Ray's Campground (Hico, WV)
New River Gorge
First – Get EXCITED, and commence rain dances or whatever other rituals you may have for making it rain more between now and the trip time. But don’t sign up till you READ THE WHOLE DESCRIPTION.
Second – YOU MUST KNOW HOW TO SWIM TO COME ON THIS TRIP! And be prepared to possibly be thrown out of the raft and have to swim through rapids and dodge other river features.
Caution – Whitewater rafting is a gateway drug to whitewater kayaking, which is quite possibly the most addictive sport ever 😉
THE TRIP:
This is NOT a commercial trip… One of my paddling clubs rents out their rafts at a nominal per-person/per-day rate, and rental comes with a volunteer guide. So given that most people reading this are on a college budget and outdoorsy, this should be somewhat more appealing than a commercial trip.
For those who have previous commercial experience, this trip will be MISSING: strict timetables, fancy lunches, riverside port-a-pots, and a long bus ride. Otherwise the river experience is about the same complete with random river trivia, WV jokes and Deliverance references.
THE RIVER:
We’ll most likely be paddling the New River Gorge. Commercial raft guides will tell you that this is a Class V river at some levels, kayakers (me) will tell you it’s a Class IV. Either way, it’s a sweet classic run with enough excitement for everyone! Previous rafting experience is not required, but participants should be in reasonable shape AND KNOW HOW TO SWIM. Read more about the river here: http://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/River/detail/id/2418/
Schedule / Plan / Availability:
I’m just going to create one trip for this adventure and everyone who wishes to raft at some point over the weekend should sign up. For the moment, I’ve only secured one guide, and a raft that can accommodate 6+ passengers on both Saturday 9/3 and Sunday 9/4.
SO – I’m setting the initial trip size to 12. 6 passengers will go on Saturday 9/3, and 6 more on Sunday 9/4 one or two extras may be added if space permits. We’ll have an informal meeting at the campsite either the night before, or early morning of to determine who goes on what day. I’m hoping that not everyone wants to go on the same day and yall can work this out amongst yourselves, but as a last resort I’ll use the signup order to determine who gets their day preference – indicate preference in the Q&A section of the trip.
If there’s a huge demand, I’ll attempt to get additional guides, so sign up anyways and don’t get discouraged by the waitlist. (SIGN UP AND PAY EARLY SO THAT CAN TRY AND GET MORE GUIDES/RAFTS IF NEEDED!) If by chance there’s any raft guides out there that want to make use of their skills for this trip – hit me up so that I can expand it! And if you are waitlisted and already coming on Dave Clark’s NRG trip anyways, bring the $ with you and you might be able to jump on someone’s raft at the last minute.
THE MONEY:
The cost for this trip will be $50 per-person and that includes raft and equipment rental fees plus some gratuity for the guide (still less than half of a commercial trip). I need to collect this prior to the trip so that I know that everyone is committed to this trip! SO if you are one of the ones that gets joined to this trip, you are expected to actually raft on either day, and pay me by 8/31/11 (SO THAT MEANS SIGN UP NOW!). If I don’t have any $ from you by 11PM on 8/31/11 I’m going to put you on the waitlist and let the next person off the list. People who get joined after the deadline will have some additional time to pay.
In the unlikely event that the trip gets canceled on either day (due to guide/equipment unavailability, unsafe river conditions, etc) those who did not get to go will be refunded in full. You may also “sell” your spot to the next waitlisted member the day of the trip if you decide you want to do some other activity that day.
The fee is per day – so if you want to attempt to go more than once – bring extra $ but for now I’m guessing we will only have the resources to accommodate one trip per person over the weekend.
Here’s how you can “SHOW ME THE MONEY”
By Check – (made out to me). Snail mail it, drop it off at my house, or come hunt me down. If snail mailing make sure it will be delivered by 8/31 or else…
By PayPal (I can accept cards if you add 3% – I’ll send separate details if you elect PayPal method)
By Cash – I’ll try and make it to a late gear room to collect in person, or you can come hunt me down somewhere in cville.
Indicate in the Q&A section how you intend to show me the $.
And last but not least – be prepared to sign a standard liability waiver from the club that’s furnishing the raft – details later.
What else to bring to the river:
Any special medications etc that you may require while on the river.
Sign up for Dave Clark’s NRG trip to get your river lunch/snacks funded. We will have “drybags” for those.
Bathing Suit
Footwear that will not come off should you swim.
Sunblock
If you get cold very easily – non cotton layers – Water will still be in 80’s, thou it may rain while on the river.
If applicable – something to prevent your glasses from falling off!
Towel/ Dry Clothes
A banjo and waterproof case for it if you have one!