After being an ocean paddler who only dabbled in rivers, I’ve crossed over to the point where I consider myself a river paddler as well. I started paddling the rivers earlier this year and have kept right on paddling them. Maine ocean waters are cold this time of year and the rivers can be more inviting, especially on a cool rainy day in May). The two inches of rain we’ve had this week has extended the local whitewater paddling season — and now I find myself wondering if I can stretch it out a little longer. I’ve begun keeping an Excel spreadsheet on reported and actually experienced river conditions. There no USGS or NOAA streamflow reports on the rivers I paddle most frequently, but my hope is that I can correlate the USGS data for other local rivers with what I observe on the Passy and St. George Rivers and thus be able to have a good idea of what conditions will be like before I pull out of the driveway.
Just in case you want to try this at home, the USGS streamflow data — both gauge height and flow — is at http://waterdata.usgs.gov/usa/nwis/rt
The chart for the Ducktrap River shows a nice peak flow for May 19th. Happy paddling!