Wet and Wild in West Virginia
Trip Start
Jan 01, 2007
1
3
141
Trip End
Ongoing
Gauley Bridge,
West Virginia,
United States
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Getting wet in West Virginia, rafting down the wild Class V rapids of the Gauley River!
White-water rafting on the Class V Gauley River in West Virginia. Wow. That's all I can say. Wow. Beautiful. Terrifying. Wild. And WET. Very, very WET. But we made it out alive somehow.
We booked a rafting package for about $105 per person that included 2 nights of camping, breakfast of coffee & donuts each morning, a post-rafting dinner, and an all-day rafting trip down the Gauley River. We arrived on the evening of Sunday October 8th for a rafting trip with Extreme Expeditions. We setup camp and went straight to bed to prepare ourselves (mentally, really...) for the rafting trip the next morning. It was a first-time rafting trip for Frank, and the first time Kay will have rafted a Class 5 river. (Her prior experiences were both Class 3 or lower in the Snake River, Wyoming and the Napo River in Ecuador). Were we scared? Not really... But we should have been!
The Class V rapids of the Gauley River are a result of scheduled releases of the Summersville Dam. Twenty-two days each Autumn, our friends at the Army Corp of Engineers release the dam (Google for the schedule if you're planning a trip). The Gauley River drops more than 650 feet and contains over 100 rapids. The first mile of the river (referred to as the Upper Gauley) contains five Class V rapids, and dozens of Class 3 to 4 rapids.
Our 8-person raft was expertly guided by a fellow Northern VIrginia escapee, aptly named Rooster for his history of mohawk hair styles. Our fellow raft mates included (photo below): Marija from Ohio, Josh from Texas, and Ana, Doug, Joey from Virginia. Josh and Marija were hiking in Acadia National Park the day before, flew into Cleveland the night before and drove down to West Virginia in the middle of the night. Then after a full day of rafting on the river, they drove straight down to the Smoky Mountains. When do they sleep? We wish we had that energy!
The rafting trip down the river started off smooth. The scenery was beautiful. The wild river is flanked on each side with tree-lined hills and gorges, offering amazing views. We lucked out and the weather was gorgeous as well. After several days of rain, the sky opened up for us with bright sunshine. We made it through the first Class V rapid (out of 5 total), named "Insignificant", in one piece - with no bodies overboard and no lost paddles. One down, four more to go.
However, the 2nd rapid "Pillow Rock" and it's neighbor 'Volkswagon" got us. Ohhhhh did they get us GOOD! We rafted towards the massive Pillow Rock at an angle, then somehow got turned around backwards! We tapped the rock with our paddles, then slid down the "toilet bowl". The toilet bowl was HUNGRY! It swallowed our raft, then spit us out upside down! The raft flipped completely upside down, trapping several of us underneath. A hard cooler that was tied down in the middle of the raft came right on Frank's head. For a moment, we caught our breath above the water. Then the raft hit Volkswagon (the small rock in the corner of the 5th photo below) and the raft bounced again, bopping us on the head and sending us under again. Frank hit rock bottom, which left a good mark on his leg. He opened his eyes and saw nothing but "chocolate milk". Kay found her way to one side of the raft, and Frank the other. Kay lost her breath and started hyperventilating from the cold, fear, and struggle to keep her head above the water. Josh from Texas held onto her vest and they joined up with another rafter. Ana, meanwhile, had been trapped under the flipped raft. Joey was close to the raft above water and felt a leg under him. He reached down and pulled on the leg, to reveal a nearly out of breath Ana! Kay, Josh and Doug floated on down the river while Rooster tried to upright the raft. Kay continued to scream as they rapidly body surfed head-on towards a house-sized boulder. Frank and Marija were picked up by other rafts nearby. Rooster flipped the raft right-side up, and eventually we all made it back to the raft safely. Our silent group continued down the river, awkwardly quiet as we caught our breath and contemplated what just happened.
Further down the river, we encountered 3 more Class V rapids. All were a success, with no bodies overboard. We stopped for lunch after the last Class V rapid, a 14 foot waterfall called "Sweets Falls". We sat on the rocks above the waterfall, watching other rafters and kayakers brave the falls, as some fearless regulars taunted them with cheers and body-part flashes.
After lunch, we carried on to complete the rest of the Upper Gauley river, expecting mild Class 4 and 3 rapids. A cute rapid named "Fluffy Box of Kittens" turned out to be an angry tiger that day. Watching the raft in front of us get flipped over by it, we thought we were prepared. Oops. Though we didn't turn over completely, a handful of us were tossed out like popcorn in a hot pan. Pop! Pop! Bye-bye! There goes Frank... there goes Kay! This one was not as threatening, and we made it back to the raft pretty quickly.
More fun and games as we finished off the rafting trip. A couple of the guys played a Ride-em-Cowboy style bull ride on the tip of the raft over some rapids. In another game called "The Running Man", Frank attempted to jump off the moving raft onto a large flat slippery rock, run across the rock, then jump back in the raft on the other side of the rock. Except his foot slipped and he fell right between the rock and the raft, and almost took our guide Rooster with him! Luckily his fall was smooth and he made it back safely. Later we encountered a tall rock outcropping, which provided a fun diving board of sorts. Expecting a 5-10 foot dropoff, Frank joined the gang and raced up to the platform to discover a 20-25 foot dropoff! Bon Voyage! Frank led the gang and leaped off the ledge into the river. A final game of Circle-of-Trust concluded the games. In this game, we all stood on the top edges of the raft, holding hands and forming a circle. We all leaned back at the same time while holding hands. In the end, all the girls fell in the water, with the boys laughing on the boat. So you tell me - who can be trusted the most?
After a couple dips in the water and free-flow body surfing through calmer rapids, we pulled the raft out and headed back. We returned to our trusty yellow school bus for a bumpy, windy Class V ride back up the gorge to return to camp.
Returning back to camp, we were treated to a wonderful dinner of steak, potato, salad, and green beans. We retired to bed early, then packed up our gear the next morning to head to our next destination. Where? We were not sure of - so we drove to the Visitor's Center at the Canyon Rim of the New River Gorge for tips and information. We ended up camping on a beach along the New River. Read more in the next journal - coming soon!
