Jbob and I would like to go back to West Virginia to run the regular New River.

I think it would be great if we had a group of "old school" boats, kinda like the Shriners except different hats and not so nice to kids.

Would anyone be interested? I am only kinda kidding about the old boats.

elizabeth

859-519-6828
edecker28@gmail.com

I don't know, I kind of like that idea. Anybody got a mirage I can borrow?

Hanley

I don't know if I can go that far back! I can't even find a pic on the world wide web.
I do have a XXX, an Ultrafuge and a Savage Fury if you want (like I said earlier about my serious problem).
Jbob may let you use his Ace if you can. Zach May is now sporting a bombpop Y!

I may even have raft spots. I will know later.

slicey boats rule,
e

HA! Old school boats. My RPM is older than those boats! Wait, oh...

Never mind.

Hanley

There was a Mirage standing in the back of Rock Creek at the Ocoee store last time I was there. Somewhere I have a slide of my old buddy Eric Gilbert doing a perfect boof in one at Sock em Dog. I think it would be a great modern race boat for some runs. Definitely faster than my Dancer. Hanley, what would be the perfect water flow range for a squirt boat trip to the NRG? Don't want any scratches and want to live through the experience... I'm way out of squirt practice ... just thinkin an old school squirt trip somewhere would be fun too.
Wes

I'm always suprised more people don't paddle the NRG, especially at levels it's at right now. Above 2.5 ft it's pretty amazing run. we are heading to the russell fork or I would paddle it this wknd.

Most people squirt the New when it's fairly low. Actually, there's a four-wheel road that comes most of the way in to the Halls of Karma below Lower Keeney and lots of squirt boaters drive in and congregate there in the summer when it's below zero.

Zero to negative one foot is probably pretty good for general squirting, especially for someone like you or I who's out of practice. As far as scratching your boat up goes, well, it's the New. You can get down the whole river without touching a rock at those levels, but you do have to know something about where those rocks are.

Hanley

Gotta agree Matt. The New is an amazing place at these water levels (jumping around between 8 and 9 thousand. Punchy, with lots of awesome surfing opportunities, wide open, big, just awesome to run.

There are a few big holes you really need to watch out for, but just a few and if you have any familiarity with the river at all they're pretty easy to stay away from.

Y'all have fun now.

Hanley

This was lots of fun. We managed to hook up with a shuttle last minute and even find some guides!

What a fun run. The waves at Fayette Station rapid were the biggest I have ever seen. There were some killer playspots, the weather was warm and the rapids were big fun. I didn't think this was much more difficult than the Lower Gauley.

Here are some pics:

[picasaweb.google.com]

I wouldn't mind going back this week if nothing better happens. We will need to take 2 vehicles probably!

If a low water Russel Fork trip is happening, I would love to go.

cya,

elizabeth

Yeah, so it looks like you guys got about 4 feet of water. That's a fantastic level. Despite the user friendliness of that water level, it's actually close to as tough as the New gets, depending of course on your perspective.

For years living and working there I used to say (and hear from almost everyone else up there) that 5 to 5 1/2 feet is as tough as the New gets. At those levels the waves are breaking hard, there's lots of backwash on everything and plenty of push. As it get higher though, the New tends to wash out a lot. The waves get bigger, the eddy monsters get mean, but the main channel of the river turns into one big flush with just a few really monster sized holes to avoid and miles of room to set up for them and avoid them. The waves in Fayette station keep getting bigger, but a lot of the punch is gone.

Glad you had such a good time. Wish I could have been there.

Hanley