Gauley 2011 Trip

Two weeks ago I received a phone call as I was heading down for a Saturday night cape run. On the other line was Rick letting me know that once again I had a spot on the Gauley overnight trip. WOW! Last year was a blast and this year was even better. 

The trip started off by leaving St. Louis Thursday night with The Upper Yough in our sights; there was a scheduled release for Friday. After driving til about 2am we called it a night, we still had another 3 hour drive in the morning. We left St. Louis with blue skies and warm weather and woke up to cloudy and cold. 

Slim getting his Boof on at National

As we pulled up to the take out, there were only a few cars, and the wind had picked up. It was going to be a cold day on the river, but a much better day then teaching back in the lou. Having never been on the Upper Yough, I found it to be a lot of fun. Once the rapids started they seem to continue throughout the whole river. This will be another river to hit up during the summer. 

Gauley Dam 3200Cfs

After paddling all day we headed to outback for a man’s meal and after a couple of drinks, head to the Gauley. It was now raining and cold; we were all tired and decided to get a hotel for the night, what a great choice. In the morning we meet up with Steve for breakfast, traded Dustin for  Alex and headed to the upper G. The overnight is a long process because we have to haul and pack the rafts at the put in, plus the shuttle takes a little over an hour to set. 

Overall the trip was great, more water than normal, at 3200Cfs. It did rain all Saturday and Saturday night but we made the best of it. We ate and drink like kings. 

Here is a little video of the trip, I had more footage but after Pure Screaming Hell on the lower I decided I didn’t like the camera anymore and dropped it in the river, and took a little swim(to clean my boat of course,lol). Needless to say GoPro’s do not float. The Russell fork is this coming this weekend, so stay tuned for some creekin’ footage. Enjoy til next time.

Gauley 2011 from Curtis Ahlers on Vimeo.