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Upper Gauley First Timer's Welcome
by Mary Hebrank
Trip Leader: Lisa Birskovich
Participants: Assistant Trip Leader - John Zadronsky; Newbies - Jill Dinsdale, Mary Hebrank, and Wes Dodson; Somewhat Experienced - Dave Kessman, Raymond Williams, and James Woods
Dates: September 17-18, 2005
The weekend before Gauley Fest turned out to be an optimal time for running the upper section of this challenging river. Not only was the weather sunny and warm, but thanks to the first ever recreational release of the Cheoah occurring on the same weekend, traffic on the Gauley was relatively light.
We all shared two large and lovely adjacent campsites at Battle Run Campground, just minutes from the put-in, where we were joined by Ben Gilbert, Bridget Nudi, and Tiffany Mozingo, who would be running the Lower Gauley. After Lisa's brief pep talk Saturday morning, we headed out to a fabulous day of boating.
Lisa and John both know the river like the backs of their hands which helped ease the anxieties of us newbies considerably. The mile-long warm up of class II was a pleasant surprise, too. Somehow I had the notion that the Upper was continuous class IV, but it is most definitely a pool-drop river. That made it easy for Lisa to explain each rapid, and in many cases, John also pointed out alternate lines that some chose to follow. The first rapid we scouted was Pillow, at mile 4. From the scouting rocks on river right it looks just like Michele Pagnotta described it in April: "It's white everywhere!" And all that white piles up high on a two-story house sized rock on river left, and then spills into a turbulent mass below. Oh, and there's a Volkswagen sized rock down there, too. But Lisa's excellent coaching allowed all of us to run the rapid more or less under control and arrive upright at the bottom. For some of us, that was a tremendous relief.
The second rapid we scouted was Iron Ring. The idea is to move all the way across the river from the river left scouting spot, passing just to the right of the first landmark (watermark?) hole and then just clipping the right side of the second hole. That lines you up for a rather chaotic wave train, and a right angle keeps you away from the infamous Woodstock hole. However, as at least one of us (that would be me) discovered, too much right angle and momentum sends you into a pourover hole near the right bank. But we all need to practice our combat rolls, right?
After Iron Ring it was smooth sailing to Sweets Falls, the last major rapid. I couldn't find the sweet spot in the line and got yet another crack at roll practice, but it was all good anyway.
At the takeout we rebelled against Lisa's directive that all first-timers MUST have the experience of carrying boats and gear up the steep, narrow, and often slippery half-mile trail to the field where our vehicles awaited. Instead we gladly donated $5 each to the West Virginia Rivers Coalition and let their good folks drive our stuff up in their U-Haul so we could enjoy the walk unencumbered.
On Sunday, Jill decided she had expended her weekly allowance of adrenalin and opted to run the milder Lower Gauley. Dave and Raymond elected to join her, leaving just Lisa, John, Mary, Wes and James for another great day on the Upper. But you don't have to take my word for it. For a different perspective, here are James' descriptions of the trip's memorable moments with a few of my own additions (in italics):
©Carolina Canoe Club