And Yes!! It really was snowing!
And yes. We had a great time.
I have to admit, what with 40 degree temps, rain mixed with snow and our "pep talk" on the way down to the river, the SigO and I seriously considered bailing for the weekend. It was more of "well, we're here now" and "we'd just kick ourselves if we bailed out" that kept us from staying on the bus. I'm not sure either one of us was very gung ho about the trip until we saw who our guide was going to be.
Thank all that is holy for John! He's been a guide on the Gauley for 34 years now and I think he knows every single rock in the river. When one of our crew asked about the experience level of another guide, John said "Yeah, he's pretty new. He's only been doing this for 8 years." Ha! That's my kind of river guide. John had been our guide on a previous trip, so as soon as I saw him, all my fears evaporated and I was ready for a fun day.
I've placed YouTube links on each of the biggies. None of them are our video, but they'll give you an idea of what we did. I have to say though, the river was a little bigger than average due to all the rain we've had this year. According to the guides, the average is 2500 cfs (cubic feet per second) and we were at 3200 cfs. So, some of these videos aren't accurate representations of what we rafted.
So, with that intro...
As soon as you put in on the river, you shoot a Class III rapid. Nothing huge, but still, the fact that you haven't been in the boat for a full minute and you're already really paddling should give you an idea of what's in store.
Most of the rapids on the Upper Gauley are Class IV - V. Of course, there's not a rating for anything bigger than a V, but still, what do you do when you say "This is a Class V" and then, a little way down the river, there's something bigger? Well, I'll tell you. You call it a "Class V+"
However, to quote Wikipedia: There are dozens of rapids on the Upper Gauley; the most notable are the "Big Five":
The first Class V rapid encountered is called Insignificant. According to the story John told, the first person to shoot these rapids after the first ever dam release was a kayaker who reported there was nothing significant before Pillow Rock. Apparently, he forgot all about the first Class V that was well worth some notation. But, because he forgot about it, guides today call this set of rapids "Insignificant". It's not. And you hit it really soon after launching your boat.
Mostly what I remember about this, and every other Class V (or V+ rapid) is John screaming "Go Go Go!" Honestly. I don't remember him raising his voice a single time when we rode the New River with him. I don't have any pictures of Insignificant (or really, any other Class V, other than Pillow Rock and Sweet's Falls), but I do have Video. I can't embed it here, so you'll just have to come to my house and watch it.
That said, here's Pillow Rock. This is the first Class V+ rapid encountered on the Upper Gauley.
I love the guy almost falling out. His name is Mike. The guy opposite him is Dan. Note the look of terror on his face.
Check out the look on SigO's face here. "Grrrr!!! Argh! I will not let us flip! I am Man! Hear me Roar!!"
None of us fell out on this, or any other Class IVor higher rapid. That's the irony. The only time anyone fell out at all was on a Class III. We hit a rock, and that tossed the two in front of me. (I'm in the back, right in front of John, our guide. He's the one with the gold helmet and green PFD [Personal Flotation Device]). The girl in front of the SigO (who's across from me) completely freaked out when her brother and friend fell out of the boat and abadoned paddling altogether. No big surprise, she ended up in the drink shortly after them. That was the only time anyone fell out during our trip. And really, if you're gonna fall out, I'd much rather do it during a Class III than a Class V or V+. I'm just sayin'.
There are some III's, and IV's after Pillow Rock, but the next biggie is "Lost Paddle". This class V is 0.25 miles long and has five drops. Just about the time you think you're safe, wham, there's another drop. I rather enjoyed it to be honest with you as most of the other Class V's or higher were over so fast, you didn't even know what happened.
After more III's and IV's, comes Iron Ring. Another Class V+. Scary. To me, more scary than Pillow Rock, although I guess Pillow Rock is more notorious. Iron Ring is so named because it used to be a set of falls. However, when trying to float logs down the river (for coal mining, etc, back in the day), the logs kept breaking up over the falls, so they put iron rings in the rocks on either side of the river, lowered a bosun's chair, and then placed some dynamite in the rock of the river and blew out the falls. The iron rings were there for a long time (hence the name) until some bone head stole them. People. They're the worst!
More III's and IV's ensue, and then, Sweet's Falls.
There are a few funny things about these pictures. First, look at the look on my face here. It's "OH HOLY HELL!" Meanwhile, look at the look on John's face. It's "Yo. Hey. What's up? Oh, me? Not much. Just kinda chillin'. Hangin' Out. Cold out here though, huh?"
Then, check out the SigO in this shot. Other than John, he's the only one with a paddle in the water. Yeah, I'm pretty sure we would've all been screwed without him along. And NO, I am NOT biased. I don't know what you're talking about.
After Sweet's Falls comes lunch. Which, I swear is just a way to extend the day, because before lunch, I'm pretty sure my heart rate never dropped below 200 bpm, but after lunch, until the very end, I don't think it ever got higher than 60 bpm. After lunch, you're no longer on the Upper Gauley. Now you're on the Middle Gauley, and it's pretty calm until the very end when there is one last rapid right before you pull out for the day.
It's not a Class V, but it does have this big a$$ rock right at the end that will clear your sinuses if you hit it, and I was pretty sure we were going to until the very last second when we got clear of it.
It's called Woods Ferry. Julie's Juicer is what they call the hole behind the rock and I'm glad John kept us out of that as well.
So that was the trip. Check that one off the list. No more big adventures planned for 2011 other than climbing Old Rag in a few weeks. Don't worry though. I'm sure we'll ad lib something.
For anyone who needs some calming after this blog, check out the cool swag I got on the way down to the river:
Yummy squishy Malabrigo.
Some fun sock yarn - you knit the leg and foot in the blue and gold and the heel and toe in the black. Kewl, huh?
Some yarn for my Secret Santa Recipient's present. I'm making her Fairy Castle's to store her Double Pointed Needles (DPN's) and Crochet Hooks.
Here's what the Fairy Castles look like. What you can't see is you can store needles and hooks in them. They're way cool.
and, last, but never least, some loverly stitch markers. I can never have too many. Hint Hint.
