Got Boof

From Ed: Sometimes it requires a kick in the pants

2011-03-09T21:36:00.013-05:00

Contributed by Ed McGuinness

Sometimes it requires a kick in the pants, a punch in your throat, or a 10 AM phone call that a rarely run creek is filled to the brim to increase motivation. Mountain Biking, Climbing, and Tiger Woods idealization has kept some of the Got-Boof Crew from getting on the gnar. Post-winter complacency quickly increased the nerves of the crew settling into the Northwest creek hunting. We have been lame with extracurricular pursuits and had not felt the vertical descent of kayaking in several months.

It had been raining Creek-Juice for the past 36 hours as I was peering at the rain accumulations on Matt Pascals infamous map Friday night. Excitement was beginning to build as the rain continued to show the deepest colors in a rarely run section of Northwest, PA. The Emlenton area provides unique topography that empties numerous plateaus into the mighty Allegheny.

In 2006 Little Scrubgrass, Squaw Valley, Ritchey Run, and Mill Creek were all investigated by this kayaking youth. Intentions were strong to run these watersheds with ferver. However strong idealizations may be, water can not be directed to this acreage by chance.

Finally in 2011, the stars aligned, gods smiled, and we had a unique warming trend with rain for 36 hours on Thursday and Friday. This formula included perfect ingredients for a weekend of kayaking with good friends.
Setting out from Evans City at 8:00 I started making phone calls with doubt of what might or might not be running. Jason Hilton, Bill Schwab, Matt Zeleznik, Matt Pascal; Everyone had prior commitments withs Jason’s being the most flexible, Golfing (LAME excuse)… Following a 45 minute drive north to pick up Beau Smith from his Slippery Rock Retreat, Alden Elliot met up with us in his Jeep hoping for a mild Class III Scrubgrass run or a Mild run on the Slippery Rock Creek if there was not enough water in the watersheds. Rain continued to pour and Speed limits could not contain the anticipation of seeing the local drainage ditches looking like Mini-Class VI death runs. I had to contain my hopes and not pretend to be a foam mini at the top of these numerous little creeks. FOCUS….

I don’t recall slowing down for Barkeyville, PA despite my 4 point ticket there 3 or 4 years ago. All I remember from the drive is talking about philosophy until the I80 exit for Emlenton registered in my brain. I had seen this sign numerous other times coming to the area hoping for a magical burst of rain that never had enough juice for these runs.

Needless to say I bypassed going straight to our intended creek of the Little Scrubgrass to check out the Squaw Valley watershed. GURU Rich Yester had provided limited beta on American Whitewater but we had investigated the creek for ourselves over the past 4 years and cut strainers out of the creek numerous times in the past. Now was the moment of truth… Would it be running this day??

(This picture is the brown water at the Squaw Valley Bridge. It is barely Visible, but a running level is between 2.50 and 3 feet of the spraypaint on the bridge.) It had dropped three inches with consistent rainfall the full day in 6 hours.

This is the rapid immediately before the 20 footer Double clapper Waterfall that I am unsure of names, only that the GURU RICH YESTER has an awesome video of running that fall back when dinosaurs were still chasing him (2004 or 2005)

(This is a picture of Squaw’s Sluice before the big double clapper.)

Immediately the group realized this was not going to be a placid Slippery Rock Creek Run. Phone Calls were made immediately to the Tiger Woods of the Got-Boof crew and encouraged with promises of Class V exploratory creeking. Plans were made to quickly run the Little Scrubgrass then venture to the Squaw Valley Creek immediately after the run. (Post-Winter idealizations and beliefs we had more technique than we did).

Complications with communication, Icy Roads to the take out, and Intentional Stalling allowed the speeding bandit from Creighton the opportunity to make the distance before most of us had put on the filled Little Scrubgrass. Anticipation from years of waiting was suddenly realized. The first Drop is the biggest but was not the climax of the trip. A hidden boof in the first drop was validation that this was going to be a fun trip.

On American Whitewater there is very little beta on this Northwest Gem. The creek has the complexity of a strong Class III+ with the consistency of a solid Class IV creek. There was rapid after rapid after rapid, building without fail to be an ENJOYABLE and FUN kayaking excursion.

At the bottom of this unexpected joy, it was discussed about the possibility of WHAM Waterfall that would likely be running. Instead of going with the flow we turned into the strong Allegheny flow and paddled 200 yards to a looming valley that could be seen in the distance. 200 Yard Carry of a creekboat in rapidly chilling temperatures could have diminished the spirit of lesser mortals. However, the sight of a sketchy 20 footer with a big kicker on top pumped warm adrenaline into blood of all present.

Alden Elliot who recently kicked off the season with repeats of “BIG RUN” Falls in New Castle quickly evaluated the fall to be runnable and skirted up for a plunge. Cleaning the fall with a perfect Boof his excitement helped fire up Jason Hilton to put down the Wii remotes and fire up a solid line as well.

Safety was set and the Cameras rolled for a repeat of Aldens.

Paddling out of the Allegheny the excitement of the day was relived. Comparisons of Little SCrubgrass to Meadow and Fikes without the Cascades or Death Rooms were also made.

Squaw Valley had held at a running level from 10:00 Am through the 4:00P.M. takeout time we returned after paddling Little Scrubgrass. Maybe Alden felt like putting on this creek however the rest of us had enough with the excitement from the Scrub, and Wham waterfall. We retired to our normal lives waiting for the next day we would dismiss the mountain bikes, put down the Wii Remotes, or leave the climbing harness at home. It was an easily boat scoutable creek, with minimal fear of dangerous rapids… However it was a subtle reminder to those of us who have forgotten how to have fun kayaking with friends on a raining, cold, and miserable day. The reminder is that we can enjoy ourselves and take the time to talk between the rapids instead of always fearing and focused only on the next horizon line.

From Beau: Pringle Run and “the dog”

2010-06-13T21:57:00.006-04:00

This Sunday (6/6/10) began uneventfully when I woke up expecting to drive down and paddle the Upper Blackwater. A check of the gauges revealed that the Blackwater was low, but rising slowly. I began driving down to meet Jeff Blood, Dave Carey, and Dave Haines down in Friendsville.

And then it started raining…

I met Jeff in Washington, PA and we began driving down to meet the other guys. It continued to rain steadily. It looked like the rain was headed to the canaan valley. By the time we reached the Bruceton Mills exit on I-68, we could barely see 100 feet ahead of us because of the rain. We stopped by the Little Sandy to see if the Little Sandy was coming up, but it still looked too low to boat. When we arrived in Friendsville, the water at the takeout of the upper yough was already up to the stairs. We met Dave and Dave and tried to decide what to do next. We were about to continue to the Blackwater, and then Jeff checked the rain gauges again.

Preston County, West Virginia had received an inch of rain in one hour.

So we decided to stay in the area, and see if we could find something to scrape down.

Our first stop was the take out of Roaring Run. When we arrived, the water was high and rising fast with water the color and consistency of chocolate milk. None of us had ever ran Roaring run, but we had all heard reports that Roaring run was full of wood. We decided Daughtery Run might be a safer choice, so we went and looked at that instead. When we arrived at Daugherty, it was already high. As we were suiting up, we watched the creek rise another 6 inches or so in about 15 minutes.

If you haven’t been on Daugherty when it’s high, I highly recommend it. We cruised through the boogie water and smaller rapids, and rocketed down several long slides that Daugherty is so well known for. There was some wood, but it wasn’t bad (most of the time). The one rapid I remembered from the last time I ran Daugherty is known as the “cave rapid.” As we passed under an old bridge, we knew we were getting close. Suddenly, we heard a voice from the left. There was a guy on shore that called us over and told us that the right-hand channel that we were about to take had wood in it. The group ahead of us had run it blind. Two other guys were able to boof over it on the far left, but the guy on shore had gotten caught up in it. He told us he had almost drowned, and had also broken his paddle in the process. We walked around and continued warily. After several more fun slides we reached the take out.

We tried to decide what to do next. It was almost six o’clock, but there was still plenty of water in the creeks. Elsey Run was right down the road, but due to the lack of beta and daylight beta about one of the steepest runs around, we decided to play it safe and head to Pringle Run instead (only 500 feet per mile). You know it’s a good day of boating when Pringle Run is your backup plan.

It was my first time on Pringle Run, but Jeff Blood and Dave Carey had been on it a few times before. We scouted some of the drops on the way up the road, and then we put on above the Pringle Falls. Everyone had good lines off of probably the coolest waterfall I have ever run. It was a really bony slide into a small pool, and then right off the falls into a deep pool. I found out later that most people portage the slide above the falls. There was a sweet slide after the falls followed immediately by some fun steep boulder drops all the way down to the Cheat.

Spring Creeks

2010-03-17T21:46:00.009-04:00

Recent high water had us fishing for some new micros.

Saturday (3/13) sent us north to look at Squaw Valley but it was too low. After running around to check some things out, we ended up putting in on a low Richey Run in order to at least get some boat time in.

On Sunday, a much larger group went South. We ended up running a small micro creek called Asher Glade on the way to Friendsville, and later ended up on a severely swollen Bear Creek in Friendsville. The best part of Asher was the waterfall shown before.

Winter Upper Blackwater

2010-01-29T22:31:00.009-05:00

This past weekend, due to a nice mid-winter, I was able to set out with three friends to run the Upper Blackwater. Normally during this time of year, for me, it is a choice to really think about heading into this majestic location as the added threat of spending an evening in such a deep gorge adds a certain sense of trepidation when that night could be spent at freezing temperatures. But, with the warm temperatures, and the chance to lead some boaters who were not totally familiar with the run, Saturday January 24th was a go.

For the occasion a wrote a little speech for the team. As I remember it went something like this.

Hello,

How about that ride in? I guess that’s why they call Davis, West Virginia - Sin City (hahaha)

You guys may not know this, but I consider myself…a bit of a loner. I tend to think of myself as a one man wolf pack. But when someone brought Blood home, I knew he was one of my own. And my wolf pack, it grew by one. So we’re two…so there was two of us in the pack. I…I was alone first in the pack, and then Blood joined in later.

And 6 months ago, when Blood introduced me to you guys. I thought…wait a second, could it be. And now I know for sure, I just added 2 more guys to my wolf pack. 4 of us wolves running around the Upper Blackwater together, in Davis looking for strippers and cocaine. So tonight, we make a toast!

Well, I think that is how it went.

For one of our group, Beau Smith, it was his first run. Here are some excerpts f comments he had after successfully finishing his first lap on the Upper B.

This Saturday started off with an early morning text from Jason Hilton, reading simply, “Blackwater?” I drove down to meet Jason and Jeff Blood, and we headed down to the Canaan Valley to meet up with Dave Carey.

Apparently the Canaan Valley received quite a bit of snow in the past few weeks, and our walk to the put in was made more treacherous by several inches of snow on the steep downhill trail. The view from the put-in of Blackwater falls and rapid known as 100 Yard Dash is worth the drive itself. I knew that the first rapid is the most important indicator of whether or not someone should be on the Upper B. Quite a few people have gotten pummeled in the first rapid and decided to walk out from there. I slid into the first small eddy, and instantly I was paddling down through the first big rapid. There’s no warm up on the Upper B. It’s either sink or swim.

After the first rapid, my memory fades a little. There is an untold number of boofs to hit in a few short miles. I remember a few of the larger rapids, but many of the smaller rapids and boogie water blend together. First came Z falls, Tomko Falls, and Shock to the System. All three rapids would fall into the category of the best rapids that I have ever run. Then, we walked to infamous Sticky Fingers rapid. The one big rapid that made me nervous from the beginning was My Nerves are Shot and I Can’t Take it Anymore. I was pleasantly surprised when we were able to break the long, multi-tiered slide rapid into smaller, manageable parts. Before I knew it, our journey down the Upper Blackwater was over.

While I won’t go into detail about the walk out, anyone who has ran the Upper B, or the North Fork of the Blackwater can tell you how unpleasant the walk out is.

Overall, I had big expectations of the Blackwater, and it did not fail to deliver. It may not have been the most intimidating river that I’ve done, but it was by far the most technically difficult. I had to use every trick in my bag of kayaking tricks to paddle down the river. I was surprised how clean the big rapids were, and at the same time I was surprised how manky, and potentially dangerous, the smaller drops were. When we got to the take out, I was just happy to be alive after coming through such a treacherous stretch of river. Lately, all I’ve been able to think about is the next trip down the Blackwater.

Top Yough Season

2009-12-10T19:20:00.013-05:00

This past weekend, some water returned to our region. It came in the form of snow, but snow melts eventually!

The roads were not in the best of conditions, but most of us made it to the river.

Carl catching some air

Years ago Carl Schneider and I dubbed this time of year Top Yough season because this run seems to run very often over the winter. As you can see, the season is officially here.

Water Filled Weekend

2009-10-26T20:53:00.007-04:00

This weekend brought some water to the region, mostly south of Morgantown, WV. A group of nine of us met on Saturday to bag some creeks. With our hopes set on bagging two creeks, Roaring creek and Daugherty Run we drove down to Albright, WV to check on the action. After setting the shuttle for Roaring Creek we realized at the put in that the water was too low. This sent us on a mad scramble over to Daugherty to catch the remaining water. While the water was on the low side, it is always a neat opportunity to boogie down this slide filled run, and for many in the group, it was a great chance to see the run for the first time.

Sunday brought higher water runs on both the Lower Big Sandy and the Upper Yough for the few of us that were able to get out on both days this last weekend.

Got Boof Goes North '09

2009-09-09T22:25:00.014-04:00

Beau on Colton Falls

The following is a contribution by our newest Got Boof Member: Beau Smith

The 2009 summer season ended with a bang this year when I was fortunate enough to be invited up to the Adirondacks with the Got Boof crew. After boating for an entire summer on the Upper Yough, I felt confident enough in my boating skills to try my luck. The drive was suspiciously flat, but I was assured that massive, steep drops were hidden somewhere in the placid landscape of upstate, rural New York.

On the first day, we ran the Raquette river, and the first rapid lay within a short walk of the put-in. For those of you who have not seen Colton falls, you will probably sleep better at night having not seen it in person. That was my first reaction anyways. Pure terror. As I was carrying my boat towards the put-in, there was some uncertainty in my mind about if I would live through the day. Luckily for me, I cruised down through the rapid with no problems. It was so much fun, I decided to carry up and run it again. Everyone else came through and we headed down the river for a great day of giant rapids and good times.

The rest of the weekend was a little more mellow with some fun class four rapids on the Moshier and Taylorsville sections of the Beaver, and some exciting park-and-huck action on the Eagle sections.

I couldn’t have asked for a better weekend. Every area of the country offers something different for kayakers, and New York is no exception, especially coming from the PA-MD-WV region. Besides getting to see some new rivers, this weekend provided me the opportunity to run my first class V river, and push my mental and physical limits to new levels. Thank you to Jason, and all the other guys who I boated with this weekend. It was a great trip, and I hope that I can travel back to New York and do it again next year.

The Chambersburg crew also made their way north this weekend. Check out some photos of their adventure here.

Third Annual Creeking Clinic

2009-07-30T21:56:00.010-04:00

On July 26th, the third annual Got Boof Intro to Creeking Clinic took place at Valley Falls, WV. We had over 40 participants this year, including both safety boaters and students, with a nearly one to one ratio. This year’s students left the majority of the carnage at home and spent the entire day working on their technique over the beautiful topography of this great West Virginia State Park. From posture and scouting to a variety of different boof techniques, participants took turns running the falls and then helping each other portage back up for more fun. Following a brief lunch, the group moved on down to the last two major rapids, Hamburger Helper and Twist and Shout to take their new found skills and apply them to the lines at hand. One more successful trip, one more long walk out and we look forward to next years activities.

Additional photo galleries can be found at the following locations:

Art Barket - Coming Soon
Jeff Macklin - Coming Soon
Edward McGuiness - Here
Phil and Jen Raber - Here

Cucumber and McClintock

2009-06-22T22:38:00.013-04:00

With big rains coming to our region Wednesday night everything was flowing on Thursday, giving us the opportunity to do some summertime creeking. While some of the regular creeks that make our region so great were definitely a go and would have made for a super day, we decided to see what new runs we could knock out given this opportunity. Using Confluence as our launching point we set out for two creeks we had heard mention of but had never run, Cucumber Run and McClintock Run, both rumored to be class IV creeks that flow into the Casselman River.

Cucmber was first on the list, being the smaller of the two runs. Art Barket and I (Jason Hilton), put in off of State Road 3001 and immediately began to dodge the kind of wood one expects on these sorts of seldom run micro creeks. A little duck here a portage there and we were off. The creek began with some simple technical stuff winding its way through the forest and having the same general beauty one would associate with regional creeks such as Drakes and Fikes. About a half mile in, the creek began to take a dive towards the river, granting for Art and myself some of the best boofs and tight little drops we have encountered in a while.

The two largest rapids of the creek were a two-tiered waterfall we boofed down the center on and a tight rock jumble before the tunnel that required a stroke or two to keep from getting beat up in the hole and taking a trip through the tunnel sans boat. Out of the tunnel, off a short waterfall and we were moving down a swollen Casselman river to our cars.

We elected after our first run to go into Confluence and have lunch at the Lucky Dog Café, an area restaurant known for its tasty and environmentally conscious food. In both regards the restaurant was an excellent choice. While waiting for lunch, we were joined by Matt Pascal and Beau Smith, who had come to meet up with Art and I for McClintock.

Back out to the river we went, using the same takeout as in the morning, we setup to explore McClintock Run using a similar shuttle to Cucumber but just requiring one to travel another mile or so up the same SR 3001. Once on McClintock we were pleased to find relatively no wood in the way of our paddling. The creek had a steady downhill feel to it, similar to local Fikes creek, however as the creek approached the Casselman, it took a decidedly steeper turn through some bedrock rapids. The best of the rapids was a long three-tiered slide, which alone would make this creek worth doing again.

Continuing along were a number of additional ledges and bedrock formations that makes this creek resemble an easier version of close by Drakes creek. One last rapid, through yet another tunnel, gave us some cause for concern as there is a piece of wood that looks like it could bash out your lights were you in the wrong part of the tunnel’s exit, especially given the speed at which the water was roaring out of this tunnel. After much deliberation we decided to give her a go and as usual found that the rapid was much easier and less threatening than it had appeared, giving all of us that mission accomplished feeling as we once again flushed out into a roaring Casselman river.

More photos of the day can be viewed here.

John's First Descent

2009-06-16T22:31:00.006-04:00

Got Boof crew member John Rudland is known for his attempts to run previously uncharted waters. Here is a little exploit someone captured on film near John's place of employment.

Check out the video of John's First Descent

Matt Zeleznick and the power of denial

2009-06-09T11:24:00.003-04:00

This last Monday, our friend Matt Zeleznick made his return to the Upper Yough for the summer. The level was a beefy 2.5' but Matt, having had a bad day on the river at that level in the previous year, would have surely been concerned had he known about this day's water volume. At the put in, the crowd (and by this I mean every boater there) decided to all say that the level was 2.2', a level that Matt was more familiar with.

While myself and another individual distracted Matt with conversation about work in order to draw him to the opposite side of the river, the word was passed and every boater on the Upper Yough quickly began referring to the great 2.2' level we were going to paddle today. In the end, the fable worked and Matt had a fantastic day on the river. After letting him in on the deception, he sent the following email:

Wanted to say thank you to everyone for keeping me in the dark about the level yesterday. Made for a fun run (at 2.2) with a lot less anxiety than if I had known what the level actually was. Anyways thinking back on it there are a lot of funny instance that should have clued me in. Hopefully you enjoy these...

- While in Friendsville Carl proclaims that we are looking at something along the lines of 2.5... Should have been a big clue
An unusally small crowd at Sang Run with a lot of experienced boaters and a seemingly high ratio of rafts to hard boats... but hey it's a monday.

- Jason and Bryan sprint in the flat water at the put-in to catch up to me to ask about work. Was a little odd to see such urgency from them on such an obscure subject. Really interesting how the conversation ended so abruptly after the sang run bridge.

-The hole at the bottom gap seems a lot stouter than I remember it.

-Bernstein pulls into the eddy before bastard proclaiming "It is pushy today" to which Jason tells him "You haven't been out here at 2.2 in a while."... Yes there was definite emphasis on 2.2.

-Seeing Bryan take an interesting line at mushroom cloud and hearing that most days there's a boof on that line.

-Above triple drop Matt tells me to remember to hit the boof at the pyramid rock to slow down in the boil... very helpful had the pyramid rock not been underwater.

-No one boofs national

-Great boof to the right side of Tommy's - to self: "why don't we run that more often?"

-"You really want to hit your boof at meat cleaver today - that hole is big."

-Kurt informing me that I should paddle fast and hard through some boogy water before powerful popper because of the level today.

-By the way I haven't heard anything inapropriate from Kurt since we got to the meat of the run.

Great job Matt!!!

Summertime Boof Sessions

2009-06-04T21:23:00.003-04:00

Summer is here and so are the Upper Yough releases. The great benefit to being a teacher is the chance to run almost every release throughout the summer. It is at the Upper Yough that Got Boof started and it is in this location that the skill of boofing is best practiced. See what I mean?

Got Boof Brief Southern Weekend

2009-05-20T20:11:00.017-04:00

The following is a contribution by fellow Got Boofer and captain of the Got Boof Swim Team - Joshua "Dr. Flakenstein" Bernstein

Based upon promising reports of rain and the guarantee of a release of 1000 CFS into the Cheoah four intrepid members of the crew (Jason “Paris” Hilton, Joshua “Dr. Flakenstein” Bernstein, John “The Hamburgler” Rudland, and Ed McGuinness) set out to experience a bit of southern river action. We set out Thursday afternoon and encountered our first taste of adventure when we hit a few hours of class V Pittsburgh traffic. Undaunted by the traffic the crew assembled at the Gauley put-in camp ground for a few hours sleep before hitting the Meadow River in WV.

Despite the rapidly dropping water levels morning brought breaking camp and breaking eggs into boiling water (thanks Ed) and finally setting shuttle. After one or two small detours amid the twisting logging roads of WV and a short hike down a too rutted and steep road to the put-in, we were on the Meadow River. Good friends, swift water, sunshine and a first time run for all, made for a fun if mellow low water run of the Meadow.

Captain of the Swim Team (which is why his arms are so big)

Feeling that the day was going to go by without ample excitement, yours truly (Josh: Captain of the Got Boof Swim Team) decided to spice things up a bit by failing to roll among the gripping class II bogey water. After this immense slice of humble pie and several practice rolls we continued to enjoy a beatific if uneventful day of paddling. Several hours in the car driving south (the final bit of which is through disturbingly tangled and twisting Appalachian mountain roads) brought us to a nearly deserted Cheoah take-out camp spot.

By 9:30 am the next morning we were preparing to put on the Cheoah, but the dam released water had not yet reached us. A bit of hip hop blaring out of the speakers of Hilton’s car helped set the mood and we prepared ourselves for the upcoming run. Ed never having run Cheoah was showing some nerves, (of course this provided a perfect opportunity for each of us to describe the various challenges, hazards and threats to life and limb that he was sure to encounter) as it turned out Ed had not a thing to be concerned about, he styled the run with the expected grace and skill of a Got Boof crew member. Being the Got Boof Swim Team captain, I (Josh) felt compelled to test the sturdiness of the rocks in the river by slamming my knees into them as I swam out of the same hole that ate my boat the last time I was on the Cheoah three years ago. Someone had to do it…

Lots of big holes, big drops, and tight spots in the forest on the river that is the top of the Cheoah made for a fantastic start to our day. The Cheoah is a unique and exciting river in part because of its changing character. It begins as a big flushing western style ride through overgrown flora and then after the fourteen foot Bear Creek Falls the river becomes steeper and more technical. It is a wild ride.

After emerging exhilarated and hungry from the banks of the Cheoah a decision was necessary. We could run the Cheoah again or head toward the Doe and the Watauga by way of the much discussed and described Asian Buffet in Asheville. After some reflection we elected that the Asian Buffet in Asheville, NC held more appeal than a second run on the Cheoah. We did not get far however before Hilton enlightened the group of our proximity to the Nantahala Cascades and then promptly redirected us to the steep narrow micro creek. Needless to say, in short order we were running alongside of the road scouting the lines of the Cascades. The Nantahala Cascades with only 150 CFS running down their 210 fpm gradient are steep and tight. From the Horns of God all the way to Chinese Feet the drops of Nantahala Cascades were a blast.

Sometime later while in the car we began to get a clear picture of just how much rain can fall in twelve hours. One brief search for an affordable motel behind us, and we spent a dry, if not totally restful night out of the rain. Next morning at “Oh god, 7 am” the gauges (as we had predicted) indicated that the Watauga had exploded from 160 cfs to over 1000 overnight. The Doe was also running at flood levels. Good news for small creeks. We found the Red Roof Creek in Leland’s book and we were on our way. The Red Roof Creek begins as a small mostly flat meandering flow that is pretty, but also boring. As a testament to being very careful about the content of one’s wishes, the bucolic pastoral nature of the creek came to an abrupt end as this small waterway drops off the face of the earth. Suddenly without much in the way of warning or notice the winding stream becomes a torrent of strainer laden, gnashing rock filled whitewater. The adjectives that spring to mind are steep, continuous, and intimidating. In other words “awesome”. Nothing is quite like a steep creek unknown to everyone in attendance. I felt like Huck Finn on a grand adventure.

Exulted and exhausted we clambered out of the canyon to the car at the end of the day. It was time to head north to home and work on Monday. We stopped in Summersville for the best and cheapest Mexican food to be had and then a few hours later we were home happy and whole.

Got Boof Nation Wide

First Time Cheatin'

2009-04-21T22:19:00.011-04:00

The following is a contribution by fellow Got Boofer - Matt "Math, Dr. Jones" Pascal

My first ever shot at leading a club trip came this past Sunday, when 16 boaters agreed to put their faith in my guiding them from Albright, WV down the long and hearty Cheat River. To spoil the end of my report, this story ends well; the same 16 boaters cheerfully hoisted their crafts to their shoulders at the take out about 5 hours later while Steve Wang sheepishly admitted that he once was young and foolish enough to have jumped off the Jenkinsburg Bridge. I gasped and reminded him that it was “plumb crazy” for him to intentionally put himself into danger’s way (hint, foreshadowing).

Promptly at 9 am, we congregated at Little Sandy’s truck stop to perform the essential cognitive activity of the day: the shuttle. A mild headache later, five vehicles pulled out of the lot on their way to the take out while the remaining vehicles, their passengers, and 17 boats scattered about among the eternal revolving door of tractor trailers and pick up trucks.

A long shuttle drive later, we slipped into the orange waters of Muddy Creek and scraped down about 100 yards to the slightly less orange Cheat River. The group corralled at the confluence, and I told Jen “Stern Squirt” Raber that a level of 3.7 feet was juicy, To be clear, I told her, the Cheat was not high. but it was most definitely not low. Overhearing me, Dave Greenwald rolled his eyes and chuckled while first time cheat boater, Martin Wittmann, took a big gulp and peeled out in his itty bitty Jackson playboat.

I forgot most of the lines. Actually, to be precise, I never really knew them. But, really, who other than a veteran Cheat raft guide knows the lines through the dozens of unnamed Cheat rapids? Feeling a bit silly, I announced to the group that if I don’t announce a line or if the line doesn’t become entirely obvious as they approached rapids, then it was on the left. John Brady chuckled, though I believe he knew I was right.

And on went our crew. They bopped through countless nameless class 2 and 3 rapids, putting their confidence in me. For some strange reason, this confidence remained strong even after my little spat with Big Nasty.

Which, for the record, was Grease Fire’s fault.

After scouting and successfully navigating Big Nasty, our group congregated in the eddies on both sides of the run out of the notorious hole. Rob “Grease Fire” Mitchell and I have a history of getting each other into trouble, and this was exactly what I was up to when I first attempted a surf of the big hydraulic. “Worst case is you swim out of it” was part of my advice to the newbies above Big Nasty, and what I reiterated to myself upon pulling my boat into the surge. Quickly it spit me out with a strong denial, and – just as I expected – Rob was eager to make his attempt. His surf was similarly a non-surf. After getting similarly denied, he looked back at me and nodded, as if to say, “go for it.” And so I upped the ante and really dove into the hole.

Jason Hilton tells me my bow went deep into the hole and then swung hard into the foam pile for a few bow-to-stern cartwheels.

On my end, it was utter chaos. I had about 0.5 seconds of sense and began to set up a roll, but from there it was nothing but mayhem. Giving up relatively quickly, letting go of the paddle, and pulling the skirt typically ends with a big breath of air, but in this case the next thing that happened was an aquatic gaze up through several feet of pearly green water followed by more tumbling. It would be an uncomfortably long time before that gulp of air came. And, when I did come to the surface swimming aggressively, I opened my eyes only to find myself swimming upstream in the recirculating boil. I was at the top of the foampile staring down about 12 feet into the meat.

After I hacked up more Cheat River water than I wish to admit, I received a round of applause. It was then that I looked down to discover that the two Snickers bars I’d stashed in my PFD were gone. That damn hole literally ate my lunch.

I like to think of the Cheat as a very long chain of flatwater pools connected by about 30 rapids. Those pools make the collection of gear much more convenient when playboaters get stuck in holes and swim. It happens to lots of playboater all the time, and it happened to us on Sunday.

But, the real event came to life just above Pete Morgan’s rapid.

After scouting Coliseum, we set up safety with a rope on either side of the outflow and boaters in eddies. We did not want a swim out of Coliseum to turn into a swim through Pete Morgan. Moments later (okay, more like a half hour), after a successful run through the big rapid by all, we began to hop eddies to get a good look at Pete Morgan. Halfway there, I glanced back to see, for a split second, a rare triple side surf in three distinct adjacent holes. All three accidental sidesurfers looked calm, but they were all working hard to become unstuck. By the time I had jumped to shore with a rope, Jen had flipped in her hole only to right herself with a blown skirt. As water rushed into her boat it favored the stern cavity and by the time she was in the meat of Pete Morgan, Jen was paddling a swamped boat in an eternal stern squirt. Remarkably, her line was clean. She jumped out and began to swim while the rest of the group rounded up her gear.

With confidence high, the group chatted and laughed, telling tall tales through the final miles of runout below Pete Morgan. We returned to the put in soggy and tired and redistributed bodies and boats while Ralph Teter prepared his campground for CheatFest. Judging by the size of the fire he set to burn the rubble that accumulated over the winter, it appears that he’ll be ready.

The 2009 TRPC First Time Cheatin’ Trip included John Brady, Paul Eisner, Rick Gates, Dave Greenwald, Jason Hilton, Alan & Andre Kumonkowski, Jeff Lorimer, Ed McGuiness, Rob Mitchell, Jen Raber, Phil Raber, John Rudland, Steve Wang, Martin Wittman, and Matt Zeleznik.

Fantastic Trip Matt!

Hometown Throwdowns

2009-04-06T21:47:00.002-04:00

The World Kayak Hometown Throwdown series is coming to our region and I (Jason Hilton) have been given the great distinction of hosting these four events. These events are designed to appeal to all boaters rather than the elite paddlers of our realm, and are designed to show off just how fun white water kayaking really is, and remind us all why we first entered this sport.

As such, while we will recognize winners for events, our prizes will be handed out randomly amongst all participants. That's right, you can win the top prizes just for showing up to play, and you could get first place and simply take home bragging rights!

The best part is that most of these events are free, with a few of them requiring only small insurance fees to participate in event in a state park (cost $5.00 ACA insurance through TRPC)

Events include:
1) Stonycreek Rendezvous Playboating – Saturday 4/25
2) Slippery Rock Giant Slalom – Friday Evening 6/5
3) Turkey Bash Mass Start Downriver – Friday Evening 7/31
4) Ramcat Old School Slalom – Saturday 8/22 – Sunday 8/23

Sponsors include:

Jackson Kayak
Immersion Research
Shred Ready
Smith Optics
Crocs
Mountain Khakis
NuuN: Active Hydration
Rapid Transit
Kayak Session
Salus Marine
Kayak Habit
Redwood Creek Wine
Stonyboater Paddlerwax

You can find out more about these events here

See ya out there with a full load of prizes

A Break from the Cold

2009-02-09T22:01:00.005-05:00

This weekend’s warm temperatures have broken the cold spell and spilled a LARGE quantity of water into our region of the world. Sunday turned out to be a day of choices in the local creeks and ours was Daugherty.

Nori

The last time I was on this run it was pretty low and full of wood, which left me with a less than excited feeling about the creek. Looking back this is likely the reason for my not returning in the last three years. Sunday was a different story. John Rudland and I (Jason Hilton) met up with Art, Sam and John from the Chambersburg crew, as well as Nori and Adam from the Morgantown area to give the dog another chance. The flow was probably double the flow of my previous run, which allowed us to bag an additional action-packed mile above the traditional put-in. I really have to thank John Giorgini for this stretch as it was the steepest and most exciting part of the run.

John Rudland

The mile above the normal putin gave us a long wood free series of slides and boulders drops that had to be in the upper 200 or lower 300 fpm range. From here the added water really padded out the many bedrock slides that characterize this run. Having Sam Burke along for the ride meant that the pace for the run was somewhere between fast and hyper drive making for an excited flurry of rapid after rapid linked together.

Adam

The run turned into a continuous stream of slides and smaller ledges, nestled amongst the mountain laurel, that left all of us smiling when we paused in the few eddies around. While there was wood, it wasn’t nearly the problem it used to be, thanks largely to the work of some mystery creek cleaners from the area.

All in all it was a great day and a needed break from my current graduate school misery. Let us hope it forecasts the nature of the spring to come!

Glade Run

2008-12-22T22:30:00.013-05:00

Sam Burke @ Glade Run

As many of you brave or crazy enough to face the cold weather know, the water has returned to our part of the country. For two weekends the boating in our region has presented a multitude of choices and we amongst the Got Boof Crew have taken advantage of the opportunity to bag some new water.

Time To Hike In

This last Saturday, seven paddlers set out for our first run down Glade Run, an obscure micro creek that drains into Dunbar Creek near Ohiopyle. We went in prepared for the type of run you usually get when you are off the beaten paddling path in our neck of the woods, meaning good shoes for portaging, plenty of time for portaging, lots of rest for portaging, and some buddies to talk to while portaging. We weren’t disappointed.

The run started off with its best action, some nice technical and challenging drops that had all of us smiling from ear to ear. The oddest point for me (Jason Hilton) must have been at one point dropping off a shelf and into a small cave before emerging to paddle downstream. Had it stayed this way, we would have some solid gold on our hands.

Matt Pascal

Jason Hilton

Jeff Macklin

Matt Pascal

Art Barket in the Steeps

But alas, as time went on the gradient eased off and the trees picked up. I stopped counting the portages after the tenth, and at one point remember remarking to my comrades that this seemed like the whitewater equivalent of a horribly planned 6 hour cyclo-cross race. I knew we were starting to border on insanity when the challenge of portaging actually began to be fun, like an obstacle course of sorts. In the end we finished the run before the sunset and were able to laugh about the time we had just had. Without the trees this run would be a diamond, with the trees it is just plain old coal.

Not to be without some superior paddling for the weekend, I met up with John Rudland and Mike Whaley for a couple laps on Paint Creek near Johnstown, on Sunday. This is one of my favorite runs so it was good to get back on an old favorite and slide the day away. Both runs were low but tons of fun, putting a good end to an exhausting weekend.

Paint

Mike Whaley Boof

John Rudland Boof

Jason Hilton @ Big Sluice

John Rudland @ Big Sluice

Mike Whaley @ Big Sluice

Stay warm and see ya out there…

Got Boof Cross Training

2008-12-08T20:42:00.005-05:00

While some rivers are just beginning to pick up water again in our region, myself (Jason Hilton) and many members of the Got Boof Crew have had to turn to other sports in the last four months in order to get our adventure thrills. It turns out that a host of these sports are great cross training workouts for skills that later can be applied to kayaking, so here is a quick thought on two sports that I have engaged in and how I see them as relating to kayaking.

This idea stems from a recent adventure to a local bouldering gym in the Pittsburgh Area. Here you can see us working our way through a series of challenging (for us non-climbers) problems.

Bouldering provides an excellent upper body workout that plays itself out well in kayaking. The increased upper-body strength will lead to more forceful strokes and more power to lift in the portaging realm of kayaking. Those of you in the DC area utilize some climbing skills every time you hike back up the “flake” to take another run on the Great Falls. Additionally, when you are in need of rescue, it is the climber amongst you who is going to be ale to get into the precarious position that best suits your rescue needs.

Mountain biking is another common cross training in our region, especially as it seems to be best when the boating is at its worst. The cardio and leg workout helps to boost your endurance for both all day paddling and long drawn out hike with your boat, such as the one found in the Blackwater canyon. Additionally, the technical nature of some trails can require just as much courage to ride as many of the rapids in our region, complimenting the head game involved in kayaking.

Additionally, fellow crewmembers have involved themselves in road biking and running as cross training activities, providing an even better aerobic cardio workout. Perhaps it comes as no surprise then that members who partake in these particular activities are the paddlers amongst us who can sustain the highest rate of speed for the longest duration of time when paddling through that whitewater we have all been dreaming about.

So when the paddling becomes thin, be aware that there is a host of other activities that are quite enjoyable while still boosting your paddling prowess. But try not to stay away too long... the rivers will run again.

Dry around here

2008-10-13T20:13:00.003-04:00

Well folks, it is pretty dry in these parts. We have been able to make it out to a few dam releases like Gauley Fest and the Upper Yough, but there hasn't been much of import to report to you. I guess in one part of my mind I am somewhat thankful for the dryness, as I don't feel as bad that I have given up a large portion of my free time to continue my graduate studies, and more than likely would not have been able to boat as much as I normally would have had the rain kept falling. Additionally, I like everyone else I know, suffers as a kayaker beholden to the price of gasoline. Thankfully the price is dropping steadily as we speak (it is funny how it does that just before every election), so perhaps this barrier t boating will shrink further as time goes on. Just to let you know that we still get a few chances to paddle, I decided to give you this shot taken in September at one of our favorite local runs, the Lower Big Sandy.

Rest In Peace Isaac Ludwig

2008-08-27T21:31:00.000-04:00

You Will Be Missed

2nd Annual Got Boof & TRPC Intro To Creeking Clinic

2008-07-30T14:07:00.023-04:00

Matt Gets It Done

Sunday July 27th saw the second iteration of the Got Boof and Three Rivers Paddling Club Creeking Clinic, held at Valley Falls State Park in West Virgina. This year's class included over thirty students and safety boaters making it the largest one yet. The class began with an introduction between the students and the instructors/safety boaters, and an overview of design specifics relating to creek kayaks. This discussion progressed into a discussion of both general safety and some safety specifics relating to the creeking end of kayaking. Then it was off to the drops.

Classroom Instruction

Pretend Boating

Boof Demonstration

Jason Hilton Leads By Example

Each drop was broken down individually and at each drop a specific technique was assigned to work on for each drop. Then the drops were run by the instructors to physically demonstrate the technique a few times for the visual learners among the group, then it was time for the fun. Students each took turns firing up the drops, which for many were definitely were the largest drops they had seen (judging from the size of their eyes). After each run, they were able to discuss the run with an instructor and off the went for another lap.

Good Posture

Practicing a Tuck

Post Run Discussion

Good Boof Stroke

Technique Discussion

More Instruction

Rolling Boof Demonstration

Lookin Good!

Twist and Shout

While we definitely had some carnage on this years trip, the number of excellent lines far outweighed the bad and many students, after having a less than perfect line, took great pride in walking back up to run the drop again and fix errors in their technique. This confidence to rerun drops is best placed upon the tireless efforts of a number of the safety boaters who joined me to put on this event. Of specific mention are John Giorgini, Art Barket, Matt Bernstein, John Rudland and Tom Dubois, who made sure to watch after every boater and free me (Jason Hilton) up to focus on instruction.

Safety

Safety Required (You The Man John)

Rudland Has Boof

More photos from this years event can be found in the following locations.

Jeff Macklin Photographer

Art Barket Photographer

Karolina and Tom Dubois Photographers

Swiftwater Rescue Class

2008-06-19T13:01:00.007-04:00

Charlie Walbridge Instructing

A number of us recently had a fantastic opportunity to learn/refresh our swiftwater rescue skills. Got Boof member Matt "Math" Pascal contributes the following:

To promote and assure the safety of those joining us in whitewater fun, several regular Got Boof adventurers spent last weekend with AW Safety Guru and old school C1 boater, Charlie Walbridge. Despite the rain bringing up many of our favorite creeks, we were all glad that we resisted the temptation to paddle in lieu of Charlie's exercises. After all, these exercises were designed to simulate many of the typical binds we all hope to never encounter, but probably will (or have).

It started with a rainy Saturday in Charlie's century-old barn off of Little Sandy Creek Road in the "classroom" phase by setting up mock pins and entrapments and then self-rescues and victim and boat extractions. Dodging the rain inside the old barn, Charlie contrasted the technical knowledge of knots and mechanical advantage with social rescue issues like team structure, dealing with emergency personnel, and liability. When the skies cleared, we stepped outside to practice using ropes and life jackets.

In a belaying exercise, Charlie challenged an unnamed member of the group who responded by leveling the big man with a fierce heave on the rope he was holding. With that in mind, we practiced rescue the techniques we'd just learned about and then discussed how they can go wrong and what to do to minimize these dangers. Charlie demonstrated the danger of using the mechanical advantage of a Z-drag system, by applying the force to a small piece of cord. When it broke, the snap it made sounded like a revolver as the system sent ropes and caribiners flying in both directions. Charlie was a safe distance from the flying debris because he'd added a change in direction to the system.

Strangely exhausted despite little activity, our group traveled back to our weekend home at Teter's campground on Saturday evening, split into groups, and spread out to most of the edible options available to us in Kingwood. A group of three secretly skipped dessert to run nearby Muddy Creek (Sneaky, guys) while the rest of us drank exactly $62.50 worth of lousy beer around a classic campfire.

Single Wading

Sunday was a long day on the river though most of us didn't paddle more than a few yards. We rendezvoused at Rockville on Big Sandy Creek at 8:30 am and within an hour Charlie had us wading across the waist-deep rapids just below the bridge. For hours we found out that each and every one of the activities Charlie had in store for us was simple to understand and unpredictably difficult to initiate. Lessons abounded that day.

Macklin and Coop Pair Wading

Now that the weekend clinic is over and I've processed, I'm overcome with a general desire to never use the techniques I learned on the Sandy. I discovered that I wish to never have to wade out into whitewater to get to a victim, though I now know how to do it effectively. If I have to use the Hand of God rescue, I hope that it's in flat water. With luck, my rescue vest will never find itself supporting me as I'm lowered in strong current to assist a friend in trouble. But, I'm now comfortable enough to do it, unless setting up a zipline or line-assisted wade seems more prudent. God forbid I ever find myself swimming toward a strainer because the seemingly easy technique of aggressively swimming up onto it is tremendously difficult. And, if I either experience or stumble upon a foot entrapment, then the severity of the situation and the critical role of timing will be on my mind as I decide how to resolve the situation.

Jason rescue swimming/surfing

Math Pascal on a rescue vest lower

By the end of the day Sunday, our minds were overloaded as we stumbled around on the rocky shore in exhaustion. A few participants found the energy to paddle off into the bright evening sun for the last run of the Sandy until the next rain. The rest of us slowly packed up for the ride home and thanked our instructor for the valuable lessons.

Old School Huckin'

2008-05-26T17:03:00.005-04:00

Recently a local boater sent me this nice piece of Ohiopyle Falls history.

From Ted Proctor:
Billy Z and I were (are) long time river guides at LHRT so we were used to coming up with goofy ways of amusing ourselves.

You might remember (and you can see from the photo) that the Ohiopyle locals used to have "yes" and "no" painted on the rock shelf in between the viewing platform and the falls. This was so that kids knew where to jump off. One day Billy saw a local kid riding his bike around the park and got the idea ride a bike off the falls. He ended up doing this twice. I think Scott Patton may even have it on videotape.

Anyway, it's such a goofy picture that one person who saw it thought we had photoshopped it. I can guarantee it's the real deal.
You gotta love the shorts and Ace helmet - a nice 80s touch (the picture is from the early 80s).

Jonathan Run

2008-05-18T20:06:00.015-04:00

After a great day of boating yesterday, I (Jason Hilton) had resigned myself to graduate work and tending the potpourri on Sunday, so hadn't even bothered to set the alarm for the day. A few friends called to check on creeks north of Pittsburgh, but nothing was running, gas costs too much, and the bed seemed extra comfortable. However, one of the most low-key paddlers I regularly paddle with, Zach Frederick was continually calling and messaging my phone. Something must be up, right? After finally answering the phone, Zach informed me that his yard, close to Ohiopyle, had turned into a small pond overnight, and that anything we ever wanted to do was ripe for the picking. Quick pack of the gear, boat on car, potpourri left un-tended yet again.

On the way to get Zach, Shawn Yuengling rang in looking for some adventure, bringing the group to three, a perfect squad for some exploratory creek boating. The target for the day was Jonathan Run, an obscure micro-creek in the Yough watershed. Zach had previously scouted the run dry, and all of us spoke to more experienced boaters from our region to get beta on this very-rarely run steep.

Unloading of the boats

Arriving at Jonathan, we were greeted with a perfect low level, the kind that floats you through every rapid with plenty of time to pull over and scout the next blind drop. The first 3/4 mile of the run was the standard class II entry you find on most of the creeks that enter the Yough, complete with wood around each corner to duck, limbo, or carry.

Shawn negotiating a hazard

Once the creek took off down hill, our pace slowed, our eyes opened up wide, and we reaped the kind of rewards only creeking can give. The first major drop, we affectionately named Puke, as the left side of the bottom of the drop bore a striking resemblance to Puke on the Upper Blackwater. The rapid began with a marginal line off of a ten foot waterfall, a quick boat thrust over a log, and then a boof off of the Puke part of the drop, on river right. First rapid down, portage some logs, next drop to run.

Shawn, bottom drop of Puke

Zach, bottom drop of Puke

The next major drop included a slide down a rock to avoid a tree, then riding a narrow current next to a small undercut, duck some trees, then on down a shallow slide for about 100 feet. If it sounds as though there is a lot of wood on this run, there was. It strikes me that this is one of the runs that is run so rarely, people are unlikely to go in and clean out these drops, so you make do with what you have.

More wood

The third major drop was the one we had been on the lookout for. It begins with a shallow boof off a five foot falls, down a slide into an undercut notch in the rocks complete with hole and cross current water maybe three feet wide, and then quickly off of a twenty footer into a shallow pool, with a run to the right appearing catastrophic. The drop appeared to be runnable, but the possibilities in the notch, and the likelihood of a river right descent of the final falls (and the resulting medivac) put us all on the path of portage.

Zach in the Steeps

Just after the falls, we gained a nice series of steep boulder gardens, some more logs to portage, and ultimately a tunnel. The tunnel appeared to just have a wave train going down the center, so I quickly setup to take photos of my partners cruising on through. Shawn was the first to run the tunnel, and I noticed about 3/4 of the way through he took a sudden drop and punched through something of size, alerting me of a hidden hole within the confines of the man-made passage. As Zach went through, I alerted him of the hole to which he responded "awesome" and off he charged. On my run through, I took great care to keep up some forward speed in order to come through the hole clean on the other side.

Shawn @ Tunnel

Zach @ Tunnel

At this point we dropped a small rapid and were thrust into 9000 cfs of Lower Yough fun. A few miles went by very quickly, we spotted our takeout, and congratulated each other on a fantastic run.

Cheatfest Weekend

2008-05-04T22:26:00.017-04:00

The Rudler Returns

Ahh another great Cheatfest weekend here in our backyard.

Saturday began with a quick run down the Lower Big Sandy, to give the new creekboat a test drive (Bliss Stick Mystic - New Red). Spring is really showing up on the trees and all of us remarked on the beauty of the day's run numerous times. What a nice change of scenery from the winter we have grown accustomed to.

This day saw Bill Powers first run over Big Splat after years of eyeing this one up as others have passed by.

Bill Powers

Additionally our buddy John Douglass decided that if Bill could take a crack at it, so should he.

John "Soc Em Dog" Douglass

Well of course some lines are bound to work out better than others.

Boat Modification

After we all regrouped and talk about our Big Splat adventures, we were off to finish the river in the company of good friends.

Rick @ First Island

Once we made it to the takeout the majority of the group went off to catch a run on the Cheat, however Bill and I ran off to meet up with Math Pascal and Greasefire Rob at the Upper Yough for a 2.4' roller coaster ride down one of our favorite runs. Everybody enjoyed the higher level and took great pleasure in blowing through the run in race worthy times.

After the river running ended, it was time to get down to the festival for some heehaw stomping good times. After stopping in to tell the Stonyboater guys how sweet my new Mystic performed and to thank Kayakhabit for the awesome vintage threads, it was off to see all the people we have missed out on for the last year. Math Pascal demonstrated for all in attendance how to properly get down to some of his favorite bluegrass tunes, which left us partying until the wee hours of the morn'.

Lucky for us some rain moved into the area late at night and Sunday morning brought us a chance to catch a low water run down the Upper Blackwater, the perfect ground to really put the new creekboat through its paces. We dropped in, boofed our way down river and enjoyed a beautiful sunny day in this exquisite wilderness.

Bob Gedekoh Showing The Way

After the hike out, Jeremy Weber and I (Jason Hilton) caught a quick run own the Top Yough to finish off a spectacular weekend having hit four of the regions ultra-classic runs.

Ski Season Video

2008-04-06T12:20:00.003-04:00

Video: Ski Season

Macklin on the Camera

Throughout February and March, we have been gathering footage from some of the fantastic wintertime runs throughout our region. Now that spring is here, it is time to show you how much fun we had in the snow.

Big thanks to Stonyboater Paddle Wax and Kayak Habit for your continued support!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells... Oh Wait, Wrong Holiday!

2008-03-21T01:05:00.006-04:00

Video: Cascade Park N' Huck

Santa & Company

So Jeff Macklin and I (Jason Hilton) decided to hunt for Easter Eggs in an abandoned amusement park… oh wait that’s not a good way to start one of these… Jeff and I decided to run a fairly large waterfall… there that sounds more like a posting on this site, but it was Easter weekend and it was in an abandoned amusement park. Actually to complicate things even more, Santa Claus made an appearance as well.

Hiking To The Put In

Now I know what you’re thinking, those Got Boof boys need to quit eating fungi they find in the woods, but we actually managed to park n’ huck a super-clean twenty-something foot high waterfall in an abandoned amusement park, complete with Santa Clause and reindeer flying over top of the lip. To add to the excitement, the rapids that followed involved the slaloming of former roller coaster pylons and steel girders, making this one of the most unique paddling experiences of our lives.

Jason @ Big Falls

Downstream View Of Man-Made Scenery

Occasionally locals would come by and remark on how cold it was, or question our sanity, but all in all they added to the character of the day. The people of New Castle can also be quite helpful, with one maintenance guy offering to shuttle our boats back to the top in his pickup so we could run ‘er again. We graciously declined and instead focused on shooting one of the… more interesting… videos to ever grace the Got Boof website.

Closed

Spring Teaser

2008-03-12T23:29:00.005-04:00

Jason Hilton

For those of you asking when our new videos will be appearing, have no fear. Throughout February, March and April, we have been shooting footage of some of the various steeps we encounter on a traditional spring up here in the mid-atlantic, along with some footage from the uber-classics of our region. But to set the stage for the video, here are some teaser photos from some of the runs featured. See if you can guess the rapids! The last two should be easy, but Matt and the top picture of me should be a little harder.

Matt Pascal

Jason Hilton

Josh Bernstein

Got Boof Does It Again!!!

2008-03-10T16:00:00.003-04:00

Two photo contests, two got-boof crew member winners. Congratulations go out this time to Jeff Macklin for his winning shot of Ben Dunham at Big Splat, Lower Big Sandy, WV

River Gypsies Website

"Let It Rain" Guidebook Review

2008-02-13T19:36:00.010-05:00

Beginning in the late 1800’s with the Appalachian Mountain Club of Boston, New Englanders have had a special affinity for the wild rivers of their region, pioneering some of the earliest whitewater sports and continuing to produce boaters of the utmost caliber. While their boating skills often set them apart from their peers in the lower states, due to the vast differences in geology, river types, volume, and climate present in New England, their rivers have largely remained a mystery to modern whitewater enthusiasts. Perhaps it is the New England propensity to keep close their best assets, or the utter lack of need for anyone from New England to boat outside of the region, which have kept many of these rivers shrouded in secrecy, but finally the rest of America can catch a glimpse of the fantastic whitewater found within the birthplace of our nation. Former New England resident Alden Bird explains everything you need to know about the region, faster than Benedict Arnold, in his latest book: Let It Rain: The Whitewater Rivers of New England, New York, Quebec and Ontario.

With the mind of an adventurer and the pen of a great writer, Alden Bird engages readers in a state-by-state quest through the included regions; beginning with his favorite runs in the Delaware Water Gap, heading north through New York and New England and on into the eastern reaches of Canada. Throughout the book, the author makes sure to provide equal weight to the common runs the majority of boaters prefer to tackle, on through the extreme runs over which the majority of boaters may only drool. An examination of most of the recent guide books indicates that writers have either chosen to provide detail on every known run in a state, or a broad but shallow glimpse of the rivers in the vast reaches of America’s whitewater. For Let It Rain Alden sets out to strike a balance between the two approaches, providing readers with over 200 different river reaches, broken into eleven distinct regions, insuring that traveling boaters will never run out of options while local boaters will easily find useful information regarding the many rivers they have heard mention of at their favorite local take-out.

The author approaches each new river with a familiar template, providing “beta” information in a small textbox at the beginning of each run that includes difficulty at various levels, river length, shuttle length, when the river is likely to have navigable water in it and the gradient broken down into mile by mile statistics, so you do not accidentally stumble into large waterfalls, such as the 65 foot Glen Ellis Falls in New Hampshire. Additionally, each river description includes complete shuttle directions and a better description of Alden’s “water” statistic explaining exactly what it takes to get some of these rivers and creeks running, which is helpful in a region that lacks many of the flow gauges that help paddlers in other regions figure out when their favorite run is flowing. Within the regions, rivers are broken down and grouped by drainage and proximity to one another, beginning with the upper reaches of a drainage and progressing through the many confluences to the lower and more voluminous sections that can be run. Each drainage is accompanied with a map that compliments the shuttle directions found in each river’s description, allowing paddlers to easily reference shuttle roads, distances, landmarks, put-ins and take-outs. For each state and a large part of Canada, the author also includes larger maps indicating where each river reach is, a page reference for its description, major highways and interstates, and large cities of interest, which readily allows readers to easily determine the proximity of the reaches covered, either to simply learn more about where they live and boat, or for the planning of the always-exciting paddling road trip.

Each river description is written with a verbal finesse that only an English teacher could craft, that is both informative and engaging. Alden provides a brief description of each river’s characteristics including the general character of the run, any unique geology you will encounter, what to expect to see when you are not completely focused on survival, and any pertinent information regarding major rapids and dangers present in the runs. While the author takes care to inform readers about each run, insuring that paddlers do not find themselves quickly over their heads, he also leaves enough information out to insure that when you finally get on that hard-to-catch Vermont creek, its grandeur will not be spoiled by your buddy constantly talking about the ten different ways to run each rapid and a date by date analysis of each rock shift. This has been a positive trend in recent guidebooks, assuring that readers will feel the same exploratory excitement as each run’s first explorers without all that troublesome hiking to gather beta.

Let It Rain also features high-quality color photographs of almost every run, showing off the geological diversity of the regions, the courage of local boaters, and the character you can expect to find on each river, which can be helpful in jogging your memory if you are in a hurry to bag that next creek and have forgotten every word of this 320-page volume or if you and your paddling pals need something to drool over for the next few days. If you look closely you will find a large quantity of canoeists in these photos, reflecting the author’s bias towards paddlers of the single-bladed variety, but have no fear all you two-bladed boaters, the author’s descriptions reasonably assume your ability to keep up with him and his one-bladed friends while enjoying all that the Northeast has to offer. Rounding out the book is a diverse scattering of independent articles covering many topics, including: technique advice, first impressions of now-classic runs, logistics for multi-day expeditions, wild trip reports, etc., as well as the author’s own literary musings as Alden seeks to enmesh readers in his own unique viewpoint of the symbiosis between humans and nature.

Alden Bird’s Let It Rain: The Whitewater Rivers of New England, New York, Quebec and Ontario, is just the guidebook whitewater enthusiasts have been waiting for to unlock the mysterious rivers of the Northeastern part of our country and beyond, in an easy-to-understand and comprehensive manner. The book’s format compliments that of other recent guidebooks by boasting great attention to detail, crucial information, an active and engaging writing style and photographic prowess that will leave everyone from the hardcore expedition boater to your tri focal-wearing grandmother excited, nervous, and ready to embark on a whitewater journey to the Northeast, inspired by the words of Alden Bird. More information on this fantastic resource can be found at http://neguidebook.com.

February: Its Not Just For Skiers Anymore

2008-02-06T21:33:00.001-05:00

Pringle Slides

Heavy rains during last week brought some exciting opportunities for the weekend, and we took full advantage up here in Got Boof territory.

It begins Saturday morning, as any great creeking day should, by picking up a good friend and leaving the city for a paddling destination, long before the sun has peeked out of the darkness. Josh Bernstein and I (Jason Hilton) set off to meet up with Jmac, Carnage and some New York boys to fire up whatever came our way. The plan was to begin at the Deckers Cascades and work south along the creeks until will ran out of light.

Well arriving at Deckers, it immediately became apparent that we were staring out at too much water for this tight little gorge, as each waterfall appeared to end in giant boils that could easily hold all eight of us at once. We briefly contemplated oddball lines, including the ever popular, “try to boof out of the creek rail grind down the bank and fall back in below the waterfall” move, but alas we chose fun over drowning and went on south.

Within thirty minutes, we arrived at Pringle Run. Now this creek has been high on my hit list for a really long time, and I spent the ride down building up Josh’s ego so that he would even contemplate getting in his boat, so you know I was willing to pull out all stops to bag this one. Once there, we saw that it was on the minimum side so you know we got in our boats.

Gradient

Matt LeFlair

The run begins with a fairly large waterfall (25 feet or so) and then continues down hill at 500 fpm, for the next half mile. It was tight, technical, and as much fun as I had dreamed. Carnage, Josh and I all elected to drop the big falls, while our friends took photos and shot video. Well it turns out my friends have a lot more boof than I do because I managed to virtually pencil right in on my first run. Carnage and Josh both executed flawless runs while I went up for redemption. As I eyeballed the drop, I thought of a plan to boof out super far off the lip and then stomp my boat to pick up the angle for a softer landing. I guess I should of shared this plan with the river though, as I executed the biggest boof of my life, only to have my stern reconnect with the waterfall lip and send me head over bow for a nice beyond vertical landing.

Carl @ Big Falls

Enough fooling around though, its time to creek, not just huck so we all took off down the first slide. We took turns scouting each drop and running the plethora of super tight and technical lines, ending in small pools that allowed us to recollect as a group. My favorite move of the day, involved a right to left boof onto a rock and over a giant log pinned at a 45 degree angle in the drop. We had a couple of strange pins along the way, but overall everyone had a great day, and Josh, who had required quite a bit of convincing to get on this creek, left smiling ear to ear. At this point, Carnage went off to work, and we were down to seven.

Carl @ Rail Grind

From Pringle, we went further south to catch Teter and Laurel in the Tygart Valley. We began with Teter, and quickly bombed down, weaving in and out of eddys, BSing, and just being thankful for the rest our nerves were getting and anticipating a great run down Laurel Creek.

Jason @ 10 Foot Falls

After Teter, off we went to Laurel to get in some bedrock action before the sun set on our day. Jmac had a sudden attack of VD and couldn’t boat, but as usual, stuck around to take pictures and assist with shuttle. The six of us began the Laurel journey at the upper putin with one hour to get on down to the bottom. This would normally be a little short, but most of us were quite familiar with the run, so we were able to keep a good pace all the way through. Everyone enjoyed the slides and waterfalls along the way and we often remarked about the unique geology of this particular streambed, which more resembles what I imagine California to be like that the other creeks in the region. At the end of the day, some of the New York boys, after telling me about days on the Ottawa where they took major hole beatings on purpose (they referred to them as Big Water Sundays), decided to paddle down a very swollen Arden section to just above Moats falls. Now driving up, Josh and I had remarked on the size of the holes in the Tygart, so you know we were having no piece of that. Here in the Got Boof Crew we prefer our death to come from the blunt force trauma of creeking rather than flush drowning, so we wished them good luck and off to home we went.

Jason @ Floating Boulder

Sunday, after the water had dropped a bit, I met up with the New York boys to finally bag Deckers Cascades. We didn’t have much time, as the group needed to make the drive, and I wanted to be home to bet on the Super Bowl, so we quickly banged out the waterfalls, including everyone (but me) wisely portaging the last drop, while I picked up a nice beating in the hole its base. The journey downstream from here became rather complicated with wood, so we ended up just hiking out to allow the New Yorkers to get on the road. Matty LeFlair and I stuck around to park and huck some of the upper waterfalls for a bit to get in our fill of sik boofs and great water. What a wonderful weekend!

We spent a lot of time capturing video on this trip for our next Got Boof video, so fear not if you were looking for more info on these runs, we'll show you what they are all about real soon. Stay tuned...

Deep Creek will be releasing from 7 am to 11 pm

2008-01-22T23:39:00.000-05:00

Got Ice?

What’s that you say? Deep Creek hydro is releasing from 7am to 11pm, and there is 200cfs of natural flow? Awesome, what could possibly make this day better? It falls on a national holiday, so all my buddies are off from work? Wow, who would have thought that Martin Luther King Jr. could have such a profound impact on the paddling community as to net me an all day holiday release on the Upper Yough. Maybe I can bag three runs or so…

Oh wait, Dr. King’s holiday is in January and it is 17 degrees.

Well either way, I know I can talk some of the goofballs I paddle with into ten miles of challenging class IV whitewater on a day like today. And so it came together… a trip through the ice canyon of the Upper Yough on January 21, 2008.

Carnage Carl and I (Jason Hilton) drove down to Friendsville to meet up with JMac for a nice, casual paddle. You see, now that JMac works nights, he can paddle during the days, anyday! It just requires that he not get any sleep, but sleep is for wussies anyway right? So Carl and I get there early, and go to check the river out, you know to see if it is frozen solid, boatable, or somewhere in between. I took a picture, you can decide for yourself.

You Decide, Boatable?

The Bridge Peer Looked Like An Icebreaker

Alrighty, back to the car to keep warm and wait for JMac. As our conversation crossed the many spectrums of BS that they normally do, we began to look for differing ways to insure our warmth on the ten mile long paddle to come. I opted for the Russian way, and bought us some little Vodkas to stimulate our inner fire (Disclaimer: The Got Boof Crew does not condone Boating While Intoxicated), rationalizing this action as necessary for our survival. I was prepared to eat Carl if that had been necessary for our survival also, but I didn’t bring this up.

Russian Heater

JMac arrives in his shiny new ride, we strap up the boats, leave the dry clothes at the bottom and we’re off. We stopped to shoot some photos at the putin, and talked about the great photos we could take on the river, to show this common run in a different light from the average paddler’s perspective.

Guys At The Putin

I have just recovered from my lasik surgery, so I was a bit tentative, but Carl encouraged me to go for all the “regular” moves that we traditionally do (at 90 degrees in the summer), by driving into the Eddy of Death at Gap Falls. Now of course, I had thoughts about how stupid it would be to swim out of the bottom hole on a 17 degree day, but I couldn’t let Carl count coo on me like that now could I? He tried to block me by pulling out of the eddy as I was coming in, but for that move, I have no shame in running Carl over as he is coming out. Surely he saw that his life was meaningless to me at that point, as he immediately picked up the pace and cruised out of my way.

As we went on down through the rapids, we continued to push each other, and JMac continued to be the smartest of us all by not chancing it. That is, of course, the great thing about paddling with JMac, at least you know he will make it out to tell the tail.

Somewhere in Charlie’s Choice we all stopped to take some pictures of the beautiful ice covered landscape. It was incredible! Blue ice on the walls, ice and snow covered boulders, clear green water. Pulitzer type photos you know? Oh wait, I can’t open my PFD pocket to get my camera and I just bent the crap out of my zipper, the only part that had actually been protruding through the ice. Hey JMac how about you? Want me to pee on your PFD to de-ice your zipper so we can get your camera? If Carl had a camera, it would be of no use, he just tore the whole top part of his zipper off trying to add more fuel to his Russian Heater. Well trust me readers, it was spectacular!

It took about two hours to run the river, which is very brief when you paddle with JMac, but he did not feel the need to play as much on this trip for some reason. Despite the ice build-up, we were all very warm by the takeout. Good thing too because it took us 45 minutes to chip through the ice to get our clothes off and change. At one point all you could hear was Carl swearing as he tried to detach his icicle covered beard from his pfd and drysuit.

Guys At The Takeout

Carl Loves It (Because He Doesn't Know His Beard Is Frozen In Yet)

Half Way Free

All in all it was a great paddling day on one of my favorite rivers. Lasik allowed me to see the river through a new set of eyes and the clarity was confidence inspiring. It looks like a good start to another great year of paddling with some of my favorite crewmates.

Great Day!

Hey... We Won!!!

2008-01-21T19:27:00.000-05:00

Just as I was getting ready to put on to a very very cold Upper Yough run this morning (trip report to follow), I received a call that Zach Frederick and I had won a photo contest held by Leland Davis for his new guidebook. Check out the rivergypsies site linked below the picture for more information.

River Gypsies Website

Best Wishes...

2008-01-13T21:08:00.001-05:00

Recently, Got Boof buddy Scot Loveland literally broke his neck (Fracture C1 vertebrae) running the Meadow Run slides in Ohiopyle PA. The basics involve him flipping near the second notch and going upside down over the bottom waterfall causing his head to impact the rocks at the waterfall's base. He was complaining of pain in the neck and numbness in his right arm. He was quickly attended to by his friends Derek, Jessie, and Got Boofer Jeff Macklin who helped to prep him for the paramedics.

When the paramedics arrived, they cut off his drytop (he needed a new one anyway) and decided that he needed an airlift to UPMC Montefiore. Once there, he was diagnosed with a broken neck. Fortunately, his spinal cord is ok, and while he is forced to wear a C-Collar for the next 6-8 weeks, he does not have to have his head placed in a halo. At least now he will have plenty of time to work on his new line of kayaking products coming out under his company Kayakhabit.com. Perhaps fashionable C-Collars should be added to the product lineup.

Kayak Habit C-Collar Prototype

From the Got Boof Crew to you Scot, get better soon!!!

I hope my gear thaws out for next weekend...

2007-12-17T18:41:00.000-05:00

This weekend we decided to stay local and calm down our runs to a more reasonable caliber for the enjoyment of all (Fikes, Meadow, Indian Creek). Ok, Art and I may have cheated by bagging the bottom of Rasler, but I owed it one from my recent shenanigans there.

Note to self: You and your crew can run into trouble at any river.

Mike "Hitch" (or as Art and I began to call him "Houdini")

The following is a reflection from Got Boof Crew member, Matt "Dr. Jones" Pascal.

The elation associated with seeing my friend Mike ashore, grinning and arms waving, was significant enough to allow me – for a moment – to forget about my physical discomforts. The soreness in my back from paddling as swiftly as possible for five miles and the numbness in my fingers, the stinging on my face, and the shivering in my core from doing so in sub-freezing temperatures into a strong headwind were overtaken by relief. Mike was literally and figuratively out of the woods and this meant that we would not be faced with the prospect of beginning a search for him there in these conditions.

We started the day with a plethora of prospects, but needed to be on the safe side. It had rained enough overnight to bring up some of the gauges and because Mike is a beginning paddler, the options were a bit more limited. After toying around with the idea of the Casselman River (too high), Laurel Hill Creek (probably our safest bet), and Indian Creek (just a bit of a challenge for Mike), we opted for the latter because it came with the addition of our friend Jason, who would add 33.3% more safety on the water. That seemed to make Laurel Hill Creek a less desirable option, and as we found out later, that was actually a 50% increase because our friend Art came along as well. Indian Creek it was. Grease Fire did his best Indian impression, though I'm not certain that any American Indian actually ever repeatedly hit his or her mouth with their hand while making a loud "O" sound.

Indian Creek at the level we found it yesterday is a lot like the Lower Yough with the addition of two 6-foot ledge drops that excited the experienced paddlers in the group (Art, Jason, "Grease Fire" Rob, and me) and challenged Mike to experiment with a boof stroke. His first experiment failed, and after a short sideways ride in a curtain, Mike swam out of his boat. Strike one. In general, few holes on Indian Creek were not punch-worthy, but Mike found one of these a short time after his first swim. Strike two. In fact, after swimming out of this hole, his boat found itself abandoned for the first time that day on a mid-river ledge. No fear; Indiana Jones brought his whip. Cue in the theme music.

With Mike's third swim came his third strike. All agreed it was time to walk. Because we were more than halfway down the Indian, he would walk downstream. When he reached the confluence with the Yough, we would all paddle the flatwater five miles to the take out. The wrench in the plan came about 30 minutes later when Jason and I realized that there are two un-crossable tributaries before that, Rasler and Richter Run. It was at that moment that I became unnerved with the situation, and so when we got to Rasler Run, I insisted on hiking up to find Mike. Also at that moment, Mother Nature chimed in with her interesting twist: a snowstorm.

And so I spent the next 90 minutes (wild guess here; no watches in the group) hiking up and down Rasler on both sides trying to locate Mike. Blowing my whistle and shouting was unsuccessful as I crawled on all fours against the cold ground through thick rhododendron. Grease Fire waited at the confluence and eventually huddled under a thick patch of rhododendron to stay warm. Art and Jason hiked up Rasler with their boats for about ¾ of a mile and paddled the class 5 creek back down. When we reunited at the small creek's end, we decided that the situation was now urgent enough to make our main priority getting to Mike. And, he had to be somewhere between Rasler and the put in, an area we were now unable to adequately search because we were downstream of it.

The beauty of shoving our kayaks back into Indian Creek with big, heavy flakes dropping was barely noticed as we all pushed on. As we approached AW-rated class 5 Terminator rapid, I bowed to the River Gods and asked for kindness. We scouted, and all ran the big Upper Gauley-esque wavetrain with no issues. In a rapid below that, Rob was surfed sideways into a big hole. As we all reacted by turning around to help, Jason was closest to him. Rob wrestled with the hydraulic for a 20-second ride, was flipped, and then surfed himself out the side of the ugly hole. Upon reaching Jason, he sternly said, "We don't have time for a swimmer." Cue up that theme music one more time.

Rob "Greasefire" Mitchell Doesn't Have Time To Swim!

The day was clearly getting late when we reach the mighty Yough. Looking more like the Ohio, the river was more than 100 yards wide and the wind was whipping whitecaps into showers of spray. A plan was initiated, though I think that it was probably slightly different in each of our heads. In mine, it was as follows. I would paddle hard with keys to one of the take out vehicles, warm it up and get changed into dry clothes. That would allow me to load boats onto the roofs while the others changed and warmed up. Once we were ready to move, one car would go straight to the put in vehicle, hoping to find Mike there. The other car, equipped with a Gazetteer, would take a detour and explore the back roads on the upstream side of Rasler Run, hoping to find Mike there. We'd meet at the put-in car, where there was food, and if we didn't have Mike with us by then, one car would stay there and wait while the other drove to the Fire Department in Ohiopyle (about 5 miles away) to get help. It was very cold out and the snow was piling up. Mike would not make it through the night if he was in the woods in all of his wet paddling gear. I was concerned to the point that I'd accepted the necessity of spending whatever money was necessary to get the four of us geared up to hike into the woods for many hours in these conditions at night. I was putting together a mental list of gear for each of the four of us: headlamp, extra batteries, sturdy boots, outerwear, thermos with hot tea, food, blankets, etc.

It was only a week ago that a few acquaintances had been lost in the woods of the Otter Creek Wilderness in West Virginia after an unsuccessful attempted first "complete" descent of Moore Run. There were only two of them and one spent the night in the woods after suffering a broken nose and serious lacerations on his face, both of which occurred during a bad swim after the two men had separated from each other on the river. It all turned out well, but the night was in the low 40's and it was dry. With the weather into which I was now paddling, the situation that I was now envisioning was potentially deadly for Mike.

Mike's solo landborne experience was not psychologically dissimilar from ours, and he made all the right decisions. Upon reaching Rasler Run, he discounted getting in his boat or attempting to wade across. Rather, he remembered us showing him a secondary road that goes to its put in. So, he quickly and smartly diverted his downstream journey along Indian Creek into an upstream journey along Rasler Run. Ducking the thick rhododendron underbrush on all fours in the snow, Mike dragged his heavy kayak behind him for what mush have seemed like an eternity. We could have been separated by only a few hundred yards at that time and wouldn't have known it. The heavy load undoubtedly kept Mike working hard enough that he was warm, but that also meant that he was expending a lot of energy he would need if he was stuck overnight. But, he didn't need it, because there was NO WAY he was getting stuck overnight; it would be fatal. Mike soldiered on to a backroad, and in his own words, knew that he would be fine. He picked up his boat and followed the road uphill out of the creek's drainage region. Miles later, exhausted, he got to the main road, Rt. 381, dropped his boat in a ditch, and earned his new nickname: Hitch. His approximation of the time spent hitch hiking is 90 minutes. It was now in the 20's, approaching darkness, and the snow was creating near whiteout conditions. Mike must have been equally as afraid of a car sliding into him as he was of one never stopping for him. When he was finally picked up, he had no idea where to go. As a new paddler who lives 4 hours from this area, he is not familiar with the region. After he and the driver quizzed each other on nearby towns and waterways, the conclusion was drawn that he would find us at out take out near the Rod & Gun Club in Connellsville. The man drove him out of his way for more than ten miles through the big storm. Insert divine intervention reference here.

And so another epic day on the river came to a shivering end, with the five of us screaming and hugging, celebrating there on the side of the Yough just upstream of Connellsvile. Ice coated all of our skirts, helmets, and life jackets. Mike was now cold enough to be going into high frequency vibration. Cars were started, warmth returned, and the long, slippery drive home began. Ironically, the question "Got Boof?", had it been posed to Mike before launching into Indian Creek and pondered seriously, would have radically changed the course of the day.

Dr. Jones Post Paddle

Winter Water

2007-12-09T20:54:00.000-05:00

This week we have had a great turn in the weather. Early in the week we managed to catch about 5 inches of snow, and then just for the weekend, it warmed up and began to rain pushing water into all of the wintertime class IV runs that surround our region. The fun for me (Jason Hilton) began on Saturday with a trip to the Top Yough with Mike Whaley and Joshua Bernstein. We were expecting to be in the 300's, a lower but fun level, which would allow us to take in the beautiful snow covered surroundings, as we picked our way on down through the namesake river of the time period we have affectionately dubbed, Top Yough Season (Officially, after Gauley Season and before Creek Season).

Quiz: What Is Mike Missing?

Hard To Squeeze In With All The Gear On

What we received was a river spiking up towards 800 CFS and a nice pushy rush through the run. We spent the majority of the time guessing what the level could be, and none of us guessed as high as it was. I wonder if it would have made any difference in our lines.

Mike @ Swallow Falls

Josh And Mike Below Swallow

Josh Below A High Suckhole

Either way the day was great. We were on a time crunch, so we set out to run two laps both at good speeds. The first one was a nice sharp reintroduction to winter paddling, with a few missed lines and some cold water on the face, but overall the lines were good. The second lap saw the addition of two more paddlers, (Cody and John) and we all quickly buzzed down through the run. For the most part, our lines improved and we enjoyed the higher water rush through this regional classic. Sticking with our agenda, we made it back to Pittsburgh by 4:00 pm for dinner with the folks.

John and Cody's Shuttle Vehicle

Sunday brought a host of choices as the rain and melt continued. Matt Pascal, Carl Schneider and I decided to go down to the Tygart watershed, so that they could bag some new creeks, and we could meet up with the Baltimore crew. Our group began as ten as we put on to Laurel Creek for a run down this bedrock gem. Only myself and another paddler had been here before so smiles were apparent the entire way down the river, as people took in the great rapids of this awesome creek.

Healthy Baltimore Carnage

I was surprised to see so many members of our group run floating boulder, as this is generally snuck, but it was a nice rush that 5 or 6 of us had to partake in. Along the way one or two boaters walked out as they realized they may be in over their heads, and we had a prolonged recirc and swim within 10 foot falls, but none of these instances got in the way of an awesome day and congratulatory commentary at the end of the run.

Art Taking The Meat Head On @ Floating Boulder

Kevin And Sam Below Floating Boulder

Topher In It

Matt And Sam

We then slowly made our way over to Teter Creek, because that is what you should do when you have just run Laurel, as it is only two miles away. Teter was at a perfect med to high level that made for a wide variety of lines possible, and while we did have some carnage as individuals decided to experiment, we also had a great time taking in the small gorge this creek runs through. As Carl put it, in a moment of elation, "This is one of the best days of paddling ever."

Teter Scenery

Matt's Happy Face

Carl Loves It

On our way to check out a third creek we ran into a couple of roadside waterfalls. Kevin and Sam from Baltimore took off like children at recess to get some video of some big drops. After watching them huck two falls, it was time to head home and wish we didn't have to go to work tomorrow.

Kevin And Sam Roadside

Mystery Run Clean Out

2007-12-02T16:59:00.001-05:00

As many of you know, I (Jason Hilton) am always on the hunt for first descents in our region, which is challenging due to the rich whitewater history we enjoy in Western, Pennsylvania and our vast preponderance of innovators in the steep creek realm. Having spent countless hours of my own time looking for these obscure runs, I was elated to be clued in on a first descent found by another kayaking pioneer, Scott Loveland (the creator of paddle grip). This run drops 182 ft in .4 mile giving it an average overall gradient of 455 fpm, and it was hidden right under our noses. It helps that the run is officially nameless, and doesn't appear on anything but the best topographical software, so throw your delorme away, you are not going to find it.

Follow The Leader

Of course inclusion in such a monumental journey does not come without a cost, as the first descent requires a large cleaning out of the run to make it navigable. We have completed 80% of the cleaning out, and what follows is a report from our group leader. Once the cleaning out is complete, count on a post on the run as we bang this bad boy out.

Cold Day For A Clean Out

The Work Ahead

Scott Loveland Writes:

It should surprise no one that paddlers associated with this site are eyeballing a new first descent located in a stunning steep-walled gorge. Nor would it shock anyone that this run is filled with tight, technical rapids and big, teeth-rattling drops. As per the norm, access to this type of hidden jewel is gained via the use of GPS, Sherpa porters, and miles of back country bushwhacking. Right? I mean, any first descents left in this region have to be so prohibitively difficult to access that only the most certifiably certifiable would be willing to attempt them. Well, not exactly....

What if I told you that this new gem is “hidden” right beside a densely populated urban area? Or that it is within 20 minutes of an insanely popular whitewater run? Or that the first major waterfall (*40 ft.!!!) is within 50 ft. of a heavily traveled highway? Would you believe it? Could it be possible? The answer is a resounding “YES”!

First Waterfall

This new classic, christened Mystery Run, has been hidden in plain sight. It is on the short side at a bit under ½ mile, but with a gradient of 455 FPM, it will thrill even the most die hard creeker. It is an unnamed tributary of a major river. Scot Loveland, founder of Paddle Grip and the soon to be launched kayakhabit.com (environmentally friendly kayak lifestyle products to include clothing, water bottles and jewelry), stumbled upon this whitewater roller coaster ride while driving around this past May. As stated, the star of this run is basically roadside. You put in at a 40 ft. 2-stage waterfall. This drop is probably unrunnable as a whole, but that remains to be seen. It looks as if the rock shelf, located about half way down, sticks out a bit too far and the pool at the bottom is a bit too shallow (about 4 ft.). You can walk behind the curtain at this shelf. The proposed put in is to launch through the curtain of the top portion of the falls, slide down about 10 ft. of rock and seal launch 17 ft. into the waiting pool below. This should make it the most spectacular and dramatic put in around. But there is no rest for the wicked once you have smoothed the launch. As Jeff Macklin stated, eddies are going to be “few and far in between”. What follows are about 600 yards of continuous class IV/V rapids. The first one will require maneuvering over and around an old-growth log jam. Another starts with a large undercut on the left followed by a tight S-turn with some definite piton potential. Next comes a pretty 14 ft. waterfall that will require you to boof hard left in order to miss a large splat rock that covers the right half of the landing zone. The lead to this drop is sloped bedrock, so momentum will not be a problem. After a brief respite in the pool below the falls, its pedal to the metal with two back-to-back class V's. One is about a 10 ft. slide and drop into what might be a thunderous hole (might also have some awesome boof potential!). The ledge forming the hole is somewhat uniform, undercut and boxed in on both sides. The next rapid, affectionately dubbed “The Squeeze” by Jason Hilton, offers a choice of two tight lines, a cave and more piton potential. This concludes the crux of the gorge. What follows is class II boogie water and log dodging as the walls gradually fade into bottom land and you complete the run to the take out.

Macklin Always Prepared

Opening Up The Second Waterfall

People Who Are Not Afriad Of Heights

On 12/1/07 Jason Hilton, Jeff Macklin, Derek Medved and Scot Loveland met for creek maintenance on this run. It was frequently blocked by decades old log jumbles. Lugging various implements of destruction to the bottom of the gorge, this crew began the work of removing tons of wood that had tumbled down the gorge's steep walls. Luckily, the liberal use of a chainsaw aided the process, but clearing all of the major drops still took more than three hours. The labor was halted at that point due to previous commitments on behalf of the crew and the fact that Jeff Macklin unfortunately crushed his right hand after slipping on some leaves while carrying a log. A trip to the emergency room confirmed a broken bone and he will be sporting a shiny new cast for 4-6 weeks. The remainder of the run will be cleared in the near future and after that we just pray for rain! Video documentation of our feats and follies on Mystery Run will be forthcoming.

Ready To Cut

Scott "Leatherface" Loveland

Stay tuned for updates on this new run.

Goodbye Drought, Hello Rain

2007-10-29T23:14:00.000-04:00

Thanks to a nice large rain cell that moved through our region during last week, we were finally able to boat close to home. This time it was off to yet another river that was high on the hit list, Upper Red Creek in Dolly Sods, WV.

This is some expeditionary kayaking, not because the run is particularly long, but because you are down in it, and you go through a lot to get there. Just getting to the creek involves a 2.5 miles hike down into the Dolly Sods wilderness and then an arduous paddle in on some very shallow water. Don’t worry though, it is worth it!

Hike In

Once you work your way in and boat to the good stuff, your reward is the largest amount of bedrock rapids to be found in West Virginia. Countless very long slides, waterfalls, and steep boulder drops await, and while your boat is not going to thank you for this one, your mind will. For miles, we hucked off of big drops surrounded by the most pristine wilderness around. No trash, no people, no one to hear you shout for joy (or scream).

Jason Hilton & Jason Miller @ Superslide (Courtesy of Thinkrain)

Jason Hilton @ Clapper

Jason Miller @ Clapper

Jeff @ Clapper

One feeling you must get used to here is that of landing drops onto rocks. Proper boof technique is a must, and proper spine alignment on landing is going to be the difference between a good day and a medivac. Unfortunately, we did not bring any bitchathane with us on this trek, so when a member of our group suffered a broken boat, they enjoyed a solitary 4.5 miles hike out. Lesson learned, next time be prepared as if this was a multi-day.

Casualty

Jason Hilton @ Double Clapper

Maggie @ Double Clapper

Jason Miller @ Hammer Factor

Jason Hilton Wild Boof @ Improvement #1 (Courtesy of Thinkrain)

Jason Miller @ Improvement #2 (Courtesy of Thinkrain)

Jason Hilton @ Slide (Courtesy of Thinkrain)

Jason Miller @ Devil's Cauldron (Courtesy of Thinkrain)

The day was full of great moves, big nerves, and fast aggressive paddling over large horizon lines, and at the end the six of us that were left, celebrated another awesome day on the creeks of West Virgina. Big thanks to Bobby Miller (Zone-Dogg) for giving us a tour of one of his favorite runs, and for showing us how to style each and every line.

Zone-Dogg gettin' it done (Courtesy of Thinkrain)

The following day saw a combination of Upper and Lower Blackwater at 330 CFS. Not too bad for a weekend in October!

Jason Hilton @ 100 Yard Dash (Courtesy of Thinkrain)

Keep your eyes on Maggie's site (Thinkrain) for a much better write-up and even more shots of this awesome adventure.

Russell Fork

2007-10-18T21:19:00.000-04:00

Video: Russell Fork
(If you plan on boating this stretch of river, pay attention to the sheer number of undercuts in this video)

Russell Fork Gorge

With a lack of water across the majority of the east coast, we too have to travel to paddle the good stuff and after putting it off for three years, the time came to head towards the Russell Fork Gorge to knock out this East Coast classic and bring our readers a new installment of excitement in an otherwise drought ridden landscape.

The trip began as an idea during Gauley Fest with an invitation from Russell Fork enthusiast Willy Witt to show some of his Pittsburgh friends his favorite river. On Friday October 12, three vehicles departed for the Fork to tempt our fate with this notorious stretch of river. As we stood around the campfire Friday evening, those of us who hadn’t run the river before spoke only briefly of the dangers the river is known for, instead choosing to spend time visiting with the veritable who’s who of the East Coast creeking scene and enjoy what could be our last night alive.

Saturday, we left early to take in the sights from Breaks Park. Here you can look down into the gorge, and see just how drastically cut the mountains in this region are, and how in it we would be during our journey. From over a mile away, Fist rapid is easily spotted from one of the lookouts and discussion began of the numerous tragedies that have befallen this particular location.

After spending an hour or so checking out the surroundings (which were spectacular and worth the drive even without the paddling), it was time to put paddle to water and fire this up. We put in around 12:30 pm and headed down through the boogie water, taking in the depths of the gorge and the overhanging rock formations that make this place unique. Truly, it is one of the most astounding locations you can paddle in and you can’t help but stop and take in the surroundings.

Group putin

Willy showing off the scenery

As we rounded an overhanging bend to the left, the first of many scouts began. We all exited our boats to scout Towers rapid from a rock in the center of the river. This rapid lets you know immediately what you have just gotten yourself into. The majority of the rocks in the river are undercut in bad directions, and the lines usually involve very precise boofs into moving water, followed by a definite need to stay upright and keep paddling. In this situation only three of the seven members of our crew decided to run the main line, Jeff Macklin, Mike Bailey, and myself (Jason Hilton), while the rest opted for the river right line, which involves the dodging of a decapitation rock as you boat through a narrow shoot. All lines ended well, and it was time to face the maker we had stared at hours ago from a mile away.

Mike bottom of Towers

When you get to Fist, it is very clear. People are out on river left, walking without even a scout, and a large rock that does a very poor job of hiding a water-swallowing cave looms in the distance. The group immediately leapt from the water and began the scout. I had come to the river expecting to creek down the left side and hairy ferry in front of the Fist cave, but the more I looked at the rapid, I figured I was likely risking my life just as much by just firing down the main line so why scrape the plastic off of the boat (as I have a tendency to trash my boats in this way anyway). Willy demonstrated the main line and Mike and I both went up for the run, while others setup to take pictures and the like. I have to admit, this one made me more nervous than most. Something about watching more than half of the water disappear under a rock I was going to travel at speed immediately to the right of can do that to you, but I went back to Kayaking 101 and figured I would lock my vision on the five foot channel of water that passes by the Fist and off I went. At the bottom of this rapid, a collective sigh of relief goes out as every person gets by.

Willy @ Fist

Mike next to the Fist cave

These cliffs are everywhere

From here we ran Maze, which is a nice reminder of the boulder rapids from home only with large undercuts everywhere, and on through Triple Drop, after a brief scout from river left. More boofs, ferries, and undercut dodging brought us to the elegantly named El Horrendo. This rapid is much bigger than the others on the river, includes some undercuts on river right at the bottom, and one of the biggest holes I have ever seen on a creek run. And the best part, the line involves you hucking yourself into said hole and hoping you will come out on the other side. We stopped to shoot some video, and the hucks began. Everyone had decent lines through “the horrendous,” and Willy and I walked back up to huck again. There is something very interesting that happens when you release yourself to the river’s mercy as you fire off a launch pad and into a giant hole. I haven’t quite come up with the words to describe it, but it feels like a chosen release of control in a situation where control is imperative. Those of you who have run Sweets Falls on the Upper Gauley have some understanding of what I mean as you plunge over the lip and into the hole at the bottom.

Jason @ 3rd Drop

Troy @ 3rd Drop

Bob @ El Horrendo

From here we continued to boof, dodge, and eddy catch our way to Climax, a neat eight footer into a very tight box with an ominous rock to avoid on river right in the exit. One last big boof and it was over, boogie water to the takeout, drinks by the campfire, and elation of having finally knocked out this spectacular river. Sunday saw another run through the gorge, equal success, and the long drive home. Big thanks to Willy Witt for putting this trip together and for great lines both days, you’re the man!

Jason glad to be done

End of the Fork

More photos cane be found here

Summer Surprise

2007-08-22T23:19:00.000-04:00

Mike showing off the gradient of Rasler Run

After doing a little light creeking on Monday 8/20 (an unheard of date to do any type of creeking on in this region), we were amazed to check out the radar and see a weather cell 400 miles wide preparing to cross Southern PA. Predictions called for 2-3 inches on top of the 1.5 we already had, and the phone started ringing. I must say it was Christmas in August, and a few of us went to sleep in utter anticipation of what Tuesday could be.

Tuesday morning, the Ohiopyle area received over 3 inches of rain, and it was on. Folks began calling off work, and we decided to take a shot at an obscure steep creek that drops into a pretty regularly run creek near Ohiopyle. The name of the game: Rasler Run, and at a max gradient of 310 fpm, it was good to go.

Zach and Jeff Put In

After setting shuttle on a road that makes Rockville Road (Lower Big Sandy) look like the autobahn, we put into a swollen patch of flat water below a downed tree and off we went into the gorge. Our group included, Matt Pascal, Zach Frederick, Jeff Macklin, Mike Whaley, and myself (Jason Hilton). The first part of the creek involved some high-speed waves, as we made a gradual departure from a few local homes and into the gorge. We knew that this run runs once every few years, and that trees were definitely going to play a big part of our journey, so we followed all of the general creeking safety tips (like not leaving an eddy until you can see the next), and proceeded cautiously.

Mike @ Wife Beater

Matt @ Wife Beater

Then came the gradient… The first rapid which we affectionately labeled Wife Beater was a nice series of low angle s-turning slides that instantly reminded us of Daugherty Creek in WV. The length of the rapids often called for extended scouting sessions, and memorizing lines upwards of ten moves and the negotiation of wood hazards around generally every corner. At Bridge to Nowhere, the line included some boulder hoping, skirt a strainer, a nice S-turn, a drop through a Sluice, and catching an eddy which allowed you to limbo a rather low bridge. Memory for lines was key.

Mike and Matt in it

Zach @ Bridge to Nowhere

Matt @ Bridge to Nowhere

Jeff @ Bridge to Nowhere

Further down the gradient continued to increase, and the gorge switched from dense rhodo cover to a more open rhodo and pine mix, allowing us to see further down and how deep in this gorge we really were. We continued on to Unchained Melody, a nice two-tiered set of waterfalls set tightly between immense undercut boulders. Here we spent about a half hour clearing out a strainer from the line to allow us to fire this bad boy up.

Matt Slot Move

Zach Slot Move

Zach @ Unchained Melody

Further down we came to a stretch of about 300 yards that required portaging around two large, river wide strainers blocking a nice 10-foot sluice drop and some good boulder gardens. One day this might be a good one to clean out. More rapids, more scouting, and more exclamations of amazement brought us to AK47, a nice boulder garden drop ending in a steep boxed in drop into a sticky hole lined on both sides by nefarious looking rocks. Two lines presented themselves, and while neither one made it look clean, I give credit to Jeff and Zach for choosing the smoother line than mine, and was glad I had enough energy left to keep from getting sucked into a bad place.

Jason in some gradient above AK47

Jason @ AK47

Matt @ AK47

Mike @ AK47

The last rapid, Submarine involved a tight sliding move down a sloped rock and into a chamber lined on one side by a 20 foot cliff wall and on the other by two ominous undercuts, and then an exit down a series of quick bedrock slides, and out into Indian Creek at 4000 CFS. We quickly made our way to our shuttle vehicle and remarked on the awesome opportunity we just had. It is creeks like these that remind a number of us of why we boat.

Mike @ Submarine

Jeff @ Submarine

Job Well Done!!!

Intro To Creeking Course

2007-08-07T13:36:00.001-04:00

On Sunday, August 5th, some members of TRPC and the Got Boof Crew showed up to help me (Jason Hilton) put on an introduction to creeking course for class III-IV boaters from the Three Rivers Paddling Club. We met at 10:00 AM at Valley Falls, West Virigina with around twenty students ready to go. I knew it was going to be a good day when I saw how nervous some of the students were as they came back from looking at what they were about to run.

Instruction began with a discussion of boat design, and characteristics that make a creek boat different from a “normal” kayak. We then moved on to a discussion about safety and some specifics relating to creeking. Then off to the falls we went.

Jason giving the talk

Everyone got warmed up in the pool above the drops before we all took out on the center island and the instruction began. I decided to break the rapids down into single drops, and then use each drop to teach one principal. The best introductory drop is the middle top drop, as it is pretty hard to mess it up, and is a great place to teach correct creeking posture, which is the most important lesson. The students took turns getting up the nerve to run the drop (and for a lot of them this was their first waterfall), then all of them executed near perfect runs.

Dave First Drop

The day continued in this way moving from drop to drop becoming successively harder, and with techniques that also become more difficult as we went. As the students ran each drop, I was able to discuss with them what they had done right, and what they had done wrong, and they often chose to run the drop again to enhance their understanding of the particular skill, with the almost every student showing marked improvement over the day.

Katy Right Slide

Astrid Right Slide

Jason Group Instruction

Jason and Jeff B 1 on 1

Jason and Rob 1 on 1

Jarrett boofing it up

Jason and Aaron 1 on 1

Group Instruction

Steve firing up the spout

Jarrett and Jason 1 on 1

Freddy firing up the spout

Shawna firing up the spout

Shawna and Jason (Good Job)

Rob M. firing up the center drop

After running all of the drops, and working with the students to perfect the various skills, we took off down the river to go for the remaining two rapids. While the waterfalls are visually impressive, the rapids below are generally harder, and allowed the students to get a feel for the push of creeks, and the dynamic nature of vertical water that they will find when they enter the creeking realm of kayaking. For the most part, runs were good with a bit of carnage here and there, which is to be expected when you drag 20 fresh boaters to a location such as this.

I was sure to finish the class on a good note, by showing off a rarely seen waterfall on a side creek, and then letting the students fend for themselves on the walk back to the vehicles. To all of the students and safety boaters, thanks for making this a great day for me as well as yourselves, and I will be looking for you the next time the water is narrow, pushy, and falling off of a cliff.

Jason showing how to get it done

More photos of the day can be found here

07 Summer Trip

2007-07-15T22:11:00.000-04:00

Video: 07 Summer Trip
(This is a long one so don't think your computer is broken if it takes a while to download)

The Carpetbaggers (Yankees who go South)

On July 5th, a group of us set out for a journey South to escape the drought here, knowing we could catch the Cheoah on dam release through the weekend, and hoping to catch a run on the class V classic Green Narrows. Leaving on Thursday, we decided to stop part of the way down for a low water hike along the Lower Meadow. Here we were able to see just how dangerous a river this can be, and were able to do a little spelunking inside the cave at “Coming Home Sweet Jesus.” One look at this beast and it is clear why this rapid could be so deadly and why it remains a walk for even the most hardened creekboaters in the area. From Pittsburgh, the group included Jason Hilton, Jeff Macklin, John Rudland, Carl Schneider and Dave Haines. In Erwin, Tennessee, we met up with the some friends from D.C., Maggie Snowel and Scott Anderson, who would be joining us for our paddling adventures.

Coming Home Sweet Jesus

Spelunkers

July 6th was going to be a day of park and huck action with the lack of natural flowing water down there to grab runs on, so our day began at Triple Falls in Dupont State Park. Here the Little River of NC drops over some rather large bedrock shelves, making at least the middle one “runnable” at any level. Each of the drops is around 40 feet high and quite intimidating to look at, but once we had the line for the middle one, it was just a matter of pushing off and holding on. A huge crowd came out to cheer us on as we took turns hucking off this drop and splashing around for the crowd.

Triple Falls

Dave Haines Airborne at Triple Falls

John Rudland Firing It Up

Scott at Triple Falls

We continued the day by traveling to a lesser known park and huck called Lower Whitewater in the Jocassee drainage in South Carolina. We were told never to go there if there is any rain as it can never be too low, but can easily be too high. Well it also makes the rocks incredibly slick. As we got to the drops, which were amazing for sure, the rain cut loose, and everything went crazy. Ropes came out and just moving around on the rocks became a real challenge. Even though this was one of the most amazing places we have ever seen, and the drops looked reasonably good to go, the added danger of the slick rocks and 320 foot tall waterfall only 100 feet away, sent us walking out without any boating.

Lower Whitewater

Roping in

On July 7th, with the Green still not running we departed for the Cheoah @ 1000 cfs. The last time we were at this run it was in the 1300-1400 range which made it quite exciting, and while still exciting at 1000, the fun level definitely lessens a bit. Unfortunately, early in our run we lost John Rudland to a shoulder dislocation and Dave Haines to drive him to the hospital, but those that remained finished out the run in good spirits for our missing comrades.

Jason at Big Bear Falls

Later we met with John and Dave for dinner and while driving to a campsite, noticed that a small creek was running next to the road and decided on a dusk patrol mission down it beginning around 7:30 pm. The creek turned out to be the Lower Santeetlah, a nice little class III stroll through the woods that must have been running due to some isolated thunderstorm upstream. It wasn’t the type of run we were necessarily targeting, but was neat to grab while we were there.

Jeff boofing in Lower Santeetlah

On July 8th, with the Green STILL not releasing we went for another lap on Cheoah, this time at the lower 850 cfs level. At this level, it really is only good from Big Bear rapids down and the day was spent battling the heat and be-bopping along waiting for something to pick up. After the run, we decided to get a head start on the drive to Pittsburgh and try to catch the Upper Yough the next day.

Carl at Big Bear Falls

Maggie at Big Bear Falls

July 9th on our way to the Upper Yough, we made the mistake of calling the Green Line only to find out that they had decided to change their release schedule and let out some boatable water, and we were now 6 hours away and unable to get there. I guess that is how it goes. Carl, Jeff and I (Jason Hilton) still had a great time on the Upper Yough, our summer time stomping grounds.

Fortunately, the trip reminded me of just how good we have it here in the mid-Atlantic region. The south definitely has some quality runs, but they lack the consistency we have here, both in quantity and quality. I know I for one will never be leaving this great region to paddle again without some guarantees of great whitewater, and I will cherish my three runs a week on the Upper Yough.

Great Falls

2007-06-25T19:42:00.000-04:00

Jason Hilton @ Great Falls (Courtesy of Thinkrain)

Thursday, June 21 saw my (Jason Hilton) first visit to Great Falls of the Potomac in Washington, DC. Around 4pm, I met up with Maggie of Think Rain notoriety on the lower Maryland overlook in order to get the scenic tour of the region before the afternoon falls running began. This is Maggie’s home stomping ground, and she took great care in showing me the Maryland and Center lines from the overlook, as well as explain to me some of the local history behind this most interesting geological wonder.

Great Falls (Maryland and Center Lines)

Looking around, it became apparent how unique of a place this is. As the pictures show, the river breaks up into various fingers to descend the 75 feet of gradient between the upper pool, and the beginning of the Mather Gorge section of the Potomac. We paddled out through the top pool, and then pulled out on the top of the flake to scout the Virginia line. The level was 3.0ft, which seemed to be a great level for the Virginia line. As we scouted, it became apparent how awful a swim anywhere along the line would be so naturally the scouting included a very detailed look at both the U-hole rapid and the S-turn rapid in order to get properly setup for Spout, the final drop.

U-Hole top of picture, S-Turn bottom of picture (Courtesy of Thinkrain)

S-Turn and the lip of Spout

Pictures do not really do Spout any justice, as it has to be one of the weirdest lips on a waterfall I have seen. The river appears to sort of toilet bowl down through the drop, and running it involves a right to left line across this toilet bowl and a delayed boof to break free from the curtain. After running through the top drops with no problem, I eddied out and got ready for the big one. After seeing a few folks fire off, it was time to go. You pull out and just ferry across the water as you quickly approach what appears like a fall off of the end of the world. Just as you roll off the lip sideways, it is a big right stroke and you are there, sitting in the pool looking back up at one of the most aggressive geological formations in eastern paddling.

A look back up at Spout

Hiking back up to run the drops again involves a climb up the flake, which was appropriately explained to me as a 5.5 climb with a boat. As Zack would say, you definitely have to pay to play at this park and huck. Round two went just as well as round one, and Maggie and I spent the remainder of our time taking a close look at some of the other parts of the falls so I would know the lines when I returned at different levels.

The climb up the Flake

Maggie contemplating how dangerous the Horseshoe Hole could be at this level

What a great way to spend a dry summer day, thanks Maggie!

Jim Cook Memorial

2007-06-07T16:07:00.001-04:00

Video: Jim Cook

Jim On His Favorite Run - Slippery Rock Creek

Jim Cook led a diverse existence, with a range of experiences some of us barely flirt with in our lives. He spent his early years studying drama throughout Europe. He rolled this into a very successful career as one of the regions top stage actors. He went on to teach high school English for part of his life, and pass his love of drama on to his students. He also found his way in to the management of a number of fine dining restaurants in the area, and he often spoke fondly of his experiences locally. Going out to eat with him generally involved him reminiscing with someone from his service industry days and a host of jokes targeted at the big burrito corporation. In his later years, he picked up acting again briefly and went to work managing office products for a local law firm. Most interesting because he never really liked lawyers, but he enjoyed many a laugh at their expense and made some great friends as well. Jim was also an archivist of music, with an eclectic ear for sound. He enjoyed the symphony and underground hip hop the most.

I met Jim at the Ohiopyle Trading Post four years ago. I was showing up for my first kayaking lesson, and Jim had just purchased a boat after his first lesson, the week earlier. He and I progressed together as paddlers and enjoyed a number of trips to North Carolina to pursue our passion for the sport. Anyone who ever paddled with Jim and I, will tell you that we easily knew what the other was thinking, that I was always pushing Jim, and that he begrudgingly always tried something new. He was a groomsmen in my wedding, and his gift to my wife and I was the camera that is used to create all of the Got Boof videos.

On Wednesday June 6th, TRPC and Got Boof Crew member Jim Cook died suddenly. He was one of my best friends and he will be missed dearly, both on and off the river.

Jim At Slippery Rock

Jim Running The Good Stuff

Jim and I in North Carolina

A Nice Surprise

2007-05-21T20:53:00.001-04:00

Last weekend brought us a nice surprise. A rain shower located itself nicely in the Blackwater watershed, and we went from no prospects for the weekend on Thursday to a trip down the North Fork of the Blackwater on Saturday, followed by a Lower Blackwater run on Sunday.

Saturday began with me (Jason Hilton) meeting up with Jay Miller near my house and heading down to Davis to meet up with Sam Mershon, fresh off his graduation from World Class Kayaking. We were debating a drive down to Red Creek but once we saw that the North Fork was running low and dropping, we decided not to risk getting skunked and opted for a lap.

Sam At The PutIn

It was Jay and my second lap and Sam’s first. Both Jay and I had run this at significantly higher flows before so we were interested in seeing it with less water and learning the routes at a slower pace. Sam was, of course, just pumped to be getting on the North Fork. Luckily we also met up with some of Jay’s friends from Ohio (Brent, John, Jon) who had more experience than us and were able to feed us some good lines. We also opted this time to scout a lot more than last time, which gave me a better perspective on a lot of the rapids.

Brent With A Dissappearing Paddle And Alot Of Effort

Sam

North Fork (Rainbow Room and Double Indemnity)

The lines through out the day were mostly good, minus my upside down stuffing into the pothole at World’s Ugliest, but thanks to Brent that turned out well as well. On this trip I was able to refine a number of the lines that were sloppier on my previous lap so it felt good to be so much more in control and flying off the big drops that fill this little gorge. I have been working on stomps off of bigger drops as well, and this place was perfect for just such a technique.

Sam Abusing Dad's Creekboat

At the end we met up with some of the Chambersburg crowd who had just run a lap on their own, and we all went out for some dinner to share the stories of the day. The night involved our retirement to a free camping spot on top of a mountain nearby, and some exciting games of Frisbee horse and jai lei/baseball courtesy of Jay Miller and a trip to the dollar store. We were joined just before bedtime by some of the Pittsburgh natives looking for a place to crash.

Jay Playing Frisbee Horse

Jason And Sam Playing Horse

Jai Lei (Or Gay Toss As It Came To Be Known)

Campfire

The next day, Kurt Knuth joined Sam, Jay and I for a run down the Lower Blackwater. We had hoped to get on the Upper, but only Sam was willing to fire up the 475 CFS level we received in the morning, and he opted to hang with us rather than fire it up with some bigger dogs, which is of course why we paddle with Sam in the first place. Everyone had great lines throughout the lower, and we often found ourselves remarking about why people didn’t do this run more often. By the end we all felt the need to bring our friends back to get them familiar with this run as well, and begin their exposure to some of the best runs in the Canaan Valley.

Jason At Krakatoa

Kurt In The Mix

Cheatfest Weekend

2007-05-06T21:53:00.000-04:00

Cheatfest Weekend has come and gone. We usually use this as the marker that symbolizes the beginning of Upper Yough Season, and apparently everyone else does also because that river was PACKED Saturday. I know that our group took a couple of new boaters down, and every other group must have as well, as the day seemed like a carnage fest for all involved, and left me more tired than I have been on this run in a long time.

Upper Yough weight lifting contest

We did however manage to haul Bill Schwab out for his second run down this gem, and he managed to fair a lot better than his first run last season, hitting the majority of his lines and coming off the river with a giant smile. Other members of the group may have been more upset during the day. There was a wild rumor circulating that a certain new Got Boof Crew member (we won’t mention John’s name here to save him any embarrassment) may have taken it upon him or her self (don’t worry Rudland, I made the pronoun ambiguous so no one would guess it was you) was cussing out another member of the crew. It was all-good though; as we all chalked the slip up to nerves on his or her (don’t worry John Rudland, your identity is safe) third or so run down this wonderful river, and the added press of the extra bodies.

On to Cheatfest for the evening, which despite an early rain ended up being an excellent time as usual. The crowd looked to be a few thousand strong, and once the drizzle left, it warmed right up and everyone partied through the night. Unfortunately, one of our other members, Carl Schneider, who is deathly afraid of rats, had a rat poop in his hair while some girl was trying to freak him out. I was right there and saw the little poo fall into his thick locks, but he never saw it. Good luck with that Carl.

Steve and Jason holding down the Cheatfest booth

Sunday included a run down the Cheat Canyon, which of course always involves some sort of adventure. Of course, I (Jason Hilton) only brought my creeking gear, so I looked like an armored newbie taking my creeker down this play run, which elicited many a laugh from my better-prepared counterparts. After trying to catch every eddy I could in order to somewhat assuage my idiot appearance, we ended up at typewriter, only to have one of the members of the group we were paddling with suffer a dislocated shoulder. This river dislocates more shoulders than any other river I know. So up the hill he went, on his way back to the put in and a few months of rehab.

The day also included the addition of a topo duo to the paddling fleet, which everyone and their mother appeared to get a chance to paddle. People were playboating it, flipping, swimming, all sorts of fun. Big ups to Shawn Yingling and partner for rolling this beast in Cueball and continuing an awesome surf. Great weekend!!!

Crew change

Typewriter Topo

Goin for the loop at Cueball

Got Boof Goes South

2007-04-22T21:15:00.000-04:00

Tallula Gorge

Recently a few member of the Got Boof Crew put in a blitzkreig style trip to hit some North Georgia Whitewater over a cold spring weekend. Rick Bauer sent us the following:

A few of the Got-Boofers spent Easter weekend paddling the Tallulah release, which made for an awesome weekend. Keith Pasquarello, Steve Bloskis, Bill Powers, Scott Loveland, Issac and Amos Ludwig, and myself (Rick Bauer) were fortunate enough to get to make the trip down and catch this beautiful run.

We ventured south and caught a run on the Chatooga Section IV, which was slightly above minimum level from what we could gather. This was a nice warm up to the weekend, but we were disappointed with the run considering all the hype we heard prior to the trip about Section IV. I was paddling my newly acquired Pyranha Burn, which I thought I had outfitted properly. Bulls Sluice proved me wrong however when after flipping, I had my legs slip out of my thigh hooks resulting in a swim...other than this, the run was uneventful. (Other than the crazy goose that decided to attack Issac when he paddled to close to the gooslings hanging out in the middle of the river, which made for a great laugh).

Nice Boof!

We camped and woke up Saturday and headed to Tallulah. Beautiful! We had a fantastic run and lots of fun. Everybody fired up Oceana, and it was a blast. Sunday was a second run on the Tallulah for everybody but yours truly. Unfortunately, I got a stomach thing and spent the day puking while my amigos were out tearin' it up. Keith's daughter came up from college and rafted the Tallulah with her dad and an AW worker that was lucky to grab a seat in Keith's Mini-Me. Though I was not there, imagining that raft headed right at "The Thing" at Oceana is amazing. According to the reports from everybody else, Sunday was a great time as well.

What A Group

Scott Loveland Flying Boof

Keith Pondering His Next Move

Monday, I felt a bit better and decided to hit Section IV again before heading north. The run was fun and mostly uneventful, minus Keith's swim at Woodall Shoals. Oh yeah, plus the psycho goose attacked Scott this time, which made for a good laugh again. We stopped at one of the creeks feeding into the Chatooga and paid our respects to Ned Beatty's loss of manhood with a quick moment of silence. The paddle out of this run is a miserable 2-2.5 mile flatwater paddle with a constant wind in your face...kinda takes away from the run...but keeping in good spirits...we were on the water, and that’s always a good thing.

Got Rain?

2007-04-17T22:33:00.000-04:00

The following post is contributed by Got Boof Crew Member: John Rudland

The day (Saturday, 4/14) started with Jason and I (John Rudland) going to watch and cheer the wildwater team trials at the Ohiopyle loop. I got to watch some great paddlers make it look like cake in long boats.

Craig Wassinger Wildwater Style

Then our first of three runs down the Top Yough where we met up with J, Shawn, Carl, and Dave Haines. The first run was trying to remember where the hazards were and where I was to go, being my 5th time down. My nerves were on overtime until I got over swallowtail falls. Then it was all a go. There were some great boofs to be had and a lot of fun for all.

John Rudland @ Swallow Falls

The second run was nice to try things that I saw the first run down and could try them this time. I still missed a few but the boofs were good and my nerves calmed down, until a large paddle snake grabbed my paddle and would not let go. I swung the paddle back and forth trying to get it out of its grasp and be able to skull up to the surface. Finally, he let go and I was able to roll up. A full-face helmet did cross my mind at that point. A snake that big, ten or twelve feet, must have been.

By the third run I was learning the river more and could hit some stuff I would not do the first two times. By the end of the third I was feeling great and the day went good for all.

Dave Haines @ Swallowtail

After a night in a motel and a long drive, we got to the takeout for Upper Seneca Creek. We talked to some locals and found out what we should be looking for and what the level should look like, so we drove up to the trail for the put in, long shuttle. We got ready and started down the mile to the put in, but once we got down there, the water was flowing more than what we were told. With paddles in hand, and gear on, we started our trip. After three or so large beaver dams and a lot of down trees and some portaging, we ran into a larger group that had some seasoned paddlers to this run.

Upper Seneca Put In

We paddled with them for a few miles, all the time on a rising creek. After four miles of hopping in and out of our boats we got our group together and talked with some of the other paddlers and came to the conclusion that the river was rising and that some of us were not skilled for such a run at this level. Of course, it will be there next time, so we decided today was not our day. So we picked up our boats, thanked the other paddlers and started back up the trail, for a four to five mile hike with boats at hand.

The Walk Out

After passing a few beaver chewed trees with fresh wood chips at the bottom, we came to the bridge where we had put in. The first time we saw this bridge, the water was about three to four inches under it. Two hours later when we passed it on our way back to the vehicles, it was over the footpath and close to the banks. We all laughed at this and were glad we didn’t paddle farther down for more to hike up. And I still believe we will talk about this trip for a long time to come. I have to thank every one for there knowledge and willingness to pack it up and call it a day. It was my first time to do this but I feel good that we did.

And we thought Saturday was good…

2007-03-27T21:19:00.000-04:00

Video: Sunday In The Stonycreek Watershed

After a restful night at Zach’s house, Jim Steppenbaker and myself (Jason Hilton) took off for some creeking in the Stonycreek watershed. We met up with Jon Rudland, who had spent the previous day running safety on a beginners trip, knowing full well we were about to expose our newest Got Boof Crew member to some of the biggest drops in the region. After meeting up with Craig Wassinger, Jeff Knechtel, Jay Miller, Ted Pablo and Amy Pablo in Seanor, it was time to get it on in what American Whitewater recently called one of the top five locations to both live and paddle.

We began the day with a couple of laps down the Dark Shade as a warm-up for some of the newer members of the group. This run is a nice quick run, being only about a mile, with an equally short shuttle that is perfect for just banging out quick laps. At its steepest point, the boulder drop rapids come fairly close to one another, and the range of eddies allows you to really get a good feel for your boating skills of the day. There are plenty of boofs spread around as well so getting air is no problem. After keeping a close eye on the newer boaters, and shooting some video, everyone agreed it was time to head to the crown jewel of the watershed, Paint Creek.

Jim Steppenbaker on Dark Shade

Paint Creek is one of my top five runs in the region, even with the bad water quality and the scenery (you do paddle through a strip mine at one point). Despite what it may have going against it, the creek has really big drops for our region, runs more often than a lot of people think, and other than its badly shaped holes, the overall danger level of the creek is pretty low when compared to other comparable runs.

Ted Pablo amongst it

Joining us at the put in was Zach Frederick, who is about to have shoulder surgery that is going to excuse him from boating for about 7 months. If you have seen his name featured here a lot lately, it is because he has taken a rental car attitude with his shoulder now that he knows it is going to become bionic in the near future.

At 70 degrees, we could not have asked for a better day to run this jewel, and all nine of us put in with high spirits. The first rapid contains one of the stiffest holes on the run, and unfortunately this rapid can be a deal breaker for paddlers steeping it up to this level of paddling in this region. Unfortunately for one of our group members, the hole claimed another victim, forcing a paddler to recirc twice outside of the boat, and the boat to require extraction from a pin only after its spent five minutes surfing the hole on its own. The paddler ended up walking out after the near miss, and unfortunately, some @$$#*!% stole the paddler’s boat while that paddler was fetching a car from the put in. The rest of us continued down the run, with no knowledge of the crime being committed against our paddling buddy on the road near the first rapid. All of us do however know the serial number for the boat, so we will have our eyes open.

John Rudland @ Double

Craig Wassinger @ Double

The trip continued on downstream, and with most members of our group being new to the river, I was able to get up ahead and get into position to shoot some footage while others scouted the rapids to come. Everyone had really good lines through all of the rapids, and you could tell people were really enjoying their day and were running some of the biggest rapids they had ever run. However, the trip was not carnage free. One group member had a paddle break, while upside down in a tough boulder drop rapid, but was able to execute a half paddle roll to save from a swim.

Jason Hilton @ Mousetrap

The last big rapid bears two names that we have heard of, mousetrap and big sluice, and I knew when we got there people were going to be excited. The drop is pretty tall, about 20 feet vertically, and requires you to fly down a channel as the river necks down to about 5 feet in diameter into a mean looking hole with a slightly undercut right side rock wall. It is quite intimidating to look at, and people often refer to it as a crap shoot rapid as far as the lines go, with some people subbing through the big hole, others skipping off of the top, and the unfortunate few taking a beating and swimming. Well we had some of all three, with resident technique expert Craig Wassinger dishing up the best beat down award. Now I normally don’t mention swimmer's names, unless it is I, but he’s too good of a paddler not to have his name put up in lights to accompany this excellent display of wet exit technique. After subbing the drop and skyrocketing to the surface upside down, he took another lap in the hole, flipping to both sides of the boat and eventually, punching out and getting recirculated a bit. Did I mention I was ten feet away with a video camera rolling? Well after his show, Craig quickly hopped out and ran back up to the top, not to be bested by this drop after such a good day of boating. He fired up a great second attempt and off we were to the takeout.

Craig Wassinger getting beat and filmed

Everyone in the group left after the first Paint lap, minus Zach and I who stuck around for two more laps, the final one being completed in just 25 minutes. For both Saturday and Sunday, my total gradient was 3025 feet, not too shabby.

A Saturday of firsts

2007-03-26T17:46:00.000-04:00

On Saturday, 3/24, I (Jason Hilton) met up with Keith, Rick, Steve Bloskis and Eskimo Jim at the Fikes put in to begin a day of creeking. With huge rainfall in the area all sorts of runs were going off and I knew this would be a day of firsts. We put in Fikes for a nice warm up run, so everyone could get their groove back, as some of our group lack the stomach for the winter boating that you have seen posted across this site lately. After a quick warm up run down Fikes, it was on to some more challenging water.

Keith and Jim on Fikes

Half of the people we spoke to felt that Roaring Creek would be running in WV, and half didn’t, so out came a twenty-dollar wager. I, while trying to be optimistic, took the flowing side of the bet, but alas I am twenty dollars poorer to Keith’s infinite wisdom. But all was not lost, a quick look at Daugherty showed it running, and none of us had been there before. We ran into a group putting on, and another group that wanted to paddle with us that said it was low but doable, and off we went.

Well, the gauge must have shifted (it read 3 inches above the minimum), as this run was not running at anything that could be considered above bare minimum. The run was also just full of trees, so while we got to fire up some cool slides, we also did a lot of banging around, and a few extractions along the way, including a great save by Rick Bauer on yours truly.

Rick on Daugherty

Jim on Daugherty

After the torture of Daugherty, our group split up, with Keith and Rick deciding they preferred to get back to the comfort of a familiar run by going back to Fikes while Jim and I decided to end the day with more challenging and adventurous fare.

We met Zack at the takeout for Beaver Run, which flows into Meadow a few miles outside of Ohiopyle. From here it was the exploration of a completely new creek for the three of us. We got some beta about some footbridges and some dams, but wow, who would have thought it would be what it was. The local fisherman have claimed this bad boy for themselves and have built somewhere between 15 and 20 dams on the run. They are fairly short ranging 4 to 10 feet in height, but have fierce holes and running them required a lot of precision and a good eye for lines. We fired down the dams, as the sun set, remarking on how beautiful and different this kind of run was. A paddle snake did result in a swim along the run, in between dams, but overall the mood was awesome, and it was great to finally get on something both fun and challenging. The almost dark paddle in the fog at the end was quite the top off to the day, and Jim and I went to Zack’s house where he and his lovely wife Jancee took great care in feeding us and giving us bedding to prepare for Sunday’s shenanigans

Upper Blackwater Snow Edition

2007-03-12T18:05:00.000-04:00

Saturday saw a return visit to the Canaan Valley area for a few laps on the Upper Blackwater. The rise in temperatures and considerable quantity of snow still present in the region, gave a nice melt to push the levels up. Of course, it began with an early morning wake-up and meetings along the way to lessen our number of cars and save money on the expensive gas.

Joining me (Jason Hilton) for today’s trip was Sam Mershon, on spring break (he is attending World Class Kayaking) from paddling in China with stories of big water, long days, and the kind of experiences you remember for the rest of your life. He quickly explained how he had never run water that big, and was anxious to get back on the creeks where he felt more at home. I had a feeling he would not be disappointed.

We met up with Zach and John Love at the upper parking lot in Douglas, due to snowy impassible conditions on the lower road. This only adds another 1/8th of a mile to an already long hike so it doesn’t make much of a difference. Once shuttle was set, we were off for lap one, with the plan to meet up with Shawn and Jay from Cleveland for lap two.

The hike down was extremely icy and after my third fall with my kayak, I decided to just drag it down the ice. Anyone who has hiked this trail under normal conditions knows that it is a difficult one, it gets even better covered in snow and ice. Once at the put-in it was the standard warm up psych up for 100-yard dash. No photo ever does this rapid justice, and our lines didn’t do it justice either. I missed the eddy, and did a nice scramble around to face forward and pseudo-boof off the ledge over the first hole, followed up by John Love’s equally impressive hit the rooster tail rock-n-roll routine. At the bottom of the rapid, we all began to question the sanity of this cold weather run. But as the rapids went by, we settled into the standard boof, paddle, turn and boof again groove that makes this run so good.

For me, it was exciting to finally (this is lap six for me) know where I am throughout the river. I have made it a goal of mine to know all the lines on this river by summer, and I was putting in the last pieces of the puzzle. Sam was also looking real strong, and seemed very excited about finally getting back to one of his favorites. He continually remarked about how good it felt to fly off six to ten foot high drops over and over again.

After running shock we got out (walked sticky fingers) and scouted pinball for wood that was rumored to be perched in the main line. Sure enough, it was there but we were sure we could go right over it and we did. The remaining lines we solid, ending with the standard mad rush down nerves. When all linked together, this is one of the fastest rapids around, and looking back upstream at the bottom of nerves, you realize why you came to Blackwater in the first place.

But of course, then comes the hike… It sucks normally, and is even worse with snow. Luckily the steep trail was clear and with our usual snail’s pace we climbed on out. The railroad grade did have snow however, so the long drag of the boat began. When we reached the parking lot, Jay and Shawn were waiting for us, explaining how they were worried about us (we were only an hour and a half late) and were contemplating putting on to see if we needed help. No worries guys, time for lap two. We lost Zach, who had a date to tend the potpourri, but added the Cleveland boys and off we went.

The climb down sucked, and we thought initially that it was lower than the first run (260 CFS) we didn’t find out until the next day that it was actually spiking up and we put in somewhere in the 290-300 CFS range. Most of our lines were good, and this lap (now lap seven total) included me leading a large portion of the run. We also managed to knock the wood out of pinball and cut free a dangerous looking throwbag that had become entangled below angle left. By the time we hit the takeout, those of us on lap two of the day were definitely dragging. One slower climb, one longer walk and an awesome winter Saturday on the Upper B came to a close. Next week Sam goes off to the West Coast, while we wait for the spring rains to fall some more.

Shawn and Jason at the put in

Shawn part of the way through 100-yard dash

John at the end of Tomko

Jason on the second boof of Tomko

And with March comes the water...

2007-03-04T19:08:00.000-05:00

This weekend, the flows were in! On Saturday, the day began for me (Jason Hilton) at 4:45 am. I normally would go to sleep about this time, but I had to meet Roger (IR) and Zach in Friendsville @ 7:00 to try to get in some Canaan Valley creeking. The flows were in enough that we were hoping to get on either Otter Creek or Red Creek, but unfortunately, these drained out to quickly and we resorted to the North Fork of the Blackwater. Not bad for a last resort run to pick up the North Fork of the Blackwater huh? Could have done without all the extra driving though.

Looking down at the put in from the trail

Don Smith and his crew were there running laps, and while everyone else there had run the run before, I was on my first run so Don agreed to help show us down. This is one of the steepest runs I have ever encountered, and with so many rapids, you feel like you are just falling off of a mountain. Every drop is at least ten feet and the boofs are HUGE. Needless to say, I was quite impressed. Big thanks to Don for showing us down, he new every rock in the river.

Jason entering World's Ugliest Rapid (Yes that really is the name of the rapid)

Jason in World's Ugliest Rapid

The bottom of Double Indemnity

Zach and Roger at the take out

On our way home we ran Bear Creek in Friendsville. After what we had done earlier, this was quite anticlimactic.

On Sunday, I met up with Craig and Carl to guide John Rudland and Jarrett Lambright down Meadow Run for thier first times. It was cold so the changing happened in the heated bathroom by the falls.

We caught Meadow at a low level, when all the eddies are out, so it made for great boulder hoping throughout the day. A number of folks were trying out new creekboats today as well, in preparation for the springtime flows, so this made an excellent training ground for them. It is amazing how many times I heard people tell me they thought they were a better paddler now that they got a new boat. I wonder if there is any logic to that statement? Sounds right to me.

John Rudland at the bottom of Cascade

Everyone had good lines through their first run, and a number of good boofs were exposed, which of course makes me happy. The second run saw the carnage of the day with two swims, but who am I to spread carnage stories (Ask me in person, and the dirt is yours). On the way down we cramed a bunch of folks into a cave on the river bank, only for Carl to look up and spot some awesome fossils in the bedrock.

Fossil

The very first time I ever ran Meadow was on a cold snowy day similar to today, and I will always remember the amazing ice that forms on the sides of the river down in the bowl after seven foot falls.

Here is some ice from today

At the end of the run is the slides. This has to be one of the most well known rapids in the region, which many boaters scout, but a select few actually seem to run this. This is quite understandable, given the major increase in mess up potential for a bad run. But of course Craig and I had to fire this up after Carl was nice enough to show us the line, and explain his past experiences with the slides.

Carl at the top

Carl towards the biggest holes in the middle

Jason at the entrance to the slides

Jason on the way down

Craig after the second turn

Craig going into the last big hole

Winter Adventures

2007-02-18T11:28:00.000-05:00

On Saturday the 17th, it was time for a little wintertime fun in the boats. We took off for the Belington section of the Tygart, with enough flows to make a lowish run down through there and with our fingers crossed that we wouldn't be portaging too much. The temperature was in the 20's with a snowfall throughout the day. In my experience these days are some of the prettiest in my paddling career.

The put in required some sleding to reach, as Carl demonstrates proper snow edging technique.

However, it was John Rudland with his superior kayak sled managment techniques that wins the 2007 Kayak Sleding championship.

Of course the views were outstanding, behing John you can see the ice flows coming off of the hills, along with the snowfall throughout the day. Beautiful scenery and ice fows were everywhere.

More of the guys.

When you paddle in the winter, you have to get used to striking solid objects in the water that you couldn't previously see. Also be ready for lots of slush.

You have to be on the lookout for these, the rotating ice filled eddy of death. This normally very easy rapid was turned into a dangerous situation as the exits filled with ice jams, leaving the rotating eddy o' ice for the unwary paddler. You definately have to be on your guard on days like these.

Post portage put in. Nice scenery.

Often the ice only leaves you with one route through a rapid. On the plus side it is usually the main line. Bridge rapid.

Time to portage again.

Overall it was a good day. Getting home was another adventure, between angry farmers and their road blocking tractors, and the herd of deer that decided to run next to our car as we slid out of control down the roads, the fun didn't stop until well into the evening.

Jeff Macklin Photo Galleries

2007-02-09T23:33:00.000-05:00

Chances are if you have seen any really good photos that come from the more obscure rivers of our region (including the majority of photos used in gotboof videos) you are looking at a photograph by Jeff Macklin. Jeff has been a practicing photographer from long before his paddling days, and has incorporated his love of this artistic medium into his paddling style and his paddling groups. Whenever you paddle with him, you can count on some good shots being emailed to you later for your amusement.

Jeff has his own photo galleries where he rotates in and out pictures from a variety of trips. Please feel free to check out his work here.

Dead links

2007-01-29T20:33:00.000-05:00

If you have noticed lately that our links to our videos are down, it is your fault. (But it is a good thing) The reason that the links are down is that we have surpassed the bandwidth allowed for file transfer of the movies. Our bandwidth is 20 gigs so it works out to somewhere between 500-1000 views of our videos. We're glad you like them, and they will be back up on February 1st, when our bandwidth resets. Till then, Peace!!!

Mission: First Descent - Accomplished

2007-01-17T20:15:00.000-05:00

Video: Backyard Runs Volume II - Rattling Run First Descent

Well after three days of rain with fingers crossed throughout, the first descent finally ran. I was extremely excited at the prospect, and must have spent at least two hours calling friends of mine to put together a team to run this, along with people who could properly document such an awesome occasion. For those of us that took a chance on a run we knew nothing about, when the entire region was blowing up, the first descent of Rattling Run is ours. The paddling team consisted of: Jason Hilton, Jeff Macklin, Jason Miller, Carl Schneider, and Craig Wassinger. Jim Cook was nice enough to come out and shoot video for us and his work can be seen above.

I brought my bow saw, as of course like most creeks, this one has some wood and some channels needed to be cleared. We managed to catch the run at its minimum flow, which was just fine for a first run of something this caliber. Who says all the good First Descents are taken? The official names for the rapids are as follows:

Cow Patty Falls: First Waterfall, 6 feet high, Class III+

Hilton Falls: Second Waterfall, 17 feet high, Class IV

Stay Left: Sieved out drop after a big rusted water tank, Class V-

Cauldron Falls: Third Waterfall, 14 feet high, Class IV+

Jason Hilton - Cow Patty Falls

Craig Wassinger - Cow Patty Falls

Carl Schneider - Hilton Falls

Jason Hilton - Hilton Falls

Jason Miller - Hilton Falls Freewheel

Jeff Macklin - Hilton Falls

Hilton falls - Downstream

Jason Hilton - Stay Left

Jason Miller - Cauldron Falls

Following the first descent, Carl, Jeff and I went over to Drakes Run by Confluence PA, which is one of the best runs in the region. It's a nice micro creek, with tons of gradient (we refer to it as Fikes on Steroids) and the scenery is awesome. The run took awhile as we were cautious for new wood, but the boof were everywhere and it was a nice compliment to the Rattling Run Huck-a-pa-looza. Isn't Marin Luther King Day grand?

Carl Schneider - Ignorant

Jason Hilton - Ignorant

Carl Schneider - Disappearing Act

Jeff Macklin - Boof & Slide?

Carl Schneider - Sieve Rapid

Jason Hilton - Sieve Rapid

Jason Hilton - Got Boof

Jeff Macklin - Got Boof

Backyard Runs

2007-01-07T01:37:00.000-05:00

Pine Run Put In

Pine Run Character

Pine Run Gorge

Pine Run Hazard

Well with the discovery of my first descent, everyone on the Got Boof Crew has begun looking for their own runs. With an inch of rain locally we were able to try out one of Jeff Macklin's many creeks that he has discovered. These runs generally feel like you discovered them in someone's backyard, giving birth to the Got Boof Backyard Runs series. Unfortunately our first run, Pine Run in Vandergrift PA, turned out to be high gradient (100+fpm) class II-III complete with portages and limbo logs. It was pretty but not all that exciting, other than the 500 foot long tunnel we had to paddle through. More backyard runs volumes will be on the way.

Video: Backyard Runs Volume I - Pine Run

Happy New Year

2007-01-04T23:05:00.000-05:00

1/1/07 - Jeff Macklin organized a trip for a collection of boaters from DC and Pittsburgh. Little Sandy into Lower Big Sandy all in one shot. 10 Miles of paddling from flatwater through the good stuff. I decided to begin the New Year with dreams of what may come. Hence the following:

Jason Hilton (Big Splat) - 1/1/07

PA First Descent?

2006-12-31T18:05:00.000-05:00

Anyone who knows me well enough, knows I have been searching for a first descent in the local area for awhile. Well I think I have found it. The run has four drops, a clean 6-8 footer (Cow Patty Falls), a clean 12-15 footer (Hilton Falls), a manky sieved out drop (Left Next or Tank), and a 10 footer into a bowl (Cauldron Falls). Since I have found it, I have taken the liberty of naming the rapids as you can see. Here are some of the pictures I took.

Cow Patty Falls

Hilton Falls

Stay Left

Cauldron Falls

Top Yough Hat Trick

2006-12-25T17:08:00.000-05:00

Ahhh... What a great holiday present the Got Boof crew was given on December 23rd. After some much needed precipitation, our winter time training ground, the Top Yough came into play. For anyone who hasn't been there, this is a wonderful 2.5 mile stretch of river, a few miles above the Upper Yough put-in. The run is nice and short, the shuttle is just as short, and there is virtually no walk to put-in or take-out. When it gets crazy cold, these types of runs are perfect because you can continue t do laps or decide when you've had enough, without being committed to a major paddle. Plus the first rapid, Swallow Falls, gives you the chance to go bigger than anything on the Upper. Lastly, and of course the crew's favorite part about the run, is the sheer quantity of boofs per mile on this run. You spend as much time in the air as you do the water.

Zach Frederick Boofin it up.

Jason Hilton digging in.

This day saw 3 laps for Jeff Macklin and I (Jason Hilton), and at least 4 for Zach Frederick and IR Roger.

Off till December 12th

2006-11-20T21:59:00.000-05:00

Well I am off until December 12th with this thing. I normally use this time of year to acclimate to the cold for the winter creeking season, so I guess it will be a big rush of cold once the cast comes off. It's especially hard now that a lot of water has come down and the hard to catch goodies around here are running (Fikes, etc...). At least I can live vicariously through my buddies phone calls and finish work on the Got Boof 2006 DVD.

Until December, c-ya!!

Man Law (Kayaking Version)

2006-11-11T17:32:00.000-05:00

Man Law: Never attempt to remove a huge freakin strainer that wasn't really in your way in the first place, just because your buddies think it might be possible.

The other day I managed to stumble into a host of bad decisions, beginning with the attempted removal of a large tree from slippery rock creek. While trying to lift the tree over a rock, I came up with the great idea to lever the tree into the air. I happened to be on a rock in the middle of a river at the time, so naturally a lever had to be thrown to me. It weighed 50 lbs and trying to catch a flying 50 lb log was a really bad idea. With a big hit I knew I had damaged my wrist. While i was eventually able to lever the tree over the rock, it did little good. The tree finished it's day in a worse place than it began and I ended up having to go for a dangerous swim next to the strainer to remove a throw bag. I paddled out with a hurt wrist, although not as gracefully as I normally would have, and low and behold, I have a fractued trapezium (one of the rarest of fractures to receive in the hand.

Now I am stuck with what you see below.

Ultimate Kayaking Line

2006-10-18T20:23:00.000-04:00

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!!!

Blackwater Sunday

2006-10-11T21:06:00.000-04:00

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.

Gauley Season

2006-10-06T19:46:00.000-04:00

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.

Adirondack Boating

2006-09-06T21:48:00.000-04:00

We just got back from the Adirondacks in upstate New York, and what an adventure it was. The geology of the region leaves the rivers full of huge rapids with monster drops. It feels something like paddling on a pond, then hucking off of a class IV-V rapid into another pond, with a heavy beatdown to be had for a bad line. The tour included the Black River Canyon, Raquette (Stone Valley), and the Moshier, Eagle, and Taylorsville sections of the Beaver. Of all those rivers the Raquette and Eagle section of the Beaver stand out as truely tremendous. Big gnarly class V drops with consequences all around. I took the camera along, but very much felt the need to focus on the paddling and leave the filming for another time. Thankfully, a number of people in our group had still cameras, and I did manage to shoot some video on the Moshier section.

Jason Hilton @ Colton Falls, Raquette, NY

Horseplay on the Beaver

Upper Yough Action

2006-08-30T22:46:00.000-04:00

Over the last month, we have been taping footage of various days spent on the Upper Yough. Living in Southwest Pennsylvania, the Upper Yough is our summer stomping ground when everything else has dried up. If you haven't been to this river it is one to check out for sure as it offers lines for the competent class IV boater and if you want to seek them out, it becomes very easy to take other lines that border on the class V realm.

Plus the river is a rolling party on a scheduled release, where everyone seems to know everyone, and you always see something new.

Here are links to two videos shot on the Upper Yough.

The first video is a 30 or so minute clip (read big file for those of you with a slow connection) of the Got Boof Crew shot over multiple days which can be seen here.

The second video is a compilation of carnage captured during the making of the first video and can be seen here.

Low Water Valley Falls Huckfest

2006-08-08T01:53:00.000-04:00

With little water left in the local rivers, Jim and I decided to represent the Got Boof Crew @ Valley Falls, WV by shooting some footage of his new inflatable kayak in action (plus I was really interested in seeing if this would be a carnage fest, or if those things can huck).

Well, does it ever! Even well below the minimum suggested level, we were able to run the majority of the drops in the river, minus the middle line in the first falls and the main line in Hamburger Helper. Of course the workout you get carrying back up to drop each drop again and up the final trail after you run the lower rapids made for a very physically fullfilling day.

Check out the action here

Additions

2006-08-03T16:49:00.000-04:00

I just added some older clips that I had lying around on my computer to flesh out the content here abit. You can find two of these clips on the class-sik website as well, which is run by Zachary Frederick, one of our regions up and coming hairboaters. Zachary has been my access to the Upper Blackwater and a trip to the south that I will never forget.

Zachary @ Hammer Factor - Green River, NC

So it begins...

2006-08-02T02:57:00.000-04:00

Here is the beginning... in the coming days I will try to include information about the team members first, and then some footage for everyone to check out.