Once again July has rolled around, meaning dry weather and a dearth of paddling in the Northeast. Fortunately for us, the Black River in Watertown, NY, consistently runs at decent flows and has a fantastic festival to boot. The third consecutive year my group has made it to this festival, we knew what to expect. For a more detailed account of the actual river, check my previous write-up from 2009’s festival.

A new addition to this years festival was the inaugural start of the King of New York whitewater race series. Composed of four down river races (Black, Moose, Beaver, and Racquette), it’s a serious series that focuses on big water and paddling finesse. The Black race, about a 5 mile downriver race, was a show stolen by the long-boats on this predominantly flat water run. For those who didn’t make it to this one, make it to the other races. It’s bound to be a great time.

Arriving at river on July 15th around 11:30 pm, it seemed the only appropriate thing to do was to get out and surf Hole Brothers. A great time a fantastic warm-up for the next day’s surfing and river-running.

Following that was a few solid lines through Knife’s Edge (unknown paddler in the photo), an interesting experience in a long boat.

Glen Park Falls offered up a few solid lines for Gilly, Jeff, and Reid. I attempted the race line in preparation for King of New York race later in the afternoon and came up a wee bit short.

Poop-chute offered a similar issue for myself, going far too left and resulting in one of the most hideous lines I’ve had in recent memory. Apologies for the shoddy camera work, Chris Reid is a terrible cinematographer.

After a solid float through the rest of the gorge, a few hot dogs on the grill, and some relaxation I suited up again for another run in the race series. What followed was a second to last performance, arriving ahead of the topo-duo only due to a swim at Poop-chute. But hey, first in the C-1 class, so it’s all roses. Directly after the race was the annual “floateo”, a surfing competition with inflatable pool toys at hole brothers.

All in all, a fantastic weekend capped off by another excellent party thrown by the  Hudson River Rafting Company. While it might not be the largest festival in the outdoor scene, it certainly has one of the best atmospheres and the friendliest people. Big thanks to Kenny, Hudson River Rafting Company, and everyone else who made it possible.

From the put-in at the Hudson River Rafting Company lot, it’s a short stairway down to a nice platform. Drop in your boat, enjoy the scenery, such as the pinned bicycle at the far wall, and catch a wave that gives up plenty of moves at just a slightly lower level than it was that weekend.

This view from the river-right gives a better view of the wave. Has a nice foam pile despite its relatively tame angle and makes an epic spot for king of the wave. The eddy service is pretty excellent on both sides, making plenty of room for the huge line that developed over the weekend. At higher levels a bigger feature on river-right comes in that’s purported to be an gigantic surf wave called “Big Brother”. Check it out on youtube.

Following Hole Brothers is “Knife’s Edge”. Didn’t manage to snap any pictures of this rapid. It’s likely the most technical rapid, considered a class 3-4, essentially due to a sketchy hole towards the bottom of the rapid on the river left line. Water pours to the left of a large rock a 4-5 feet into a depression with what looks to be a rock that will likely a) mess you up or b) mess you up. There’s a “nancy” run on river-right that makes the whole thing pretty trivial.

Following “Knife’s Edge” is Glen Park Falls. Following a portage around a strange dam, you find yourself looking at smaller moves and one big boof drop. You put on on river-left, make one small drop, follow a strange scoop-like drop on far river left, and let the current take you down that nice seam (seen in the picture) for a near autoboof. Following that is some boogiewater and some good times.

A Little further and you arrive at the Cruncher hole, a pretty sweet raft surf wave. Why let the rafts have the fun though?

Following that is “Rocket ride” on river left and “Poop Chute” on river right. Rocket ride is probably the easiest possible feature to run, just line up anywhere looking over the horizon and go down the scoop. Poop Chute is probably one of my favorites on the whole river, a rounded drop that you have to attack as close to shore as possible to prevent the curved shape from sliding you into a nasty pourover beatdown. It’s the last major rapid on the river, other than some boogie water, and it’s definitely a great time, if for nothing but the beautiful views you catch the rest of the way.

I’ll leave off with one more picture from the bottom of the gorge. So scenic.