Before I started riding with you guys back in the early 2000s, I would take solo trips to raft. I started on the New River and over the years worked my way up to the Gauley. I went the weekend after Labor Day during Gauley season when they released water from the Summersville Dam. On my way back home, I would spend a night in Marietta – the weekend of the Sternwheel festival (what a hoot!).
I went with Ace Adventures and when doing the Gauley would always get the same guide. I liked him, but he was a mean SOB yelling at you profusely if you didn’t do exactly what he would tell you to do. Our trips down the Gauley were special. The adrenaline rush of the rapid followed by still waters and stories about the river.
My last and final visit to the area I didn’t get my regular guide, but some lunatic who supposedly traveled the world doing the great rapids (The upper Gauley is 7th in the world). Short story, I got dumped in a class 4. THAT WAS NOT FUN! Aside from the bruises, I was okay. Lesson learned, I just didn’t realize how dangerous this sport was until coming face-to-face with it.
