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    10 Things Everyone Should Know About the Gauley River Season

    Thursday, August 12th, 2010
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    #10: There are two 12 miles sections of the Gauley River: the Upper & the Lower Gauley.

    #9: The Gauley River is a dam controlled water flow. At Summersville Dam the water is released into the river bed where the rafts put in to start trips.

    #8: Because the water is coming out of the bottom of a lake, it is a little chilly. Wetsuits are usually worn and Songer can rent those to you the morning of the trip.

    Get your fall folige glasses out and use your imagination on how the colors can really pop here in the fall

    #7: The Gauley River Season has crisp, clear water and spectacular fall foliage.  Simply breath taking! We run 8 person or 4 person, High Adventure, rafts on the Gauley. If the scenery doesn’t take your breath away, the whitewater will!

    High Adventure raft dropping Sweets Falls rapid on the Upper section

    #6: The classifications of rapids on the Gauley River extend into the Class 5+ realm. This means this river isn’t your average Class 5 river, there’s a little more to it. More specifically, there is more gradient to the river bed which makes rapids steeper & faster.

    Gauley Season Water Being Released From Summersville Dam

    #5: The water is released for only a few hours each day. So you may get to wondering, “Why the heck do we have to leave so early to raft the Upper Gauley?!” Well, the water is released from 6am-12pm only. You have to catch those 6 hours to get the desired waves. Going to soon or too late and the water falls short.

    #4: “So why the heck do we have to wait until late in the morning to raft the Lower Gauley River sections?” Yes, the water comes out of the dam at 6am, but it must travel 12 miles before it fills in the gaps on the Lower Gauley. That usually takes until 10:30-11:00am each release day. So that’s why your Lower Gauley trips leave Songer between 11:00 & 1:00pm.

    #3: The Upper Gauley recommendation is that everyone in your party has been rafting before. Everyone needs to be familiar with how to sit in the boat, how to paddle & how to swim in whitewater. Bringing first timers to the Upper Gauley usually blows their minds & has them stuck in a trance. Don’t do that to your friends, then may never raft again. If your group needs to split, send those first timers to the Lower Gauley and everyone can meet up after the river trips.

    #2: The Lower Gauley section is a great place for adventurous first timers to start. The age requirement is 12 years or older.

    #1: And the number 1 thing everyone should know about the Gauley River is that is it magical! You won’t be the same person after experiencing Mother Nature’s baptism.  Let the games begin :-)

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    10 Reasons Girls Love Whitewater Rafting

    Monday, July 19th, 2010
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    I have a confession to make—I’ve been having a love affair with whitewater since I was 16 years old, and not just in the New River Gorge.  That’s (gulp) 41 years!  I started on the Youghiogheny River in PA and moved to the New and Gauley River in West Virginia when my babies were 1 and 3 years old.

    As with all affairs of the heart, there are stages and degrees of love.  I’ve watched many people fall under the spell of a whitewater river over and over, though, and it always starts the same way.

    New River Gorge West Virginia

    Here are the top 10 sordid details and excuses most girls will find to take them to the river and (maybe) never leave:

    10.  If you are a raft guide—you don’t have to get a real job.

    9.  You can hang out with your friends and meet the cute raft guides.

    8.  If you started rafting during those college years, the New River has big water thrills (even if you go with your family).

    7.  No phone, fax, or email.  Just you and the water.

    6.   Crashing waves, giant holes, surfing, flipping- everything a girl could want.

    5.  Rush hour is very wet.  No stop lights, taxis or honking horns, but there are a few buses.

    4. Two words: Wild. Life.  I mean, um, wildlife.  One word.  (Sorry, started thinking about my guiding days).

    3. Did I mention the cute guides?

    2. There’s nothing as empowering as conquering a challenge and sharing that experience with your friends.

    1.  It gets in you.  The river is a lover that captures your heart and soul and never lets go.  The feel of moving water, the unsurpassed beauty, they stay with you all your life.

    I’m living proof.  It’s been 41 years, and I’m still in love with the river.

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    “Paddles of the Past” – The History and Culture of West Virginia Whitewater

    Wednesday, March 10th, 2010
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    Remember going to the museum with your family?  Boring and awful?  Just wanted to get back to the swimming pool at the motel?

    Paddling, no matter where, no matter when, is a good thing.

    Paddling, no matter where, no matter when, is a good thing.

    My family (that would be Melanie, Dave and me) went to the WV State Cultural Center on Tuesday for the premier of  a new exhibit,  ‘”Whitewater Rafting:  West Virginia’s Gift to the World”.  It was awsome, really rocked my boat-pun intended!

    The exhibit is full of historical artifacts.  You’ll see the first raft to decend the New River, pictures of two really large inner tubes tied together for the first decent of the Gauley River, and loads of old gear and photos.  Its fascinating on it’s own and the addition of the fim makes the history of whitewater rafing on the New River or Gauley River come alive.  This is not your boring documentary:  It’s full of thrills and spills, great action and poinent moments with raft guides (believe it or not)!

    This film was produced by Eric J Palfrey and scripted by Ben Curnett, both longtime river folk.  (You may know Ben as our writer extradonair.  I think he won an Academy Award or something.)

    Check it out at the Cultural Center in Charleston WV.  It should be there until the end of April with the film running in a continuous loop so you can veiw it anytime.  Their phone number is 304.558.0220, the web site is www.wvculture.org.

    Enjoy!

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    How To Surf West Virginia

    Monday, January 18th, 2010
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    One of our favorite things to do out on the river is surf white water.

    And people who haven’t had the chance to surf West Virginia don’t get it.  That’s understandable.  It’s not something most folks think about.  :-)

    Surf west virginia, y'all!

    Surf west virginia, y'all!

    How in the hell do you surf a raft on a river, anyway?

    Well, that’s what this post is all about, and it starts by understanding one basic principle:

    • Waves in rivers are just like waves in the ocean, except they stay in the same place.

    It makes sense if you think about it.  Otherwise, the rapids would all float away downstream, right?  We all know that an ocean wave rolls in to shore and, along the way, it breaks.  That’s how it works.

    But a river wave never rolls anywhere.  It just sits there, breaking and breaking and breaking (most of them, anyway).

    What we do is paddle into the breaking part of the wave.  With some luck, some good paddling, and some super jedi skill from the guides, we can get the raft to catch the wave, just like a surfboard.

    Once you’re in there, the river does the work.  Water sprays up all around, the boats spin out and do 360′s, and a good time is had by all.  Eventually, the river will spit you out so you can go back and do it again.

    The type of wave we’re talking about here is shaped differently than an ocean wave.  It’s called a hydraulic, or a hole, and actually looks like those breakers on their way in more than those glassy waves you tend to see a little farther from shore.

    Hydraulics can be super powerful.  If you’ve ever seen a river flood, it’s usually the hydraulics that are causing more problems than the currents.

    But the ones we play in are just that- playful.  They grab the boats and give us a ride.  Most of the surf spots appear on the New River later in the summer.  The Gauley river has great surfing year-round.

    And who knows who the first person to paddle a raft back up into a rapid to go surfing?  But God bless ‘em.  Now it’s part of almost every trip we run, and it’s a guest highlight.

    And that’s how we surf West Virginia :-)

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    What’s White Water Rafting Like?

    Wednesday, January 13th, 2010
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    White water rafting is like a wet roller coaster with no seat belt.

    But safer.  And wetter.

    You must be this tall to ride this ride

    You must be at least this tall to ride this ride

    We get asked the “What’s it like?” question a lot.  Even on the river.  “What’s the next rapid like?”

    It’s tougher to give an answer than you might think.  The whitewater experience is a little different every time.  That’s part of the reason it makes it so much fun.

    But the roller coaster comparison is a pretty good one.  We drift right up to the lip of the rapids, big ones like on the New River, or bigger ones like on the Gauley River.  Then, the waves pick us up and we’re on our way.

    Things are pretty fast and furious in the middle of a rapid.  Or at least it seems that way.  The guides are completely (!) aware of what’s going on, even though it seems like the river is crashing all around you (because it is).

    And then calm.  The rivers here in West Virginia are what we call drop/pool whitewater.  It just means that the calm pools are broken up by big rapids.  Or that the big rapids are broken up by calm pools.  However you want to look at it.

    But where the roller coaster analogy really works best is right before the rapids.  As guides, we’ve pretty much lost the butterflies-in-the-stomach nervousness above the rapids (mostly).  But most guests tell us that it’s just like that moment when the coaster is clicking up the first big incline.

    And you hear that chain under you?  That’s like the rapids getting louder.  And the silence there at the top of the hill?  That’s like the moments before you’re paddling, where your guide yells out, “Get ready!  Get ready!” and there’s this long wait (actually about 1/3 of a second) before you dig in.

    And then the waves are like, you know, the rest of the coaster (corkscrews?).

    This is true even on our family trips.  Meaning, even when the rapids are small, kid-sized ones, the excitement factor is the same.  It all depends of the paddler (that’s you).

    And then, of course, when you’re done, you immediately want to do it again.

    Yep.  A big, wet roller coaster is about right.

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    Good Gauley- Thanks To Y’All

    Tuesday, October 13th, 2009
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    airborne at pillow rock

    Pillow Rock

    Gauley season in West Virginia is just about done.  There’s still one more weekend -Bridge Day- which you can book right here.

    And after that?  We’ll we usually do one or two or three trips before the whole thing winds down.

    The Gauley River this year was a blessing.  We had great fun and lots of laughs with our guests, guides, and staff.

    In short, it was awesome.  Here are some of our favorite memories…

    -Headlamps in the morning for those first trips at daybreak.

    -The sound of the horn at the Summersville Dam, telling us (warning us?) that the water is rising!

    -That first wave hitting the boat.  It feels like a prize fight when you suddenly realize, “Hey, I’m in the ring!”

    -Gauley Fog.  n othing better than comming around a bend and not seeing the rapid you hear.

    -Pillow Rock.  Pillow Rock.  Pillow Rock.

    -Lunch out on the river.  Blue skies, good friends, eats.

    -The smell of woodsmoke in the mountains.

    -Leaves turning.  Nothing looks better this time of year.

    -The scene at Sweet’s Falls.  And can I just say that Songer OWNS the box canyon?

    -Great, great parties in the highwater lounge.  All the music and dancing we could handle for a season.

    -Hearing Gauley stories from young and old, virgin and veteran, friends from the past and faces fresh this season.

    We just want to take a moment to say thanks.  Y’all are the best.

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    3 Days: Best Things To Do During Gauley Season (When The Gauley River Isn’t Running)

    Tuesday, September 29th, 2009
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    West Virginia’s Gauley River (or as we like to call it, our backyard) is a fickle beast.  All year, we wait, salivating, for Autumn, when the Gauley Starts to roar.disc golf, baby

    And it does.  For four days (Friday through Monday) every week until late October.  Rockin’, right?

    Well, that leaves three days each week when the river is- yep- dry.  Not bone dry; there’s enough water for the fish.  But you can pretty much forget about Gauley rafting every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday during Gauley season.

    How does it work?  The Army Corps of Engineers uses a little device called the Summersville Dam to cut the water on and off like a faucet.  It’s actually kind of a good thing.  If it weren’t for the dam, we wouldn’t be rafting at all in the fall.

    But still.  That leaves us with three whole days to fill.  So what do we do?

    Go Rafting We’re lucky.  We have this whole other river called the New River where we are.  You may have heard of it.  Class V rapids?  Big Ol’ Bridge?  Yes, THAT one.  It’s still running.  So we get out on it whenever people want to go.  A good way to do it is to bookend your Gauley trip with a trip on the New.

    Hit Up Some Other Activities We’ve got a lot of what I like to call, “Activities”.  Horseback riding?  Activity.  ATVs?  Activity.  Mountain Biking?  Climbing?  Activity.  Sitting around in the hot tub and watching movies in the cabin?  Around here, that’s an activity.

    Chill Say you go down the Gauley on a Monday, and you want to stick around on Tuesday.  Here’s what you do:  Nuthin’.  Go for a walk.  Shop.  Eat at four or five or six different restaurants.  Lots and lots and lots of disc golf (our personal fav).  Do it up, but, you know, relax.

    Travel Did you know that West Virginia is one of the coolest places in the world?  A good way to find out is to grab a map and go.  After all, you’ve got three days.  There are literally as many places to go as there are places to be, so don’t hesitate.  Just get rolling.

    What would you do with three days off?

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    How To Tell You’re Rafting On The Gauley River

    Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009
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    We’re right smack dab in the middle of Gauley Season, y’all.  All the out-of-towners have descended on West Virginia and the New River Gorge, the water is flowing, and we’ve been going big.where we start

    So, how, exactly, do you know that you’re on the Gauley?  Well, as someone who’s had an ongoing love affair with the river for twenty years (y’all know what I’m talkin’ ’bout), I’ve got a couple of ideas.

    First, and maybe foremost, is the smell. No, not neoprene.   The Gauley has a pleasant, earthy smell all around it.  It’s sublte, but it’s there.  And it’s said that smell is the strongest sense.  When it’s Gauley season, that sweet river-y smell fills your nose (hopefully not w direct contact with the water).  The air is crisp and fall-like.  Take a whiff, and you know what time it is.

    Then there are the sights. The leaves change during Gauley Season.  So there you are in the middle of the Appalachians in this truly majestic river gorge, and it’s all yellow and red and gold and everything.  Awesome.

    Finally, the sounds of Gauley, like this one: “Forward, paddle forward, I SAID PADDLE FORWARD!  PADDLE, YOU MAGGOTS!”  There’s always the rumble of rapids, because there are so many of them.  And also there’s, y’know, lots of roller-coaster-type screaming going on.

    But the best sound of Gauley Season is the blast of the horn each morning.  That’s the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers telling us that the water is coming out of the dam… get ready.

    Gauley.  It’s finally here.  You can just tell.

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    How To Choose The Right Gauley River Rafting Trip

    Tuesday, September 8th, 2009
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    Thinking about rafting the Gauley River?  In this post, I’m going to tell about 4 different river trips for Gauley Season, and explain which trips are right for you.

    It looks like this, but in a raft

    It looks like this, but in a raft

    Because I know what you want better than you do.  It ain’t my first rodeo.

    The Lower Gauley
    This one is what you could consider “tame” if it didn’t rock so hard.  Just because the lower isn’t littered with Class V rapids doesn’t mean it’s not loaded with awesomeness.  The rapids aren’t small- they’re just not as big as the upper.  If you want to step up your game, but aren’t ready for giant steps, choose the lower.

    The lower is right for you if…
    -You want to take it one rapid at a time before the river tries any funny stuff.

    The Upper Gauley
    It’s a big as big gets.  It’s not the most dangerous or the most difficult in the world, but it’s probably the most fun.  It’s a single day adventure on one of the greatest stretches of whitewater in the universe.  This trip is what Gauley Season is all about.

    The upper is right for you if…
    -You look at a big ol’ honkin’ rapid, and you’re like, “Hey bud- let’s party!”.

    The Gauley Marathon
    The Gauley has two sections, as mentioned above- the upper and the lower.  Usually, folks choose either/or.  But a few adrenaline nuts do it all in one day.  It’s called the marathon for a reason:  the trip is 26 miles long, with more than 100 rapids.  It’s the goods.

    The Gauley Marathon is right for you if…
    -You think Navy SEAL training looks like a great time.

    The Gauley Double Upper
    The Upper Gauley has 5 class V rapids on it (known as the Big Five).  On the double, we get out right below the last one, then head to the top to do it again.  This one is a no holds barred, white knuckle assault.  Best hang on, y’all.

    The Gauley Double Upper is right for you if…
    -You watch MMA matches and think, “Man, I’d be great at that.”

    Choosing the right trip is an exercise in being honest with yourself.  Remember, the most important thing about choosing a Gauley trip is to pick the one that you’ll have the most fun on.  It’s all about having a good time.

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    The 10 Best Things About Gauley Season

    Friday, September 4th, 2009
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    Alright, the countdown has started, y’all.  In one week, we’ll be rafting the sweet, sweet white water of West Virginia’s one and only Gauley River.  Woot!

    In honor of the countdown, I thought we’d go ahead and post the 10 best things about Gauley Season.  Now, lots of people have lots of ideas about “the best” things about the Gauley.  But I just want everyone to know that these are the real 10 best, so please make sure that your list matches mine.  O.K.?  Great.

    Here we go…

    10.  Fog First off, not everyone gets to experience the fog on the Gauley.  It’s a treat reserved for early risers only, because the fog usually burns off when the sun comes over the gorge.  But for those masochists… um, I mean, fluffy morning bunnies who get out on the water early, rafting in the the thick fog is a special treat.  There’s not much that’s more exciting than paddling blindly over the lip of a ledge into white nothingness, when it sounds like there’s a train wreck going on right below you.  Cool.

    9.  All of the rapids that aren’t the big 5 The big five rapids on the Gauley (in order- Insignificant, Pillow Rock, Lost Paddle, Iron Ring, and Sweet’s Falls) are all very, very fun.  But what about all those rapids in between?  There are crushing hits and killer surfs all along the way, so don’t neglect the in-between-o stuff.

    8.  The first big wave of the day When that first wave smacks you upside the head (that’d be Entrance rapid for the Upper section, Ender Waves rapid for the Lower section)you’re going to wake right up, guaranteed.  It’s better than coffee.

    7.  Autumn Some people call it Fall.  Whatever.  You know what I’m sayin’.  There’s just something about this time of year that will always mean a combination of crisp blue days, raging whitewater, and plenty of awesome.  It may be “football season” to you now, but once you run the river, you’ll never feel the same way about it.

    6.  The Animal Race/Gauley Fest Say what you want about Gauley Fest- it definitely ups the entertainment factor on the river.  There are so many first timers on the river that weekend (it’s always the third weekend of Gauley Season), you’re bound to see someone do something… shall we say, interesting?  Plus the festival is a huge fundraiser for protecting whitewater rivers.  Plus plus the Monday Animal race is a Nascar start.  Wicked, as our friends from down east might say.

    5.  Talented/Funny/Ridiculous Raft Guides Whitewater season is pretty much shut down everywhere else in the country, so the entire guiding community descends on West Virginia.  The population (and the tye-die ratio) tends to double around the river this time of year.  I’ve met some of the coolest people I know because they were Gauley Season guides (heck, I was a Gauley Season guide that first year- then I had to move here).  And they provide for some great stories.

    4.  Pillow Rock ‘Nuff said.

    3.  Gauley Parties Gauley Season is nothing if not a party, y’all.  We party out on the river, back at base, and all over the gorge during Gauley.  It’s the last fling of the year, not to mention a huge reunion.  Long loved guests, guides, and pretty much everyone in between comes in to town for the waves, the barbecues, the music, and the scene in general.  It’s an easy place to make new friends- we’ve got longtime guests who come for the same trip each year because they met each other on the trip.  When we say that a good time will be had by all, we mean everybody.

    2.  Going Big Okay, going big is not exclusive to Gauley Season, but it is what Gauley Season is all about.  The way the rapids are, you’re best option is ALWAYS to point the raft at the largest wave you see and go big.  And the people that come to raft the Gauley are all for going big.  And, of course, we’re all for going big.  It’s just that time of year.  Nothing can stop it.  Go Big, Or Go Somewhere That’s Not Here! (just kidding- we really want all of you to come here, but you will at least have to go medium).

    1. The  Sweet’s Falls Coliseum I don’t think I’m the first person to call it a coliseum, but let’s just put it this way:  If you’re above the falls, paddling toward the lip, and everyone starts cheering… you’re about to do something very special.  It’s an audience, a picnic, and kind of a mob all at the same time.  And the best part is, once you’re finished being the show, you get to sit back and watch as boat after boat lines up for their fate.  I’ve been rafting in a whole lot of places, and I’m here to tell you- there’s nothing else like it.  Anywhere.  Ever.

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