Whitewater Rafting, Virginia

Check out the photos!
Day One: Upper New - Water level: 14 feet above average
The sun was shining, but the air was cool. We gathered at Appalachian Wildwater (AW) in the morning to get our wetsuits, personal floatation devices and helmets. We signed waivers and listened to the guide explain the rules. The two that stick out in my mind are 1) listen to your raft guide and 2) if you fall in the river - don't stand up.

The Lower New was too dangerous to run that day, so we drove to the Upper New where it was pretty calm. There were eight people plus the guide in each raft. We had five rafts all together. The views were breathtaking - so lush, so beautiful. Since the water was calm, we took our time going down. Splashing each other, overtaking other rafts. Mike Gehard threw out a few poor souls, but they retaliated by capturing Lynda Lahr. Eventually we got her back.

We stopped for lunch at the side of the river where AW staff cooked burgers and veggie burgers with all the fixins. We hung out for about an hour and then got back into the rafts. The end of the ride was at Cunard, which is where they normally put in. Although we had fun, we were a little disappointed in the river. But who knew what was in store for the next day...

Day Two: Middle and Lower Gauley - Water level: 15 feet above average

All I can say is - WOW! The Lower Gauley ROCKS! This was my first time on a big river and it was exactly what I expected - big wave trains, huge holes, fast water. It was awesome! The feeling was completely different than Day One. It was a gray rainy morning. The guides were tense. There were less jokes and lots of serious looks on their faces. None of us knew what to expect, but we felt safe - these guides had over 30 years combined experience guiding this river.

It was an hour drive to the put in. It had stopped raining, but the air was still cool. The guides reiterated the importance of listening to their commands. When they said "Paddle hard", they really mean paddle hard. So, with that, we jumped into the rafts and started off on our adventure. We paddled through rapids called Gillespie's Hole, where normally there is only one hole, on this day there were three. We also ran through, Julia's Juicer, and Backender. We lost a few people out of the raft, but luckily, their crew got them in right away.

On the Lower Gauley, we hit a long continuous class 4 or 5 rapid called Canyon Doors. I was sitting in the middle of the raft, concentrating on paddling hard and didn't always see what was coming at us. The force was so powerful, it knocked big burly boys off their butts and sometimes out of the rafts. Pretty scary stuff! One of the last rapids was called Pure Screaming Hell, which was filled with large holes and undercut rocks all over the river. We paddled through them all with a healthy dose of fear, respect and excitement.

When we got back to AW, we overtook the hot tub and talked about the day on the river. We were all happy to be on dry land. We then jumped on the bus for dinner at a local BBQ place. Some of the guides came along where they shared stories of other rafting trips and big water adventures.

After dinner we returned to AW and hung out in the lounge, had a few drinks, and watched Todd and Francis do their best at karaoke. We have pictures to prove it!! Good thing there was no recording.

It was a fabulous trip. Can't wait to go during Gauley Season in September to see the fall colors.

A big thank you to all the guides who kept us alive and made us all feel welcomed. And an even bigger thank you to David Roe for organizing the trip. You did a fabulous job.