Okay. I'm going to try to squeeze a lot in to one weekend. The last weekend of releases on the Gauley are the weekend after this one, the 17th and 18th. Unlike other Gauley weekends, there will be no Friday or Monday releases. Additionally, Bridge Day will overlap Gauley Season this year, falling on Saturday the 17th.

Bridge Day, for the uninitiated, is the day that Fayetteville closes one side of the New River Bridge to cars and allows foot traffic and base jumping. It's a huge event, attracting 80,000 spectators and hundreds of base jumpers. The New River is, however, underboated on Bridge Day because of the lack of access to the takeout. This problem, however, can be circumvented by someone with a little knowledge and some connections.

So, my plan is to work around what others want to do, but basically to do some section of the New on Saturday and then do the Gauley on Sunday. If any of our relatively new boaters want to do the Upper New on Saturday, then let's do it. If any of the more advanced crowd want to do the Lower New and gawk at the Base Jumpers below Fayette Station, then let's do that. If there are folks from both camps wanting to boat on Saturday, we can easily do both.

Sunday I'm going to do a marathon on the Gauley and get my time in on the Upper since I've been unable to make it up there yet this year. Anyone interested in doing the Upper, the Middle or the Lower Gauley post here. Since I'll be passing through all three sections it is possible to accommodate anyone who wishes to do any of these sections. First timers are welcome, but don't expect extensive scouting time to be taken. A marathon is a long day if you linger.

So, post here if any or all of the above interests you or if you want more information about the sections in question. We've got a week ten days to plan, but I'd like to firm-up plans by this time next week.

Hanley

TRR crowd. I haven't boated with Ben lately so I don't know exactly where he is, but I'm sure he's up for at least the Upper New and some section of the Middle Gauley, possibly the Lower New if the water level was right, but I don't really know. In any case, I had mentioned getting him (and of course, anyone else wanting to go) out to the New this fall, so this is our chance.

Takeout at Cunard is less than ideal from a handicap perspective, but there are a couple of alternatives, including ACE Whitewater's access point on River Right across from Cunard, or possibly extending the run to just below Lower Railroad Rapid where there is closer road access and less gradient, but not a developed access point. This would involve an extra mile of paddling and a couple of bigger (but very do-able) rapids. Also, I have some contacts in the NPS down there and I bet they'd help us out. Anyone interested?

Hanley

Hanley,

What is the run like on the Upper New and what type of skill level do you need to be at? Also, what time are you looking at having people meet up/put on the Upper New (provided a group of people decide to do this run)?

Like yourself, I'm trying to fit in a lot of different things that weekend as the 17th and 18th mark one of the absolute biggest holidays of the year for us eastern Kentucky folk as it marks the opening weekend of muzzeloader season for deer. I'm hoping to hunt bambi and also boat on the 17th so trying to figure out the timing of everything to see if its possible to fit it all in.

Thanks for any info.

Lyle

I'm ready to try an easy class III, and everyone I've talked to says Upper New is a good one, so I'm interested in it. Gauley, even the Middle, may be above my abilities.

Don

When you say Upper New, you're talking about Thurmond to Cunard, correct? Glade Creek to Grandview is a nice class II- II+ section also.

Yes, I'm talking about Thurmond to Cunard. It makes more sense logistically if we want to pair up an Upper New trip with a Lower New trip. However, if no one wants to do the Lower New, we may change plans around.

Don, Lyle and those whom it may concern:

The New is a big, wide open, high volume river. Virtually no technicality to speak of on the Upper. The Upper New is very spread out, even at relatively high water, so it makes for a bit of a lazy paddle. The rapids will have (relatively) big rolling waves in them, but are (for the most part) very straight forward and consequence free. The exception is Surprise Rapid which is generally considered to be the only genuine class III on the section (and some would debate that). Nothing technical, just a wide open wave train leading down to a big wave hole and a wash out into a big deep pool. Even if you totally wipe out, you have a mile to recover, literally.

The main thing to consider here is that the New is in totally different character than something like the Elkhorn. Low water on the New is 2600 CFS (Zero on the foot gauge), which is about full release on the Gauley. 10,000 CFS on the New is just getting warmed up. They don't even stop running rafts on the Gorge there until 42,000. Basically the whole scale of the riverbed is totally out of proportion to anything you're likely to have seen so far, but that doesn't mean you have to fear it. Most people think that big water is easy once they've done it a few times. At first it can be disorienting because the water pulses and surges irregularly. The kinds of precise moves that are usual on smaller water are much more difficult, but rarely necessary. Even on the Lower New you can slop through most rapids with 10 feet of leeway on either side of your boat.

So, even if your skills aren't very well developed, the Upper New is fairly forgiving and will give you a taste of something completely different than anything you're likely to have encountered so far. If the New is running low, then the Lower New becomes very accessable for most boaters with a roll and a reasonable amount of comfort in their boat. Of course I don't know what the water level's going to be, but we'll have a pretty good idea by this time next week.

Hanley

Actually, the second half of the Middle Gauley run is easily accessable for most class II boaters. It's a short run (3 miles) with very little real maneuvering involved. There are some biggish waves, a couple of mild playspots, and a big honkin' rapid at the end with a nice cheat route around it if you're not feeling froggy. So, if you're up for the Upper New on Saturday, you're probably good to go for the second half of the Middle Gauley on Sunday.

Hanley



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/12/2009 02:23PM by hanleyk1.

I'm nibbling at this bait. I can see doing the upper and lower New and the middle Gauley but I'm flexible.

Fred

Thanks for the info Hanley. Definitely want to make one of these runs. I'll watch on here to get the details as the plans finalize.

Scott, let me know if your interested in doing one of these runs and we can make a day trip out of it. We survived the Lower G with Hanley serving as a trusted raft guide so I'm 100% positive we can survive the middle section of the Lower G in boats with him at the helm. My good friend I say we seize the day and hit it wide open!

DLM

Could some of us do the 2nd half of Middle Gauley on our own after seeing it once? Less than 3 mi. sounds like it would be over pretty quick.

Don