by Mike Wellman - (see also Marilyn and Lisa below)
Participants were:
Lisa Fallon, Dan Mullins, & Miki Komlosh
Ron Fisher
Jon Hitchings & Karen Egbert
Allison Holliday
Marilyn Jones & Michael W. Wellman
Using the gauge below the dam, but above White Haven:
On Saturday, they released roughly 2500 cfs until noon and then dropped to 1500 cfs around 1 PM. This is not what was promised online (2700 cfs dropping to 1500 cfs around 1 AM Saturday)!
On Sunday, they released 1100 cfs and dropped to 600 cfs around 2 PM. This too was arguably misrepresented as it was allegedly going to be 1500 cfs; however, the Sunday purported release level varied widely from 1000 cfs to 1500 cfs in the weeks before the release, so I won’t complain too much.
Everyone except Dan, Lisa, and Miki came up Friday night and camped at Hickory Run State Park:
Our plan was for the camped crew to drop boats, paddlers, and gear at the upper put-in in White Haven; meet Dan, Lisa, and Miki, at the Glen Onoko takeout; leave their dry gear at the bottom and shuttle back to the put-in with them; leaving Glen Onoko for White Haven no later than 10:30 AM. This maximized the number of cars at the bottom at the end of the day and ensured no end-of-day double shuttles for the 40 minutes each way shuttle.
Alas, hilarity ensued, but with the fortunate cell phone coverage everything was resolved with only an extra 60 to 90 minutes time, and so it was a bit after 1 PM by the time we finally launched from White Haven. We estimated that the run itself would take on the order of 3.5 to 4 hours, so while we were pushing daylight, with sunset near 6:30 PM and the end of civil twilight near 7 PM, we had 90 to 150 minutes margin of error.
The weather prognosticators promised partly cloudy, lows in the mid-40’s, highs near 70, light winds, and minimal chances of precipitation and with the Lehigh leaves near peak display, you arguably couldn’t have asked for a better mid-October day for that part of the world. We woke to the thermometer barely clinging to 40. It was mostly cloudy most of the day. The winds were, upon occasion, much more than light. And we had a few hours of very light rain (that at least one paddler swore had ice mixed in). So chillier than hoped.
The combination of high and continuous water, chilly weather / water, a few swims with 10 to 15 minute recovery times, and a few longer breaks in the scarce eddies large enough to easily accommodate 9 boats or for lunch, pushed into our margin.
At 2500 cfs, the rapids were primarily longish read and run Class II / III wave trains with comparatively few rocks in play and almost no rapids that required “moves” aside from paddling around holes, breaking waves, or the occasional domer rock. Smaller eddies were more dynamic than the actual rapids and for an intermediate group were best avoided. Eddies large enough to gather everyone back together were relatively scarce.
As Marilyn noted, the late afternoon sun made it progressively more challenging to read the water through the glare and it didn’t help that the river was mostly a dark tannic brown that made it harder to spot rocks near the surface.
Still, on Saturday we made it to the takeout before sunset and finished loading well before dark. With lunch, breaks, and swims, it was probably closer to 4.5 to 5 hours on the river rather than the estimated 3.5 to 4 hours, and it was definitely closer to sunset than I’d have preferred when we pulled into the takeout eddy.
By the time we loaded, drove (40 minutes) back to White Haven to unload, cross loaded, and dithered about dinner, it was after 8:30 PM when we went in search of food and after 10 PM before we made it back to camp. And Dan, Lisa, and Miki probably didn’t start their 4’sh+ hour drive back to DC until 9’sh PM. :-(
Our stress about daylight would have been lessened had we more experience and knowledge of the Lehigh. It was personal first descents for at least Allison and Marilyn, Jon & Karen hadn’t been on the Lehigh in 15+ years, and I hadn’t run it in 20+ years.
All that having been said, the late start on Saturday was delightful in that we basically had the river entirely to ourselves! We interacted with less than a dozen other boaters and no commercial raft trips!
Sunday, as expected was substantially lower water, so we were planning on running only one section. Were one in more of a hurry, one would probably prefer to run the top section since it’s a few miles shorter and the shuttle is only 15 minutes each way instead of nearly 40 minutes each way. Since at least two cars / drivers will end up spending 3x the one way shuttle time, this difference adds up… While we were waiting on the morning shuttle, we spoke with people taking out at Rockport who reported having run the top in 90 minutes so that they could get a paddle in before going to work! But the lower section is the true Lehigh Gorge and we thought it was prettier, so we spent the extra time driving.
There’s little to report re the lower section at 1100 cfs. There were rocks in the river at this level, but the rapids remain II / III. With lunch and only a single swim recovery, we spent probably less than 4 hours on the river and Marilyn and I were back in DC by 7’sh PM.
The more traditional launch time meant that we spent a lot more time in boating traffic and upon occasion we lost 5 to 10 minutes because someone stayed in an eddy too long and we then had to let 20 to 50 rafts pass before we could reunite the group. That reminded me of the bad-old-days on the Lower Yough!
Looking back, I still most definitely think that catching the higher release level and doing both the upper and lower Gorge is the way to go. And I personally would want to camp to make that an easier day. Driving 4+ hours from DC, then running shuttle for nearly another hour, and only then starting the 19 to 20 mile paddle would be a nightmare scenario for me. Doing that and *then* having to drive back to DC as did Dan, Lisa, and Miki would be very painful! They’re definitely far hardier than I! - Mikel
by Marilyn Jones
I agree with Lisa that 2500 cfs was a hoot! The rapids were long with lovely waves and some holes and ledges to avoid. I saw some big mid river whirlpools, too.
I also agree with her recommendation to put on early if you are doing the long run at a high level and even if you are doing a half section at lower water. In mid-October, the sun gets low early in the afternoon, which made it hard for me to read the water features in what I think are the harder rapids at the end of the run. Also to note: The autumn colors were beautiful. The shuttles are long. We encountered festival traffic which added delays.
by Lisa Fallon
The Lehigh was wonderful at this higher level. It had fairly long rapids that were a cross hatching of good sized waves from many angles. There were less moves to be made and those who like to chase eddies will need to enjoy the ride instead. I enjoyed doing both the segments we ran. For future October endeavors I would suggest putting on by noon so there will be no concerns about losing daylight. I would also suggest that somewhat newer paddlers concentrate on doing just one segment of the river as the consistency of being on your game will become tiring and newer folks are not river-conditioned for twenty miles of non-stop attention. I would list this as an intermediate trip.