The Dryway
...Put in for the Dryway at the dam in Monroe Bridge...the power company has recently improved the put-in by building stairs and a boat ramp that make it an easy stroll.Directly below the small pool is Factory Rapid, a sharp, debris-laden class III+ that runs out into a fast wave train at the bottom. Beware the debris on river right especially where spikes and sharp metal edges are visible at low water. A quarter mile of class II follows until the river turns left and a longer class III begins with a popular surfing wave two thirds of the way down.
Another short pool leads to Split Hair, the first of the more difficult drops. Also known as Governor`s Rapid, this one is class IV at most levels and holds several excellent eddies, inspiring surfing waves, and a somewhat nasty pourover on river left at the bottom. The Split Hair rock is the large one in the center halfway down - go left or right, but decide before you hit the rock.
Below the pool after Split Hair is Judy`s Hole, an easier rapid with a bouncy playhole on the left halfway down. Judy`s leads directly to the next rocky class III which leads into Left Turn, one of the longer, more complex class IVs on the run. The easiest line at Left Turn is on the left where the water is biggest, but there are several possible variations and numerous play waves along the way.
Where the valley widens below Left Turn a popular lunch spot on a large rock on river right provides a good viewing spot for the bottom half of the rapid. Below this, easy water leads to another interesting class III drop. Soon after, Dunbar Brook enters from the right. The gravel bar here is a popular rest spot. From here down the rapids generally become tougher and increase in difficulty until .
Dunbar Brook rapid is narrow and powerful with a very grabby hole at the top in the center. Play waves and eddies abound, but the length of the rapid makes rolling critical at the top. Shortly below Dunbar, Pine Tree, also known as False Tooth, entertains with several more surfing waves, a few steep holes halfway down, and a challenging slot move on the right. Class II follows for another hundred yards to the top of Dragon`s Tooth.
Dragon`s Tooth is intimidating because the water is powerful and a large hole blocks most of the river partway down the rapid. The basic run is from the right to the left to avoid the hole, then back right again below it. Sounds simple, but the water is zipping along, so you have to make the move with authority and stay upright in the big water. Scout or walk on the left.
There are several excellent play spots below Dragon`s Tooth and a short pool before Labyrinth. Labyrinth is sometimes flooded from below by the Bear Swamp reservoir, but when it`s all there, it`s the longest, most complex, and most interesting rapid on the river.
After a long, fast tongue that pushes onto a submerged snaggletooth, a few small ledge drops lead to the Terminator hole where the entire river drops into a large powerful hydraulic over a 4-foot ledge with a nasty boulder sieve below on the left. The right is fairly clear down to the large eddy at the bottom.
At low reservoir levels another rapid appears below Labyrinth. This one has a large boulder in the center and lines on either side of it. Don`t paddle below this rapid. The power company is required by their federal license to limit access to the reservoir since it fluctuates up to forty feet in a day and has an intake that draws 5000 cubic feet of water per second up the mountain at a moment`s notice.
Access to the takeout is via the Dunbar Brook Picnic Area access road. This is also the road that leads to the power plant, so be careful to observe posted no parking areas to keep the power company`s access open. The town of Monroe has complained of boaters speeding through town, so keep it down. The Dryway is too great a run to lose over inconsiderate boater behavior.
-- from "Classic Northeastern Whitewater" (AMC Press), by Bruce Lessels, owner of Zoar Outdoor