Cape's Dam / Thompson's Island

Cape's Dam marks the head of Thompson's Island.  At river left is an artificial channel created by William A. Thompson in the mid 1800's to divert water to a mill.  The diversion channel slopes more gradually than the river, so the diverted water has to drop 11 feet at the other end of the island in order to rejoin the river.

Thompson's son commissioned the construction of Cape's Dam (Cape acquired the dam in 1904) in order to divert more water to the mill.  Cape's Dam was badly damaged in the 2013 Halloween Flood and was a major hazard for several years, prompting ongoing discussions as to whether to repair or remove it.  As of this writing, unknown parties have performed manual repairs to the dam, restoring the original (river right) line to runnable condition, capping the steel rails that were exposed in the flood with PVC pipes, and shoring up the dam with rocks.  However, these repairs are not likely to last beyond the next flood, so scouting is always recommended.

Most paddlers (particularly those in recreational kayaks and canoes) choose to portage on the left of the dam and put in below it.  The natural river channel between Cape's Dam and Graduation Falls tends to be clogged with fallen trees and strainers, so use caution.  An alternative is to paddle down the old diversion channel, but this requires portaging around Cape St. and around the remnants of the old mill structure at the end of the island.