The Upper Gauley is the most fun you can have on a rafting trip.
There. I said it. You can do rivers that are steeper. You can do rivers that are bigger. You can certainly do rivers that are more dangerous. But you can’t find a one day whitewater trip that’s more fun. Sorry ’bout your luck.
Rafting. Rocks.
What makes it that way? A lot of stuff. Your guides. The people in your boat. Sometimes the fog (!).
For a lot of people, what makes the Gauley so much fun are The Big Five- five class V rapids that define the experience in some way for everyone who’s ever said, “I Did The Upper G.” They are: Insignificant, Pillow Rock, Lost Paddle, Iron Ring, and Sweet’s Falls.
This post is going to give a brief overview of what’s happening in each rapid. If you really want to get an idea of what’s going on down there in that thundering gorge that we call our backyard, you have to go see for yourself.
Insignificant
This is the first really big rapid that you come to, and it has some things in it that are typical of the class V rapids on the Gauley. There’s a technical entrance with some maneuvering to do, there are undercut rocks, there are huge holes (read: recirculating waves), and there’s something you must avoid. What you’re trying to avoid in insignificant is called The Pourover.
The Pourover is right in the middle of where you want to go. You can go to the left (fun), or you can go to the right (funner), but you can’t go straight. If you do, and you’re sitting in front, expect your guide to be sitting next to you in about .00235 seconds. After that, all bets are off.
Insignificant is a blast. After you clear The Pourover, there’s a long series of big waves and holes that lead out to the end of the rapid. Paddle hard, keep going, and then keep going some more. At the bottom, high five each other. One down, four to go.
Pillow Rock
There’s nothing in the world quite like Pillow Rock. It’s what you might have pictured in your head if you were an ancient explorer, and your map showed you where the world ended. Pillow drops 50 feet in 50 yards, and it’s more like a roller coaster than a rapid.
It’s named for a house sized boulder on the left side of the river. All of the water in the gorge slams into the front of it, drops steeply off the corner, down through the Toilet Bowl, and up again onto another rock called Volkswagon. All you have to do is paddle the raft down the raging waters through the entrance, up past the rock (style points if you can touch it with your paddle), and down to the bottom. Easy, right?
Maybe so, maybe not. You want to get the boat way up on the pillow of water created by the rock (hence the name), but if you get too far… into the toilet bowl you go. Pillow is always, always an exciting time. Best of luck.
Lost Paddle
A quarter mile long class V rapid with 4 separate drops? That’s the best way to describe Lost Paddle, because you’re going too fast to get very specific about anything. Sit down, shut up, tighten your chinstrap, and paddle hard. That’s the only way to get through.
Right in the middle of Lost Paddle is the Hawaii Five-O wave. It’s hard to say exactly how big the wave is, but it’s been filmed on more than one occasion. When you hit it, you’ll know: This is what you came for.
The last part of Lost Paddle is called Tumble Home. There are a few different ways to go here, all of them fun, challenging, and filled with steep drops and big waves.
Iron Ring
Iron Ring was named for a large eye bolt driven into the rock right next to the rapid (since stolen). The water all gets pushed to the left side of the river, and then drops over two distinct ledges. Line up and go, because Iron Ring is one of the best rapids you’ll ever do.
There’s a trick to Iron ring: at the top you want to go to the right very aggressively, so use some marker waves to guide you. Just get on the right corner of those waves and WHAM, WHAM two big hits later, you’re golden.
Sweet’s Falls
It was once called the Dragon’s back, before anyone ever ran it. 14 feet of falling water, with some cross currents and odd rocks poking out here and there to make things interesting. It took Pennsylvania kayaker John Sweet to be the first to go. The rest is history.
There are tons and tons of great stories about Sweet’s, and all of them are worth hearing. It boils down to this: don’t go too far right, and don’t go too far left. Just like bowling, stay nice and steady in the lane with just a little kick at the bottom. In theory.
Below Sweet’s is the one, the only, the famous Box Canyon. More rock than water, the box is a great place to put on a show for the crowd that’s gathered at the falls. Just remember one thing: smile for the cameras.
That’s pretty much it. The Gauley has tons and tons of rapids in between these ones, so by no means should you think that these are the only rapids worth mentioning. It’s just that these are the Big Five, and the deserve a little special recognition. Have any good stories from the big 5? Please, share.
