The Secret Gauley Season Every Rafter Should Know About

Here is the deal on the Gauley:  It runs all the time.  Even in summer (the secret season).

That means, of course, that we run it all the time, too.  Here are some quick tips on summer gauley (the secret season), and how to get your smack down when the surf’s up.

• -Fall Gauley season (the famous season) comes when the Army Corps of Engineers start to drain Summersville Lake for winter.   During the summer (the bet-you-wish-you-knew-about-it season), the Corps will release water anytime they have extra water in the lake.  For us, that means it’s bidness time.

• -The Summersville Dam also releases water to create hydroelectricity.  That’s just a little bit of extra flow for all the whitewater enthusiasts out there.  We’re all about some extra flow in the summer (the aw-yeah-it’s-time-to-go-big season).

• -No on knows for sure how much water will be in the Gauley in the summer season (the have-the-whole-river-to-yourself season) until the day of the trip. In other words, the only time there’s a schedule for release is in the fall (the everyone-already-knows-about-it-season).

• -No one does Gauley rafting trips in the winter (the ridiculously cold season).

• -We’re the closest outfitter to the Gauley (every season).
  

• -Gauley trips in the summer (the super-awesome-book-a-trip-right-now season) go to whatever section is right for the water level.  We also take whatever boats are right- regular rafts for big water, high adventure rafts for normal release, and even duckies for low flows.  Whatever the river gives us, we roll right along with it.
  

• -The only time we can’t run the Gauley is if it is too high, which, in technical terms, is really really freakin’ high (the please-please-please-please-please-don’t-crash season).  If it’s low, we take duckies- remember, if you get into a boat that’s half the size, the whitewater is twice as big
  

• -The Gauley in the summer (the like-rafting-on-fantasy-island season) has crisp clear water to offset those wonderfully hot days.  Between rapids, we lounge, swim, picnic, and play it cool.
  

• -You should check out the Gauley this summer (the we-hope-to-see-you-real-soon season).