Dave's Whitewater Rafting Adventure 2000

Greetings all! Well, I know you've all been on the edge of your seats waiting for the trip report about the whitewater rafting adventure, and so here it is. (For those of you who are REALLY impatient, click here to get to the exciting part.)

First, my friend Beverly and I left our house around 9:00 on Saturday morning. Cooper stayed with Kelley, who had a bunch of things planned for the weekend, and so he was happy about that.

Anyway, the plan was for us to meet my brother Darin, his friend Jack, and my father at the rafting place on Saturday afternoon. We however were perceived to be slackers, since we didn't leave the house until 9:00. The boys left Darin's house in KY at around 6:30, were second on the scene of a single car traffic accident, and were at Songer's by around 12:30pm.

Our trip consisted of 3 bathroom stops.

Anyway, we got to Songer's around 3:30. Their tents were all set up, the fire was already going nicely, and we started to unload. Before I go into details here, let's just say that Beverly and I have never camped before together. Primarily she camps with her family, which includes her husband Bob, and their daughter Meg. My camping experiences were all during my short and unremarkable stint in the Boy Scouts of America.

The tent that Beverly brought was HUGE. After managing to spread the tent out in a strategically located space within the campsite, Beverly, my brother, and my father spent nearly 15 minutes of hit and miss efforts trying to figure out how to put up the tent, and how the little heaters in the nifty Army surplus MREs worked. No firm conclusions were reached on either topic.

Frustrated with the competence of the local (to this campsite) males, Beverly struck out to find someone who might be able to help without being distracted by the smell of super freeze dried chicken fried steak. Her methods were admirable. She wandered around the campground to other campsites where the tents looked like they had been pitched by NASA engineers, and proceeded to look pitiful. Within minutes, there were at least 5 strange men examining the tent, and the poles that came with it. These people spent some time examining the components, and after nearly 45 minutes, they had figured out that the MRE heating element was actually a small nuclear furnace.

OK, wait, I just had a silly moment where I was channeling Dave Barry. They did finally get the tent erected. (please avoid any commentary about Beverly, 5 guys, and the word erected)

OK, so we move into the tent and arrange our gear and stuff, and then sit down to get caught up on what's going on with everyone. We in fact did have a very nice time with Jack, a fine human who seems to be spending way too much time with my brother Darin. He's very funny, and it was very nice to meet him. Darin and Dad are fine. It's been nearly 2 years since I saw Dad, the last time being when my best friend Pete from high school died in October 1998, and probably more than 5 or 6 years since I saw Darin.

We spent a long time Saturday night just hanging around the campfire talking about stuff. We were also treated to the party at Songer that was made up of probably almost 100 people who spent much of their time drinking themselves to insensibility on Saturday night. The reasons for this activity are probably two. Reason #1 is that they survived their rafting adventure without serious injury, and #2, the live band was really bad, and in order for it to sound good, much liquid refreshment had to be ingested.

So, until around 3:30 there was a combo of female drunken singing about 4 campsites down the road, and a number of humans tossing their cookies as loud as they possibly could behind the bathrooms. (I can't figure out why they didn't go into the bathrooms, but they didn't ask me, and I didn't suggest)

The other interesting tidbit of information about Saturday night you absolutely need to know is that it was damn cold. When we got up, there was a very heavy frost on the ground. After getting up and doing the basic morning rituals, which included coffee for some and cocoa for others, we went to breakfast.

We then went shopping for things that we discovered that had become essentials at our campsite. First, we bought a air mattress for our tent. Mother Nature made the ground entirely too hard for whatever reason, (a formal protest will be filed to her later in the week) and second, Dad needed a blankie. In his defense, Darin had assured him that the sleeping bag he had provided for Dad was a down sleeping bag, and it probably was, but Dad claimed there might have been 2 or maybe 3 feathers in the bag at some time during the sleeping bag's life. Also, the zipper was broken. So, any time he rolled over, the bag would unzip, and he froze his butt off. So, we also acquired another camp chair, (someone had incorrectly guessed that our total number would be 4, go figure) and back to the campsite we went.

Then came a surprise: we made a new friend: Tabasco, the golden retriever puppy. He belonged to a neighbor at another campsite, and was just as cute as puppies always are.

After getting a major puppy fix, we decided to take part in some tourist activities. Our first (of two) stops was the local small plane airport, where scenic airplane rides over the New River Gorge could be purchased.

The flights are run from sunup to sundown, and are flown by "Five Dollar Frank," who is one of the most colorful humans I've ever met. He's 79 years old, and got his pilot's licence in 1940, and has been giving plane rides around the gorge for $5 since 1948. He also has a severe hearing loss, and wears 2 hearing aids that do little to improve it. It doesn't matter to Frank though, he's got you in the plane, he's already got your $5, so you've pretty much decided that whatever Frank says is pretty interesting and funny.

By all reports, the view from over the New River Gorge is awesome, and we did get some pictures from inside the plane.

The second, (and last) stop on our whirlwind tour was the head of the Gaulie River. I guess we had a strange desire to see the source of our next day's adventure. On one side of the road that goes over the dam is beautiful Sommersville Lake, and on the other side is the view to the outflow pipes for the Gaulie River. It's a long way down there, but I could still hear the water, nearly a million gallons a minute, flowing into the Gaulie River.

We went back to the campsite and refreshed ourselves, and went off to dinner at the local rib joint. "Dirty Ernie's Rib Pit" where the food was awesome!

I know, you're being very patient. The rafting part is coming up here shortly. Not to worry. I haven't forgotten.

Sunday night after dinner was more sitting around the campfire, and thanks to Beverly we had fixins for S'mores. (Toasted marshmallow, graham cracker, and chocolate bar sandwich)

Monday morning was "The Big Day."

We got up, and Beverly and I went off to eat breakfast, since we knew that lunch was going to be in mid afternoon on the river. We came back and did some packing before it was time to get our gear, (helmet, wetsuit, paddle, and life jacket) and get on the bus. Before that, Beverly and I found the guide we had requested, and found out he was going on a different trip. He made some suggestions about the guide we should request instead, and we thanked him and off on his trip he went. For those who want to know, this was a guide we had met on our previous trip in extremely late June, and his name was Bubba. I swear, an authentic WVA mountain boy.

We all got on the bus, and with paddles in hand and helmets on our heads we drove 30 minutes to the place where we put into the river. All 5 of us were in one boat, and aside from our river guide "Fidge" there were no foreigners. (the rafts will hold up to 8 passengers and the boat guide.)

THE RIDE



After we launched into the river, Fidge gave us a run-through of our basic commands and what we should do when we hear him call out a particular command. Darin then informed Fidge that if I went into the water, he was going in after me. Fidge and Darin came to an understanding that depending on where I went into the water, the appropriate person would go into the water after me.

Just a few words here about Darin, Jack, my Dad, and Fidge. First of all, Darin is a cop and volunteer firefighter, an LPN, and basically a big guy. Oh, and also fondly known as Bucket-Boy. Jack is bigger than Darin, also a firefighter, and a fine human. Darin and Jack were in the front of the raft. Dad is a Lt. in his local fire dept and has volunteered there for years. Dad and Darin are a lot alike. Fidge was the guy with the biggest paddle, a degree in sports medicine, and the guy with the power to make swimmers of any of his passengers. After this discussion and testosterone measuring contest, I put things to rest by stating that I would do my level best to stay in the boat. The whole thing was pretty funny, but it let me know that I didn't have to worry if I ended up outside of the confines of the raft.

I can't really describe the entire river trip. I know that the first few rapids were on the small side, (class 3-4) and that it got us all into the rhythm of paddling and listening to Fidge. Our first class 5 rapids was getting everyone pumped. I think even Beverly's machismo levels were on the rise at this point. We shot the rapids very well. After that first class 5, Dad was hooked. I have to go back a bit and tell you that Dad spent a majority of time Saturday and Sunday deciding how soon on the river he would be meeting his fate. He even bought a t-shirt that said, (upside down) "If you can read this, pull me back into the raft!"

But after he got into it, he couldn't stop saying how cool it was. And in fact, it was very cool. There were nearly 20 named rapids, and the river was lots of fun. Lunch was sandwiches, carrots, chips, and cookies, and then the trip continued down the river. At lunch, Fidge told me he thought I would probably do fine on the Upper Gaulie trip, which is for advanced rafters. He seemed impressed with my ability to stay balanced in the raft, and he made a very good effort to keep me posted of what was happening around the raft, other boats and what they were doing, and all that.

One of the discussions we had as a raft was about the last class 5 rapids, "Pure Screaming Hell" which included the "Hell Hole" He told us that we had the option of trying to shoot the Hole, (with a 60% chance of swimming) or going around it via another route in the rapids. He told us also that beneath Hell Hole was nothing but flat water, and no rocks to worry about. We decided to shoot the Hole, of course. :) The cool part was that we did it perfectly. Nobody swam from our boat all day.

As we were floating toward the end of the trip, Fidge told us a few things about rafting. First, he told us that the key to a good ride is paddling. Very often people sign up to go on these river trips expecting that it's a float trip. It's not. The guide can only do so much to control the boat. Fidge said that even though there were only 5 of us, we "moved the boat extremely well." Because of this, he had maximum control of the raft, and could keep us out, or put us in trouble. :) Once again he said that he'd love to take all of us on the Upper Gaulie trip. The trip back to the base camp was about 45 minutes, and was full of discussions and remembrances of the day's adventure. Everyone had a great time, and Darin, Jack, and Dad are ready to do the entire Gaulie River run in the spring. I think I'll join them if it comes together.

We got back to the campsite, changed out of our wetsuits and into dry clothes. We then went up to the store and office and watched the video. It's about 40 minutes, and features the best of the day's rapids. Everyone gets camera time, and it was very cool. There were also pictures to order, as well as the video.

After that, we packed up our stuff and said good bye, and headed home. I have to say I've missed hanging out with Darin and Dad. I talk to them pretty often, but it's not the same as getting together and doing stuff. We all had a great time, and we hope to do it again before Darin and his family move to Washington state.


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