Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Ultimate Kayaking Line

Today while making a really dark run (the sun had set a half hour ago) down Cowanshannock Creek, I happened into the best kayaking line I had heard in awhile. My buddy was really freaked out about putting on at sunset and now even more freaked out by the lack of light. I eddied out to check on him and the conversation went like this:

Jason: "Are you ok?"

Buddy: "No, but let's get the HELL OUT OF HERE!!!"

Uhh how do you respond to that? Me, I just pulled out of the eddy and took off.

Got Boof Baby!!!

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Blackwater Sunday

On Sunday 10/8/06 the Blackwater was at a perfect level to catch a first run on the Lower B with Jeff Macklin and Joe Sullivan. It was a beautiful fall day, in the 70's and the level was a low but fun 310cfs. I always felt that the walk out of the Upper Blackwater was pretty dangerous, but coming down that same hill looks infinitely more scary. On your way up you just stare at dirt, but on the way down, you can see how steep that trail really is. Once at the river, we took our time scouting drops and being safe. The best part of the river is certainly packed into the first mile or so and it gradually lessens from there. We thoroughly enjoyed the paddle as we were alone with the changing leaves and it had all the qualities that make virgin runs so fun. Paddling new rivers is deffinately my favorite.

Very steep hill



Joe Sullivan in the mix


After getting back to the putin, I met up with Zach, John, Sean and Jeremy for a quick sunset run down the Upper Blackwater (their third lap), which was still flowing at a reasonable 270cfs. These race against the clock runs have become a trademark of paddling with Zach Frederick and really show his level of commitment to getting in the best of the best in whitewater. The run went largely without incident, and we completed the run in its entirety in an hour. The walk out on the railroad grade was a typical darkness walk. What a great way to end a day on the Blackwater.

Friday, October 06, 2006

Gauley Season


Ahh Gauley Season

As Gauley season winds down, so does the paddling season for alot of people (not us), it would seem important to tell everyone about the Got Boof Crew experiences with this great river this season. The first weekend of Gauley Season, Keith, Rick, Matt, and Jason ran the marathon for the first time (that's all three parts of the Gauley in one day). We put on at 7:30am in the haze and before the sun had risen on the river itself. After running insignificant, I turned around and had one of the most surreal experiences to date on a river. Here we were, sitting in the fog of the Upper Gauley, at the base of a great rapid, ABSOLUTELY ALONE, looking up at this red ball of a sun rise over the sheer rock walls behind us. It was amazing. The rest of the day went without a hitch, and was actually alot easier than we expected the 26 mile journey to be.

For Gauley Fest weekend, we decided double laps on the Upper G were in order for Saturday, mud and all. Of course the trail and parking lot were purely disgusting making for such a turn off to such a great river. We put in our two laps, climbed the hill mud and all twice, and went to the festival to see all the new kayaking gear and drink as much of the Liquidlogic beer as we could, then decided to drive home the next day and skip the muddy adventures.