Thanks for the flattery Lyle.

A little more info about the Middle Gauley. There's about six miles to it all, starting at Mason's Branch and ending at Buck Lick (just above Koontz's flume) with the Woods Ferry access point in the middle (the place we put in for our rafting trip). If you start at the top (Mason's Branch) you've got at least one modestly large rapid named Gillespie's Hole about a mile downstream. It does have one largeish hole in it that can eat you, but that's at the bottom of the rapid, basically at the top of a big pool and recovery is a piece of cake. Fuzzy Box of Kittens (Guide's Revenge rapid) is class II with a raft flipping hole at the bottom, but it's nothing you have to run. You can skirt it with ease, or choose to take it on just for the hell of it. Once again, it dumps into a huge, deep pool, so actual consequences are negligible.

...Then there's Woods Ferry Rapid. Difficult to walk around or cheat in any honest fashion, Woods Ferry is a long rapid with lots of big offset breaking waves and holes. A swim here could be quite unpleasant. On the good side, all of the above rapids are above the Woods Ferry access point, so you can miss all of them by putting in at the halfway point for the Middle Gauley.

...If you choose to put in at the Woods Ferry Access Point, you can choose to put in above or below Ender Waves rapid. Ender Waves is just a straightforward wave train, but the waves are big and may hand a swim to a novice. No rocks though and recovery is easy. After that, most of the rapids you will see are no more than biggish class II for the next three miles, until the end. The last rapid is Edge of the World (AKA Backender). It's a very straightforward rapid, simple straight line down the middle into a couple of big waves near the bottom and a big whompin' wave-hole at the very bottom. Will it wipe you out? Probably. Is there anything immediately below it? Not much, just the takeout. Is there an easy sneak? Yes. There's a modest class II sneak right around the whole thing.

So, as you see, there are a lot of possibilities to choose from. You can keep it reasonably mild, or you can choose to bite off a potential big white wipeout with little consequence, or you can go ahead and put yourself in a position where you could take the big swim in Woods Ferry rapid. It's up to you.

Hanley

Short answer, yes. Not only could you, but you'd be better prepared for it the second time around. Also, you could stretch it out if you choose to since there are some good ferry-eddy practise spots and a couple of decent surfing waves, or you could paddle upstream a few hundred yards in the pool at Woods Ferry and kill some time watching for rafts to flip in Julia's Juicer.

Hanley

PS: It's more like 3 miles, rather than under 3 miles.

Hanley

PPS: If no one wants to do the Lower with me, I may cut my marathon short and lap that section with you, just so long as I get my Upper run in.

Lyle, if you day trip either one, let me know. I'm game.

Kim,

I'll let you know as soon as I finalize plans. Scott called and left a message that he is game 4 one of these trips so good lord willing we can all ride together in my car and make one of the runs. I'll finalize plans once I hear what time Hanley is wanting people to meet to put on the H20.

DLM

Okay, so here's what I have so far.
Lyle and Scott are up for one day of paddling, but not two. Upper New or Middle Gauley.

Don Perkins is in for the Upper New and Middle Gauley.

Kim Wildman is up for the Upper New and/or Middle Gauley

Fred is in for the Upper and Lower New and Middle Gauley.

KC Frankenstein is up for the Upper and Lower New and an as-yet-to-be-determined amount of middle or lower Gauley.

Zina weighed in, but has not expressed interest.

Reply here if you're interested and I didn't mention you or if I got your interest wrong.

Hanley

So, we're going to finalize the plan.

There seems to be almost no interest in doing the Lower G on Sunday, so unless new interest emerges, we'll do things this way.

Saturday: Upper New trip combined with Lower New trip.

Since it's bridge day, we'll see what we can do to accommodate Upper New boaters (a raft maybe) on the Lower. The Lower is a great trip and it's nice to boat into Fayette Station and watch the Base Jumpers from below. All the action is at the bottom anyway as they try to hit the landing spot and not the pool below Fayette Station rapid.

Sunday, I sprint down the Upper and meet the rest of the group for a Middle Gauley trip.

I've been thinking about this. Really the only reason we don't want to put our whole group on the full six mile length of the Middle Gauley is Woods Ferry Rapid, and there is actually a portage way over on river left, and it's not a bad portage either. I just hadn't thought about it in years. It's a mostly dirt path and relatively level walking. So, let's plan on having a six-mile middle Gauley trip on Sunday and get an early start back to Lexington.

I want to firm these plans up, so please post back and let me know which sections and days you're interested in.

Hanley

Thanks for putting this together Hanley. I'm interested in day tripping the Upper New. I believe Heather will be day tripping that one also.

Hanley,

Scott and I are 100% in on the New trip on Saturday. Just let us know the official time and location and we will be there ready to hit the water.

As you know I'm certainly the least accomplished boater of the group but I'm completely fine with trying the lower section of the New too provided people don't mind grabbing my boat and paddle in the likely event that I decide to take a refreshing swim. I figure this might help and make it to where a raft isn't needed. Just let me know what's easiest for you and I'm game.

Thanks for putting this together and please let us know if there is anything we can do to help out such as transport gear, etc.

Thanks,

Lyle

I'm still in for Upper New and Middle Gauley. I'm interested in carpooling because I've never been there. If anyone has room, let me know. I can drive, but can only take 1 extra boat on my setup.

Don