The gate at the dam at the Fulton Chain of Lakes in Old Forge, NY is scheduled to crank open on Friday, October 17 spilling an additional 400 cfs of water into the Middle Branch Moose guaranteeing favorable water levels for the annual Moose Fest weekend on October 18-19.

Just how favorable the water conditions prove to be will depend on the amount of natural flow in the other two branches of the Moose—the North and West Branches.

During particularly dry years when natural flow drops to around 2’—the additional water is enough to pop the level up to around 2.8’. During normal years, when the pre-release level is in the 2.2’-2.4’ range—the additional water jacks the flow up to the vicinity of 3.2’.

And, of course, in wet years, who knows what level you might encounter. When the gauge reads over 3’—the release generally adds another .5’ to the overall level.

The release at the dam starts around noon on Friday but the water takes around 12 hours to reach the gauge at McKeever.

The Old Forge area has experienced a relatively moist summer and levels through September have been in the low 2’ range. At this point, levels for the Festival weekend (with the release) are tracking toward a normal 3’-4’ range.

Since the water won’t reach the whitewater sections of the Moose until sometime Friday night, paddling the Moose on Friday won’t be an option (unless rain elevates natural flows). However, this year boaters looking for a three-day weekend will find other options.

As in past years, a noon release on the class 3-4 Black River Gorge in nearby Watertown, NY will be scheduled. The Black is 75 minutes away from Old Forge and boaters traveling from the north and west can schedule a day on the river and still arrive in plenty of time to sample Old Forge’s famous Friday night happy hour attractions.

But this year, boaters traveling from the east and south have a new alternative for Friday paddling. The drawdown from Lilly Lake starts on Wednesday, October 15 and should still be dumping a favorable amount of water into the class 3-4 Sprite Creek on Friday.

Sprite Creek is north of Little Falls, NY—about 1.5-2 hours southeast of Old Forge.

This year’s Moose Fest is the about the same as past years with one exception—the Saturday social event at the North Street pavilion has been eliminated.

"The Saturday night social thing was getting smaller every year," said event originator Chris Koll. "It was getting tougher to attract industry sponsors and folks just seemed to prefer eating and drinking and partying in town.

"So, we figured, why fight it? Hell, I’d rather be at Slickers or the Tow Bar or the T-House, myself. The North Street party was a good time…but the public has spoken. There’s a better time to be had in the bars and restaurants of Old Forge."

For boaters looking for equipment deals, the Mountainman Outdoor Center is picking up the slack. Mountainman, conveniently located between the Old Forge bar/restaurant/hotel district and the Moose River, is offering a Moose Fest gear sale and seminars by Werner, Liquid Logic and Pyranha reps on the Saturday of the Festival weekend.