Lenght of this section: 16 miles
Altitude drop over this section: 35 feet
I paddled this section (About 16 miles) on July 18, 2014. My partner Betsy and I set out from the Sandy Beach access area just above Binghamton NY at 10:30 and arrived at the Apalachin NY river access area at around 5:30. We stopped four times for portaging around dams and once for a picnic lunch. This is a very dangerous section because of the dams. Especially dangerous is the Rockbottom dam where in 1975 three fireman drowned. One drowned trying to rescue two men who had gone over the dam in their raft. And the next day two drowned trying to recover the body from the swirling waters below the dam.
Starting out from the Sandy beach area at 10:30
This railroad bridge came into view at 10:45.
We reached this bridge at 11:00. in the other sections I show photos of each bridge in order to give the reader a landmark and timeframe. But, in this section (because Binghamton is a city) there are several bridges and I do not show all of them.
At around 11:15 we reached the very dangerous Rockbottom dam (I mentioned it in my opening remarks at the top of this page). The firemen pictured with Betsy happened to be driving by as we approached the dam and they decided to stop just in case we needed rescuing.
Having studied the area I knew that we would soon approach the dam and asked Betsy to follow at a distance in case there was trouble. As I approached the dam I could hear the roar of the water, but I could not see the drop. Looking downriver an optical illusion made it seem that the river was continuing as flat water. It was confusing to me even though I could hear the roar and knew the dam had to be near. I pulled over about 200 feet from the dam, got out of the kayak, stood on a rock and only then could I see the drop off. Incredibly there is absolutely no warning that the dam is there.
The Rockbottom dam. There is no warning and nothing to stop a boat from going over. In 1975 3 fireman drowned trying to rescue two people who had gone over the dam in a raft and had become stuck in the turbulence; not able to go forward .
We carried the kayaks a couple hundred feet and made a fairly easy portage on the right side of the river.
We reached the second dam at 11:50. This dam is not nearly as scary as the first one. it may be possible to paddle thru on the left side, as you can see in the photo. But we did not want to take a chance and portaged on the left.
We got out of the kayaks about 100 feet above the dam and walked them down and then around the dam.
At 12:30 we reached the third dam. This one was also an easy portage on the left side.
A bald eagle scavenging for dead fish. In recent years the Bald eagle has been making a comeback on the east coast and can now be seen all along the Susquehanna and many other rivers and lakes; especially in spring and fall during the migration periods.
We reached the Route 201 bridge near Johnson City NY at 12:55 PM
A white tail dear sporting its reddish summer coat. In the autumn the coat will turn to a steely gray.
At 1:20 we reached the fourth and final dam on this section. This dam is located at Westover NY.
This sign is posted on the right side of the river and it is where we made the portage. It is relatively easy.
The route 17 bridge near Endwell NY. This point was reached at 2:45
About 20 minutes later at 3:05 I took this picture of the Route 26 Bridge in Vestal, NY.
And 10 minutes after, at 3:15 we reached the N. Main St bridge in Endicott NY
Stopped for a break at 4:25
In this area Route 17 follows the river. This service area is on the east bound side of route 17 in Apalachin, NY. just a few more minutes and we will reach our destination. this picture was taken at 5:05
At 5:15 we reached the Valley View Drive bridge in Apalachin, NY. The river access and our destination point is just on the other side of the bridge. It took us about 7 hours to complete the trip. we took a lunch break and a mid afternoon break, so I estimate that actual paddling time was about 6 hours. Next Apalachin,NY to Nichols, NY