Upper Gauley First Timer’s Welcome – Mary Hebrank

River:Gauley
Skill:All
Trip Date:09/17/2005
Written by: , Posted: March 20, 2011

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):

  • Lisa, James, Mary & Wes sitting in eddy above #2 drop in Lost Paddle. Team is trying an alternate route on day #2. Lisa goes over pourover. James/Mary/Wes watch as Lisa does not come out immediately. A couple seconds pass. Lisa emerges from the now identified hole, turns and looks at James/Mary/Wes and says "BIG HOLE!", then paddles away. James/Mary/Wes look at each other and soil themselves [actually, only James did this] as they are already committed to the line.
  • Lisa & James talking while going downstream just past Iron Ring. Wave train coming up. James back paddles a couple times to let Lisa go first. Giant hole is hiding behind wave #2. Lisa's big creek boat stalls on top of the pile. James is too close, bumps Lisa's boat and pushes her out of the hole. James is pulled back into the hole and gets side-surfed. James claws out the right side.
  • Red Bull promotional girl at put-in tells us everything will be OK if we just drink her complimentary Red Bull. Regular or Sugar-free. Buzz does not help James' boating. Mary thinks the stuff tastes like cough medicine and wonders why anyone would ever want to drink it.
  • Raymond's rocket-launch behind Volkswagen Rock at Pillow rapid. His entire boat came out of the water. Wes has better details, but I did see it, and it was spectacular. I saw it, too. Most impressive.
  • Jill having a little trouble getting to an eddy where the rest await above a drop. Mary is behind Jill and is having trouble, too, but mostly ends up getting in Jill’s way. Jill decides the drop doesn’t look so bad and turns downstream. Mary decides same thing. Both note large pourover in middle of channel. Lisa yells “Go left OR right!” Jill goes left. Mary decides to stay out of Jill’s way and goes right. It all works out fine.
  • Very noisy party people at campground Saturday night from midnight to around 4am. John grumpy and sleepless Sunday morning. Everyone else had earplugs. Lack of sleep does not affect John’s paddling, however.

And now, a few postscripts from Lisa:

  • I've never seen a virgin on the Upper Gauley with a bigger smile the ENTIRE time on the river. I didn't even have to ask Wes how he liked the river or what he thought of it. He advertised his feelings all weekend long. This is one of the main reasons why I lead this trip!!!!
  • Mary is quite the amazing boater/roller. I've never seen anyone with so much determination when it comes to rolling … other than myself of course.
  • Hey David, thanks for trusting me enough to try something strange. I should have given a little more explanation. Sorry about that.
  • Jill was a great addition to the trip with her smile and laughter to keep the day fun.
  • It's always good to boat with Raymond, even if it's only once a year and that is on the Upper G.
  • Thanks to James for giving me some room this year at Iron Ring.
  • Thanks to John for the added knowledge of the river and helping out with the large group. Your presence and input made a world of difference to my comfort level during this trip.

I know I speak for the whole group when I say thanks one more time to Lisa for organizing the trip and her excellent guiding and coaching on the river. Thanks also to John for sharing his knowledge of the river and giving us the option of trying new lines, especially on the second day of the trip. I look forward to getting back on this fun and beautiful river.