground enough to keep the flow going. We surfed, sure, but I focused primarily on ferries and eddy hopping in my “new-to-me” Jackson Nirvana. Tuesday was only the third day I had paddled it, but I had already decided that it would be my primary boat for the foreseeable future. Still, I was trying to test out the stability and worked on using those edges which I did not have on my Remix.
Both John and Larry are experienced paddlers and extremely supportive of learning. I owe them, and many others in the CCC, for my advancement in whitewater kayaking.
On Wednesday, the water was a little lower, but still runnable around 1200cfs or so and falling slowly. This time we had 8 people show up for the run. I met a couple of new people and look forward to paddling with all of them again soon. Some of them were new to the Haw, but we had Larry and John back again showing everyone the lines. We even had a Rick Steeves sighting! At this level, there is much less push in the water and the waves are smaller, but still fun. It’s a great flow for Novice+ paddlers looking to make their first run down a Class III at Gabriel’s Bend. Moosejaw is tricky at any level, but going down the left side had just enough flow to keep you moving and some good eddies along the way.
Overall we had a great time and no swims on either trip. Thank you to everyone who made it out and especially to Larry and John again for everything you do.