Upper Gauley – Matt Daniels
| River: | Gauley |
| Skill: | All |
| Trip Date: | 06/11/2006 |
Date: June 11, 2006
Where: Upper Gauley
Water Level: Approx. 1000 cfs (below the Meadow)
Trip Coordinators: Craig MacKinnon, Dave Kessmann
Paddlers: Craig MacKinnon, Dave Kessmann, Ken Dubel, Mark Thompson, Matt Daniels, Dustin (?)
After a great day on the New River Gorge Saturday, a contingent of CCC’ers decided to try a low water Upper Gauley run. Heading into Cathedral for some breakfast and to check the levels, we ran into a boater from Kentucky, Dustin, who was also interested in an UG run. Checking the levels on the AW gauge, the Upper was running around 800 cfs with another 200 cfs coming in from the Meadow, which means about 1000 cfs total beyond Pillow Rapid.
I was feeling a little nervous having never been on the Upper Gauley. I’ve heard the stories, read the AW description, and seen pictures, but that can only prepare you so much. However, with the lower level and experienced paddlers in the group, I felt confident that I was up to the challenge.
During the drive to the put-in, Craig explained to Mark and I what we could expect; a creeky type run, the potentially dangerous areas and exposed rocks (of which he would of course talk to us about in more detail on the river), but not as much water volume pushing you around as a normal release. There is also a saying that the Upper Gauley is like an exotic pet; fun and interesting, but something that you don’t want to let your guard down with or turn your back on. As the butterflies in my stomach churned about, I was anxious about the run, but very excited at the same time. I knew that it was going to be fun!
Putting on at about 1:15, the crew began their descent. Things are a little less dramatic at the put-in at low water; the lack of 2800 cfs of water shooting out of the discharge pipe from the base of the dam; no rafts and buses; not really many people around at all. We had the river to ourselves, which is a rarity from what I’m told.
With Craig and Dave leading the way, we worked our way down through some of the “smaller” beginning rapids. It was a good warm up for the Big Five that lay ahead. One of the first things that I noticed about the river was the very large rocks all around and the large number of undercut rocks. The lower water exposes a lot of these that are under water during normal release. Seeing these helps gives an appreciation of the potential danger of this river.
By now, my nerves had started to settled down a bit, but knowing that I hadn’t even gotten to the big stuff yet, I was definitely still on edge. The group gathered above Initiation to discuss the rapid and line that we would take. We’d head down the left side to avoid the sieve on river right. I worked my way down through the rapid, staying in an aggressive paddling posture and making sure that I wasn’t going to be tossed around by the large waves. I met up with the others at the bottom in an eddy with a big smile on my face. The fun had just begun!
Next came Insignificant. I wish I could remember more detail about some of these rapids, but I suppose that comes with more exposure to them. What I remember about Insignificant is the many boulders that needed to be navigated at the entrance to the rapid, a result of the lower water level. I say this because as I was entering it, one came up on me before I realized it and broached my boat. As it caught me off guard, I had not had time to try and lean into the rock which every good boater should know to do, and was stuck facing upstream. As water pushed on my boat I was starting to tip over. I was able to get my paddle to the bottom of the river enough to stabilize myself for a moment and long enough to make a decision on how to get out of this situation. I realized I needed to be turned the other way in order to gain control before entering the rapid. Fortunately, I was able to roll under my boat and came up on the other side toward the rock and was able to grab a hold of the rock. As I sat there looking downstream at Insignificant, hanging onto a rock, I took a deep breath and regained my composure. I realized I was lucky that this situation had not been that bad and that I was able to make a good recovery. As several people had told me, you need to always be on guard on this river. How true it is. After my slight mishap on the entrance to Insignificant, the remainder of the rapid went well and I was able to stay upright and enjoy the ride. Feeling a little better about things we entered Iron Curtain. I’m not recalling too much about this rapid, so I guess that means it went well for all of us.
As we approached Pillow Rock, we decided to get out and scout it. At lower water, there are several rocks and holes exposed toward the bottom of the rapid just before the actual Pillow rock. Knowing that we wanted to avoid the infamous “Room of Doom,” we discussed our options for running the rapid. It looked as though we’d have to work to avoid some of the rocks and holes on the right, but not get too far left to avoid being pushed into ‘the room’. I watched as Craig and Dustin made their way down the rapid. They both were able to punch through the hole at the bottom without much trouble and avoid the large rock on river left. This made me feel some relief. As I made my way through the top part of the rapid, I looked ahead at the line I was trying to stay on. How different things can look when you’re in your boat as opposed to on the riverbank. Fortunately, I was able to keep my line and worked through the hole without being pushed too far left. I paddled hard to avoid Pillow rock and then to the left of Volkswagen rock. Again, everyone had good lines down this rapid with some getting a little closer to the large rock than others.
Next came Lost Paddle. Craig had told us that at this level we could break it up into four drops. We eddied out above the first drop and discussed the line. Just below the first drop lies a large rock that we needed to stay to the left of. If I remember correctly, Mark had a pretty square run-in with that rock that flipped him. But he recovered nicely and made his way to the bottom eddy with a smile.
It was decided to scout the second drop. We were warned of the potential hazard of very shallow water here and advised not to flip. After analyzing our options, we decided to run down the right side, through a couple of slots. The two slots were both small drops with holes at the bottom of them. We were all able to blast through the slots and holes with no issues. The third and fourth drops were also run smoothly by all. Again, I apologize for my lack of specifics on these rapids.
Continuing along, I knew that I still had two big ones left. Of course, there was no loss of attention to the in-between rapids of Tumblehome and Shipwreck Rock. Again, at low water, you can really see the danger of places like Shipwreck Rock. We worked our way down the left side getting a fairly good look at it. Dave decided to run to the right side of it, which looked to be a good alternate route.
The approach to Iron Ring had most of us discussing the dry left line of the rapid (a.k.a. portage). We eddied out to take a look at it for a final decision. At low level, there are two discrete drops in this rapid. The first is about an 8-footer that has a large hole at the bottom. On river right there is a large flat rock that slopes down to create a cave beneath it where water from the top of the drop is channeled down. This flow, along with the hole at the bottom of the drop, tends to push the majority of the flow toward river left which is exactly the opposite of where you want to go. The problem here, is that there are two rocks with a very narrow slot between them just to the left of center and a very narrow notch on river left that makes about a 90 degree turn as it lets out at the bottom of the rapid; not a place that you want to be. In addition, the second drop is no piece of cake either, with a large hole at the bottom of it. Mark and Craig also discussed a new potential sneak line – flipping under the large flat rock above the rapid on river right and emerging upright in the cave it creates below it. This would then set you up nicely for the second drop. Of course, this was in jest, and brought some good laughs to the group. As we continued to look at the rapid, all but one of us was in agreement to portage. Our brave friend from Kentucky decided he would give it a try. Dustin got in his boat as we all stood on the bank to set safety and watch. Dustin made the first drop but was a little off the line he had hoped. The hole at the bottom slowed him down quite a bit as well. As he fought to make his way right, the flow entering from the cave on river right was too much for him to overcome. He was pushed left toward the notch. As we watched this unfold, we could only wait to react to what might happen, if he was swept into the notch. Dustin fought hard and we were slightly relieved to see him perched between the two rocks just to the right of the notch. He dropped between them and caught the edge of the hole at the bottom of the second drop. He flipped amid the boiling foam but was able to roll up just beyond the turbulence. A scary rapid at low water. Two days later, a fatal rafting accident would occur when a passenger fell into the notch at low water.
“One more big one to go,” I thought to myself. Sweet’s Falls was the rapid I had known least about. We’d stay to the left of the exposed rock in the middle of the river but to the right of the large rock just beyond the drop known as “Dildo” Rock. As I peeled out from the eddy above the drop, I tried to imagine for a split second what things would look like beyond the lip of the drop. But, there was no time for that, I needed to focus on the task at hand. I dropped off the top lip and avoided the large rock below. I was immediately in a whiteout of crashing water. I braced hard as my boat was being forced on its right edge. I remember a rock brushing along my right side as I was exposed in a high brace. I held on tight and emerged at the bottom victorious.
What a day and what a river. Thanks to Craig and Dave for leading the way down the UG. As I think back on the trip, I can’t help but think what this river must be like at release level. Bigger? Definitely. Scarier? Probably. More fun? We’ll see. One thing is for sure though; this river will definitely have my utmost respect and undivided attention whenever I am on it. I can only look forward to finding out first-hand what it will be like running these rapids with three times the flow amid rafts and other boaters during Gauley season. I have a sneaking suspicion that I may be longing for a beautiful day on this river much like we had where the only other people we saw were…well, us.