A gentle one-day canoe trip from Hankins to Narrowsburg

People: JasonMeneely, LeslieAckerman, SimeonWarner

Facts: Not too much water about so we were looking for something that would have enough to paddle. The NPS site http://www.nps.gov/upde/rivtrip.htm refers to gauge level at Barryville which I assume is USGS site 01428500: http://waterdata.usgs.gov/ny/nwis/uv/?site_no=01428500&PARAmeter_cd=00065,00060 We had ~3.1ft (1200cfs) which was enough though there was a need to look out for an avoid shallow spots. This level falls into the "Average - Some exposed rocks in rapids; some waves up to 3 feet. Good water level for boating!" given in the NPS data.

Story: Left Ithaca ~6pm on Saturday evening in Jason and Simeon's cars. Tried to find a campside at Hancock but they were full. Drove dowriver to Hankins where we found a campsite that was supposed to be season only (i.e. you pay for a whole season) but the owner let us camp anyway seeing as it was getting later.

Got up and some ungodly hour, ate, ran a shuttle and actually got on the river by about 9am. With three of us we had one canoe and a kayak. The water wasn't swift so we found it best to paddle gently most of the time, occassional riffles for amusement. We got to the takeout at Skinners Falls (16.8miles) in very good time and decided to draw straws to drive the car to the next takeout allowing the other two to paddle more. Jason lost so Leslie and I 'ran' Skinners Falls (class 1+?) and then paddled the extra 5 miles to Narrowsburg. Stop on the way back for food and drink in Hancock, an awesome day out.

-- SimeonWarner - 07 Jul 2004