Whitewater Rafting on the Hudson
by
Seth Rosenblum

There are 12 rafting companies that provide day and overnight rafting adventures on the Hudson River along a 17-mile stretch between Indian Lake and North River. The whitewater is provided by a dam release from Lake Abanakee. The town of Indian Lake, which is under contract with the 12 rafting companies opens the dam daily from 10am-12pm, as long there is a raft ready to go. There were 4 other rafts waiting on the day of our trip. We were headed for an overnight adventure with Wayne Failing of Middle Earth Expeditions. The trip started with breakfast at a little diner in Indian Lake that had only a tiny sign above the door and was hidden behind a supermarket, obviously not interested in the tourist trade. After about 15 minutes of what to expect and safety instruction we headed off for the put-in site just below Lake Abanakee. It took a good 30-45 minutes to unload the boat and gear carry it all down to the water, pack and secure the boat, which means lashing everything down, and getting into our wetsuits and life jackets. At about 10:15 the water released from the dam arrives at the put-in site. They let about 2” of water out of the lake, which results in the river rising 3 feet in about 15 minutes. We floated around for a few minutes listening to some last minute instructions and waiting for the water to get a bit ahead of us. Finally we are off, the first taste is some class 1 water, little waves that hardly make a splash. Ah, this is nothing you say to yourself…….just wait! The black flies are out in force this day, it’s about the last hatch, so they want to eat as many humans as possible. By the end of the 2 days they devoured quite a bit of us.

The scenery along the route is just breathtaking, towering green mountains and cliffs on either side all bathed in an etheric mist. It rained lightly for part of the morning, but since we were in wetsuits, no one cared. Actually it helped to keep those little man-eating bugs away. We progressed to class 2 water that was a bit more exciting and got us a little wetter. Our campsite was about 7 miles downriver and it took about 1-½ hours to get there. We had one stretch of class 3 water, with rather large waves, hydraulics (an area just after a big boulder where the water mixes with lots of air, if the boat goes in one it will get sucked down and flip), and strainers (fallen trees in the river that strain the water like a colander and if you fall out of the boat and get too close you will get sucked in).

Wayne is an awesome guide. He is incredibly in tune with the river. He directs the raft as easily as one drives down the interstate. He negotiates the boulders with finesse and we never even touched a rock with boat. His knowledge of the river and its environs is amazing and besides an adventure the trip is quite a learning experience.

After the wet excitement we arrived at our campsite in an area called “Blue Ledges”. On the opposite side of the river stunning vertical cliffs rise, home to a nest of Ravens.

Wayne fed us lunch and we had a relaxing afternoon of reading and meditating on the rocks, hiking along the shore, napping and a little fishing. We had a late dinner of barbeque chicken on the campfire, veggies and wine. The evening ended with Wayne on his guitar and myself on the conga drum around the fire. It was all very cool.

Now the excitement builds. After the water recedes from the release there is very little left in the river and the big boulders are everywhere. There is nowhere near enough water for us to float out in the boat. Wayne tells us that if no rafters show up the next morning to go down the river, the town won’t open the dam and we are left high and dry. Our only option would be to walk out without our gear, about 12 miles and then hitchhike a few more back to the truck. Not an appealing option. We won’t know until its time for the water to reach us the next day at about 12pm. It takes 2 hours for the water to travel down to where we are. So the next day after a great breakfast of french toast and a leisurely morning we have all the gear packed and waiting by the boat. We can’t put the gear in the boat because there is not enough water to float it. So we sit on the rocks and wait and watch. A few minutes after 12 a welcome sight arrives as we note the water level rising. When the boat has started to float we begin the 30 minute packing and lashing of gear and off we go. The rapids to come are the biggest of the trip although still class 3. Once again we get plenty wet. We see eagles circling overhead and soaring on the thermals, mergansers along the shore and more spectacular scenery. Its about 3 hours to the take out and a picnic lunch where this adventure comes to an end, one that will remain vivid in our memories for a long time to come.

This adventure story was submitted by Seth Rosenblum, if you have a story you would like to see here contact me.