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Newcomb to North River Down the Hudson Gorge
By Cash Jones
Some people have a charismatic personality that induces their friends to join them in activities that can sometimes be arduous, dangerous and /or ill-advised. Paul Lozier was one such individual. His passions over time included flying (private pilot, pontoon, ultralight), sailing (various classes), hiking, skiing, canoeing, boat building, wine making and no doubt many others. An example was his annual white water trip from Newcomb to North River down the Hudson River Gorge on Fathers’ Day weekend that took place through the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. The June date was selected for generally appropriate water flow (5’ on the North Creek gage).
The event started with camping adjacent to the Hudson River outlet of Harris Lake near the Newcomb town dump on Friday night, where a favorite activity was watching the bears foraging in the garbage/trash. The group included paddlers of one and two person white water canoes and kayaks. Back then there wasn’t a way to get off of the river without going through the infamous Hudson River Gorge with its class III/IV rapids (total of about 30 miles of paddling), so our open canoes were unusual and risky. Today there are takeout options near the confluence of the Goodnow River (7 ½ miles) and Indian River (14 miles) that require paddling in moving water, but aren’t nearly as difficult as the Gorge.
An early Saturday morning start (6:00 AM) was necessary because of the very long day ahead, as well as having daylight available for any contingencies. It was a leisurely start leading to a class II drop at Ord Falls. Additional calm water paddling through the Blackwell Stillwater passed by evidence of old logging activities and roads, as well as some remote camps. More challenging paddling came after the confluence of the Cedar River. The junction with the Indian River is where today’s rafting companies come onto the Hudson along with additional water from the Indian Lake dam on release days.
The infamous left turn at the Blue Ledges marks the start of the Gorge and 15 miles of really exciting/challenging white water. Even though there are some short pools between drops, this is where many (open) boats sink and many paddlers swim due to the standing waves and frothy holes. A canoe filled with water in moving current has a huge force, and we left a few canoes wrapped around rocks in the river. When I returned a week later, with ropes, block & tackle and support crew to recover one of our misadventures, it was gone; salvaged by someone else or drifting downstream.
On one trip, a few miles below the start of the Gorge, a young kayaker in our group took a long swim. After recovering (himself and his boat), he refused to get back into it and insisted that he was going to bushwhack out to a road. We were unwilling to let him take off on his own (and possibly get lost and probably give up future kayaking). We used the threat of bodily harm to get him back on the river, which he thanked us for upon completion of the trip.
On another occasion, when the river height was at 7’ on the North Creek gage, I paddled an 18’ Grumman shoe keel canoe solo from Newcomb to North River. I thought that the lighter load of only one person would avoid swamping the boat, and it did help, but I went the entire Gorge pinwheeling along the bank, avoiding the middle of the river by putting the nose over a drop, sticking it into an eddy and completing a 360 degree circle. It was an experience of fear and exhaustion that I hope to never repeat.
Then there was the long walk out in the dark. Chuck Schult and I were paddling an aluminum canoe that was swamped and damaged on rocks in the Gorge. We stomped it out and patched rips in the aluminum with duct tape, but it lacked the structural rigidity to get two people through rapids, so one of us would paddle and the other would walk along the river bank. This worked until another swamping left the canoe in an unrecoverable location. The rest of our group had gone on ahead due to our slow progress, and we were accompanied by only Paul Lozier in his kayak. So now we had two walking, Paul paddling and it was getting dark. Paul took off downriver to make the most of the remaining daylight, while Chuck and I bushwhacked on the steep banks alongside the river, feeling our way from tree trunk to tree trunk. Chuck had injured his back in one of our swims and wanted to stop for the night; however, we were dressed in shorts and T shirts, it was getting cold and the mosquitos were fierce. We kept telling ourselves that we could see the railroad bridge ahead that marked the confluence with the Boreas River and only three miles of walking along the railroad tracks to our car. Walking on railroad ties in the dark is not recommendable recreation. When we arrived at our car, Paul was sleeping in it. He tried to tell us that running rapids by sound in the dark could become a new competitive activity.
Map showing water route from Newcomb to the Blue Ledges
