I had to take a trip to D.C. for work for a week, so I decided to tack on the surrounding weekends for some east coast playing. Jon Bryant recently moved back to Virginia and he served as my guide for the weekends.
The first Saturday took us to Snowshoe Mountain, WV for some DH mountain biking. I love mountain biking but haven't ridden at a ski resort for a while. It's much different now! It has gone from a family sport to an adrenaline sport. Practically every rider on the mountain wore full body armor and the shuttle bus smelled worse than a kayaker's gear bag. The riding was fun but I did a lot of hike-a-biking since it was just too steep and slick for my taste.
But this is a boating web site, so let's move on to Sunday. The timing for the trip was perfect since my first weekend was the first weekend of the annual Gauley season of scheduled releases on the famous river. The plan was to run the Lower Gauley to see how it felt, then consider the Upper if things went well. I forgot who I was boating with and Jon just doesn't roll that way. So, he found us a guide (Virginia local and kick-ass boater Ridge Handley) to take us down the upper. The Upper Gauley is rated a class V in Eddy flower. AW calls it a IV-V. William Nealy says there is a V, a V+, and a VI. I was scared shitless. I've never boated above class IV and I was in a boat I didn't know (Nomad 8.1, which is a bit small for me and I'd only paddled a displacement hull boat once) using a bent-shaft paddle for the first time. Yeah, I was nervous to say the least. Our guide was getting worried about me as I sat in the eddy adjusting my outfitting (again), and I heard him ask Jon, "Can he roll?" I apologized to him and assured him that I am not normally a liability on the river, but I had some severe jitters. I made sure (again) that I could scout and portage every rapid if necessary, and he (again) told me I could. With that, we set off with about 8 million other boaters.
Within about 15 minutes we arrived at one of the most dangerous rapids, an easy class III drop called Initiation. This is a straightforward rapid with a big tongue down the middle, but it has a nasty hidden sieve on the right, which otherwise would be a fine line. You can see photos and video of people trapped in the sieve. I'm glad we had a competent guide.
A few minutes later we came to the first of the big 5, Insignificant, so named because the first party to run the river said there was nothing of significance between the put-in and Pillow Rock. Well, except for this spicy little drop. The scout required walking down the river for 300 yards, in up to waist deep water. The scout made me feel a little better as the line didn't look bad: skirt two holes on the left, then move right before taking the biggest drop to the left. Following Ridge as closely as possible, we cleaned the rapid and started to feel a little better.
Pillow Rock was the next big one. If you've watched many boating videos, particularly raft carnage, you've probably seen this one. The majority of the current smashes into the big rock on the left bank, creating a huge pillow as well as a super turbulent little room of doom above it. Then just below it the flow goes over Volkswagen Rock, and you can go either right or left. It was fun watching really good boaters play this rapid, either splatting the pillow rock, touring the room of doom, or wave-wheeling off VW. It was a super pushy big water rapid, but boated pretty easy. I somehow made it through upright on day one. Day two I flipped and went over VW upside-down. It's strange to be upside-down and feel nothing but water! After the roll I was a little disoriented and went right around the next big rock, which sent me into a big hole. I punched through that one okay but drifted into the next mean little ledge hole sideways. I battled it for about 10 seconds before realizing I wasn't getting this big old creek boat out of it and pulled. Yes, that would be swim # 2 this season. And yes, I intentionally disclosed that fact in the middle of a long and boring TR so nobody would know.
The next rapid of note was Lost Paddle, so named for all the paddles the numerous undercut rocks snatch. This one was long and big. The first drop is really fun, big waves and a couple holes. The second drop is the sketchiest, as there is only about 6" of water running over a rock in the middle. Upside-down boaters have been knocked unconscious by the rock and flushed into undercuts on this one. To complicate matters, it has probably the biggest waves of the run all trying to throw you side to side. I blew the setup eddy for the drop and ran it ahead of our guide, but thankfully I was able to follow another boater and made it through upright. The third drop was cleaner and fun, ending in a narrow constriction with a big hole to dodge. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief after this one.
I think Shipwreck Rock was next. This was one of the funnest rapids, with a big, long wavetrain with infinite lines ending at the namesake rock, which is about half as long as the river is wide and badly undercut. It's easy to dodge it on the right, or there is a left line called Juicer. We went right.
Iron Ring was next. This is a short and steep rapid with a pretty narrow line to thread. If you make it, you get a sweet ride over some huge waves and see some massive holes fly by. If you don't, you get an intimate look at those holes. I barely made the line and clipped the edge of the lower hole on the left, but thankfully the Nomad blasted right through it. We watched a playboater get tumbled in the upper hole for a good 30 seconds before finally flipping and flushing. Best rapid of the day in my opinion.
Sweet's Falls was the last big drop, a 10 footer with a tongue. You've probably seen this one in a video too, or at least Postage Due and the Box Canyon immediately after. The drop itself is not too hard if you're following someone. It's a super flushy and pretty clean drop and the good boaters like to wavewheel into it. I prefer to wait until I get to the bottom of it and then windowshade, so that's what I did both days. Day two Ridge decided to tour the Box Canyon and I followed. Pretty cool! This is the rock where raft guides jump off their boat and send their customers through alone. This is also where bystanders try to sabotage rafts by jumping on and flipping them. We watched these shenanigans for a little while and had a good time.
Another mile or two and a couple minor rapids delivered us to the takeout, which is at the bottom of a long, windy, and most importantly private road. Since we were neither privileged enough to use the road nor smart enough to utilize the free shuttle, we shouldered our boats and hiked the 400 feet up a beautiful forested trail. I will never, ever complain about the Waterton hike out again! I got smart the second day and sent my boat up with the shuttle.
East coast boating was pretty neat. West Virginia and western Virginia are beautiful! We also got on the Lower New and Lower Gauley and they were both a lot of fun too. I now understand why many EC boaters get so gripped when they first paddle our rivers and creeks; pool-drop is an understatement! The Lower New in particular was more like lake-drop (although we did run it very low), but the rapids are kick-ass Westwater-esque wave trains. The Lower Gauley had the funnest rapids of the trip with some huge waves and easily avoided holes. I can also understand why they like to eddy-hop so much. When you only have five or six major rapids on a nine mile stretch, you gotta make 'em last! Plus, you need to be in complete control so as not to stuff yourself into the undercut rock that is inevitably around every corner. The Upper Gauley didn't turn out to be the class V I was scared of. I'd call it a solid IV with a few IV+ moves and maybe a couple class V consequences. But it's all class III when you're on line and we had a guide that knew the river like the back of his hand.
We did stop by Gauleyfest on Saturday night and it lived up to its reputation. Tons of people (boaters and locals), good music, lots of vendors, and a huge party. The downside: $10 admission charge! But it went to AW, so it's all good.
kayakfreakus
Posts: 75
Posted: 18 Oct 09 5:01 PM
Josh-
Nice trip report, I am jealous! Been meaning to get out there for a while now for Gauley fest and it just has not happened. New boat and new paddle on that run definitely makes for some mental holes to skirt as well :-)
Mark B.
gregk
Posts: 198
Posted: 19 Oct 09 9:22 AM
What was the water temp?
Sharpie
Posts: 133
Posted: 19 Oct 09 4:23 PM
Thanks for the TR!
josh
Posts: 789
Posted: 19 Oct 09 7:42 PM
Water temp was right around 70 I believe.
Randy pracht
Posts: 264
Posted: 20 Oct 09 12:43 PM
Josh you the man! I am currently training hard for the Team Gnarr tryouts next spring! I have purchased my false sense of security boat and i'm trying to get it dialed for the team trials. I hope I can get up to your standards before runoff begins and can get a chance to boat with team Josh. Sorry about your hole ride don't you love the amount of things that can go through ones head just before you pull that skirt! Here is to avoiding the wrong holes in 2010! Stay dry my friend! RandyP
josh
Posts: 789
Posted: 21 Oct 09 4:46 PM
Yeah Randy, you would have been proud! You skiing WP this season?
Randy pracht
Posts: 264
Posted: 22 Oct 09 5:41 AM
Yeah Mary Jane she my main thing she make me feel all sore! I have a couple of wave sport videos that show the wave sport open at pillow rock and always thought that looked like a fun rapid! Of course it would be nice to have a huge rapid backed up by a nice lake to collect your gear and move on to the next rapid! Sounds like a great trip, and Josh I am always proud of you! Did your paddling crew look concerned as you were takeing your hole ride or amazed at you throwing ends in a creek boat? RandyP
Stay dry my friend!
