To Pillow Rock AND BEYOND Hiking (GAULEY FEST TRIP)

OVERVIEW

THIS IS COMPLEMENTARY TO THE GAULEY FEST MAIN TRIP YOU WILL NOT GET OFF THIS WAITLIST UNLESS YOU ARE ON THE WAITLIST FOR BOTH

HIKERS! This trip contains not 0, not 1, not 1.5 but 2 whole hikes and also ✨a show✨. We will venture down to the legendary Pillow Rock rapids to watch all manner of whitewater celebration and carnage. Rafts, kayaks, SUPs, creature crafts and more careen down the river as we watch from the shore. We must keep a special eye out for our ODC friends as they brave the chunder and chaos AND maybe this time they’ll tap the rock with their paddles (this gives the club one whole year of good luck).

BE WARNED the hike down to the sitting area is steep and unmaintained. In fact it is technically closed because it isn’t maintained by the park service. That being said, Jade has led this hike for the past 2 years and everyone survived. The hike is incredibly steep and at parts is more of a mud/rock/root scramble than a hike. You may have to try the Tactical Butt Scoot to reach our destination. Luckily it is also short, coming in at only 0.8 miles. Generally speaking it is very doable unless you have an injury or anything that would make this type of scrambling dangerous/extra strenuous.
Here is the alltrails link: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/west-virginia/path-to-pillow-rock

PART 2:
When we need a change of scenery we’ll head back up to the trailhead and embark on another adventure. I’m thinking either a jaunt around Summersville Lake or we make the trek out to Endless Wall on the New River Gorge. Depending on timing and group preferences we will make a GAME TIME decision.

Here’s the pros of each:
Summersville Lake: less driving, waterfront time, witness water draining out of lake in real time?? https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/west-virginia/summersville-lake-via-orange-oswald
Endless Wall: the wall is endless! new area to explore, a bit longer, loop
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/west-virginia/endless-wall

What to bring:
Sunscreen
Sun hat (baseball cap or the like)
sunglasses
SECURE shoes you can hike in
Sandals if you wanna get your toes in the water
Clothes for the hot river sun and butt scootin’ on trail
Daypack you can carry on your back
Snacks
Lunch
2 Liters of Water.
Whatever else u want for a half day by the river

Loose Sched
9:30 slow roll out of camp
drive 20 min or so
hike to river
chill + eat lunch
witness the full extent of human possibility
1-2pm hike out
go to another trail
hike a bit
drive back to festival site
back by 6:30pm AT THE LATEST

Let me know if you have any questions- Ed 434-326-8868
credits to the esteemed Jade Alvarez for trip and description inspiration