Daily Route Descriptions

Date	Start/End	Miles	Description
June 19	Marshfield East Montpelier	12	In this section, the river is narrow and winding, with some rocky stretches and quick currents. You should have good boat handling skills in this section to avoid pinning on rocks. Because the river is narrow, we will be limiting the number of paddlers in this section to roughly half of the remaining days of the Sojourn. There will be one dam portage in the Village of Plainfield that will coincide with our lunch stop. The boats will be loaded on vehicles and transported to the afternoon put in.
June 20	Montpelier Waterbury	11	The river becomes considerably wider below Montpelier. This section is mostly flat with a steady but not fast current. About 2.5 miles below Montpelier, there is a short rapid. It can be easily portaged on the left side of the river. We will reach the Middlesex Gorge dam (5.5 miles from Montpelier) in the late morning. The portage is short so some boats will be carried around the dam. However, we will have some vehicular support as well. Just below the dam, there is a short straight forward rapid (class I/II). It can be portaged on the left. Shortly after the Mad River enters the Winooski (approximately 2 more miles) there is another rapid know as Junkyard Rapid. Depending on the water level, this rapid (class I/II) can be run by those with strong boat handling skills. The rapid is short and easily portaged on the left.
June 21	Waterbury Richmond	15	This section of the river is mostly flat with a steady current. There is one significant portage around Bolton Dam that will be done with vehicular support. This portage will correspond with our lunch stop. More advanced paddlers will put in directly below the dam and run a rapid known as the Trestle Rapid (class I/II). Other paddlers will join this group at an alternative put in about 1 mile downstream.
June 22	Richmond Essex	11	The entire stretch from Richmond to Essex is flat with a slow current. The river becomes extremely wide and almost lake-like behind the dam in Essex. We take out for the day just above this dam. The boats will be transported to just below the dam for the next day’s put in.
June 23	Essex Winooski	7	This section, depending upon water level, can be very rocky. Paddlers should have solid boat handling skills or be prepared to portage their boat approximately 1/5 mile along a shoreline path. This rapid is shortly below the put in at the Essex Dam. Another option may be an alternative put in approximately 1.5 miles downstream.
June 24	Winooski The Lake	10	This section is flat, slow moving water. The river is very wide and generally fairly shallow. There are no portages.