Before I hang up the paddle I wanted one more chance at a much bigger river than the Verm. The Duluth crew, Anthony, Burgess, Dave C, Dave S, Roger, and Scott, came thru and braved the cold. It was a really fun paddle!! Not too many photos as taking my glove off was not the thing to do today! Once was enough. The level was 1900cfs. Everything was fun until we got below Rescue Rapids. Then we encountered another??? horizon line??? Even I could hear what sounded like a good drop thru my hoodie and all. As we got closer I heard some of the guys wondering what it was??? Roger went first and I could tell by his body language that it wasn't a bunny drop. I went third and when I was able to see what was there a bad word went thru my mind. Oh yeah I was looking at some low head dam action. Kind of like a mini Terminal Surfer on the Menomonie. I tried to get some good speed and boof a little but as soon as I landed I felt myself getting sucked back in. I threw up my edge and side surfed cause there was NO WAY I wanted to flip in there. I heard Roger yelling "Surf it out Nora! Surf it out!" I carved towards river right and was able to get enough speed to carve out down stream. Whew..OK...what happened there was the reservoir was way down...near empty. This drop appears only when the resevoir is low. Looking back at the drop...it's a river wide ledge. We took it center and a bit to the right. I won't say that this is the last paddle of the year for me because I may stop at the Verm on my way to work this week. The ride home was icy and pouring down rain so the Verm may have a bit more fun on it yet this year.
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