Far Mill River Kayaking

It rained pretty heavy last night and the Far Mill River was at bank-full level.  It was flowing good, but not flooding.  It was flowing good enough that it was attracting whitewater kayakers though.

Here's the guys putting on the gear.  They put in by the Gristmill Trail kiosk on Mill Street.

Here they are coming down the river along Gristmill Trail.

And there they go down toward the dam.  They took out at the dam and had so much fun doing it they ran that stretch a couple of times.

This is what the rapids looked like just upstream of Bridgeport Avenue.

They pulled out temporarily to by Wells Hollow Creamery and the UI substation.  The sewer pipe across the river at the powerlines was a nasty strainer with the high water.  They asked how the river was below here and I said it was OK except for the dam and rapids.  Their eyes seemed to light up and they asked how high the dam was.  So they decided to run the rest of the river and I helped them shuttle their van down to Rt. 110 at the take-out.

It was a cold day and it looked like they had all the right gear.  The 4 guys were from Quebec and were going to a race in Vermont, but the river was frozen.  So they were adventuring down south and saw a good listing for the Far Mill River.  With all the rain last night it was a perfect day for kayaking.

The water was a little milder down by Far Mill Crossing.  But it gave them a chance to warm up for the rapids ahead. 

Our open space is so nice it draws in tourists from other countries.  So long Francis, hope you and your friends had a good time in Shelton.