and is there any way to know if they will plan on doing so through the weekend?

Cheoah sounds great too, just looking at other options!

e

The Gauley is blowing out the doors right now with 6000 and change out of the dam and just under 900 out of the Meadow. I wouldn't expect these levels to hold, but I'd expect good water on the Gauley this weekend. Target levels for November are 1100 CFS, which is a great level on the Upper, but too low for the Lower IMHO. Actual levels are anybody's guess, but if I were a betting man, I'd put money down at 2 to 1 on 2000 or better out of the dam and 2500 or better combined flow this weekend.

If these levels were to hold, (six or seven thousand) I would strongly suggest you at least consider doing a Lower Gauley run. Epic, yet very manageable. Stay out of the gi-normous hole at the bottom of Heaven's Gates (go far left or far right) and watch out for the big hole that's developing near the bottom of Canyon Doors, but expect Koontz's Flume and Hell Hole to largely wash out and for all kinds of nice big surfing waves to develop. It'll be different, and it will have more of the pulse-y, surge-y, squirrelly feel of big water, but other than that it isn't really much more difficult than regular release levels.

The Upper really beefs up with this much water. Beware the hole behind Volkswagen Rock at Pillow. Expect more chaos than usual in Lost Paddle and don't stray too far right at Sweets. The Energizer hole at Sweets is in the same place it always is, but the hole itself is much more vicious. Dildo Rock on the other hand is practically a non-factor.

Lots of that stuff gets really flushy, but the squirrelly, munchy areas (like the pop-up eddy below Tumble Home) get really munchy. Beware the eddy lines.

The bottom of Iron Ring washes out, but the top wave-hole beefs up and can flip rafts at this level. Line is about the same and the weak spot is in the same place with a nice tongue.

The hole at the top of Insignificant is beefier, but fluffier. Still a good one to avoid.

So, in summation, yes, the Gauley is happening. There's no good way to predict exactly what they'll be dishing out this weekend, but the current conditions indicate that it will be very nice. If you want to do it, go do it. You'll be glad you did.

Hanley

E.,

You might try the Summersville Dam release telephone recording for scheduled flows. TVA updates everyday b 8:00 AM on release flows for each day.

304-872-5809

YT

Yeah, but TVA is not the Army Core of Engineers. You can call the Summersville dam, they'll talk to you and you may be able to get an idea of what they intend to do that day, but that's about the most you can expect to get from them and you shouldn't count on what they tell you. Generally you're better off just looking at the factors, and the factors indicate good flow through the weekend.

Hanley

Gotta agree with Hanley on calling the Summerville dam for levels - the recording will only tell you the present release and lake status.

One other factor that I find a good indicator of predicting Gauley flow is the upstream gauge at Craigsville

[waterdata.usgs.gov]

Once either winter or summer pool targets for the lake are attained you can reliably expect that the cfs going into the lake from Craigsville is what's released out of the dam. Summersville Lake is 28 feet below summer pool right now but it's been so wet that I'm not sure that they have actually reached winter pool yet - hence the higher than Craigsville release happening currently.

[www.lrh-wc.usace.army.mil]

What this indicates to me is that they will probably continue to release more water than Craigsville is putting in for several more days. Just fyi -outflow temp is 46 deg. Brrrrrr!
barryg

The other factor is November is that "filming" season, right?

So they could feasible dial in whatever flow they desired if there was some appointment independent of what might be coming in.

I don't really understand the filming release deal, though. If for tourism videos, seems like once you have one you wouldn't need to upgrade it every year.

The usual pattern in November is the normal 1100/1200 cfs "filming" release and whatever is coming in from Craigville on the Top Gauley. For the Lower, figure 1100 + Craigsville + the Meadow and it will be pretty close.

I will have to disagree with Hanley. 1200 to 1500 cfs is fine for the Lower. Drops the difficulty level to Middle Ocoee level. The flat water is flat at 1200 and you need to leave yourself enough time to paddle out.

When the lake is at winter pool, the releases are generally the same as the Craigsville gauge unless they have gotten hammered.

Larry Cable

Gotta use your glasses when you read those posts Larry. What I actually said was:

>>Target levels for November are 1100 CFS, which is a
>>great level on the Upper, but too low for the Lower IMHO.

So we're in agreement. I've done the Lower around 1100-1200. It's okay, but way too slow and long. The flatwater is scary heinous. (gives me chills just thinking about it).

Hanley

Currently there are no filming releases scheduled. There are a lot of different reasons why rafting companies and tourism organizations might need to shoot new footage any given year, but I think they're hoping to attract professional film crews as well. WV will do anything to squeeze a little extra dough into the local economy, and how many locations are there to shoot your epic whitewater film where you can control the river? Hollywood, are you listening?

Hanley

Thanks for the very useful info!!

What a great resource you all are. I don't know how else I would of gotten this beta so easily.

Jbob and I do love the Gauley...hopefully this winter we will be able to do some winter boating there. With the pop up trailer we were able to camp very comfortably in the cold and it sleeps quite a few! New River Dries here we come!

I thinks we may be on the Cheoah camp this weekend and will be looking for some guides for Jbob's and my second trip on it. I will post on the other thread about camping suggestions for the area.

The paddle out of the lower at 1200 sounds very icky, I agree.

Looking forward,

e