After a solid rain storm in Vermont while we were on our road trip to New England, the Middlebury Gorge came in. We were stoked, as this is one of the class V gems in the area. A friend put us in contact with a local boater who wanted to boat that day, and off we went!
The Middlbury Gorge is only 2.7 miles long, but it is an action packed run. Our water level was on the low side, so the paddle in had quite a bit of rock dodging. Once you hit the gorge, it is immediately evident. The first rapid in the gorge is a 15 foot waterfall that drops into a deep canyon. It is very difficult to scout. At high water levels you have to be careful of an undercut wall in the landing, but at our low water level, it was fairly mellow.

The gorge itself is amazing. You land the waterfall and look up. Surrounding you are high canyon walls that extend up into the distance. The next few rapids are made up of tight, walled in but incredibly fun moves. For the most part, it’s possible to scout, but would be very challenging to portage.

We had a great trip to New England exploring new areas and rivers. Overall, we managed 22 new sections of river over a 2 week period. Grandma Beth (my mother), drove most of our shuttles while playing with our almost 2 year old daughter, so my husband Daniel and I could kayak. We even got Grandma out on 3 of the river sections that we did! We all had a memorable trip! Can’t wait until next time we can go back and explore some more!

~Diane Brasuell (Gaydos)