abc
Well-known member
Deerfield is also my "usual", as in more often than any other rivers. But it's still quite a long drive for me. So I don't actually do it all that often lately. Each season, I pick a different river to focus on. Dead in Maine was one of my favorites for a couple years. Hellishly long drive from the lower Hudson Valley though.Where do you usually paddle? Ages ago I'd hit almost every Dryway release. Now I mostly paddle flatwater that's 20 feet from my back door. Lazy!
I too have a gap of a few years. Pandemic has a lot to do with it. But also because I'm stepping up my ocean kayak on rough water (tide races, rock gardens, tidal bore), some of which are more available closer to home and just as intoxicating. Peeling out of an eddy into 8 knot current in a 16' long sea kayak generates a high like sniffing cocaine (sorry, I'm just guessing, never done hard drug). These days, river ww is more to do with keeping my reflex sharp and body flexible to do the ocean ww.
For this year, I'm contemplating doing the Week of Rivers in South Carolina in July. So I need to paddle as many days as I can find the next 2 months.