White Water Rafting – Upper Gauley!

OVERVIEW

The upper Gauley is a world class white water mecca, and was home to the 2001 white water championships. For 23 days each fall the water level is controlled by the release from the Summersville Dam, bringing the flow to around 4,000 CuFt./Sec. (that’s fast!) and making this section ranked 2nd in the nation, 7th in the world for white water! There are 5 exhilerating class V rapids, and numerous class IVs. Whether you’re an expert rafter or have neer been, the Gauley is where its at! I went on this trip last year and can’t wait to go back.

Experienced guides from Songer White Water, Inc. will be guideing us through the monsterous water falls and over the roller coaster waves. We’ll likely be divided up into 5 rafts, 8 people each (or something close), where each guide/raft will offer different levels of excitement, depending on what you’re looking for (however, this is the last day of Gauley season – where the guides like to go BIG).

Saturday the 18th is Bridge Day – West Virginia’s largest 1-day celebration, and is atop the New River bridge – the world’s longest arch bridge which spans the New River Gorge and is only a few miles from camp. From there you can join in with the festivities and watch the B.A.S.E jumpers as they parachute off the bridge down into the gorge below. Or you can go exploring throughout the numerous surrounding trails (which I plan on doing via mountain bike). Or for $50 more, you can raft the New River on Saturday with Songer (a great warm up for the Gauley). Please let me know 1-2 weeks ahead of time if you want to do this!

It may be cold and there’s always a chance for rain. Dress warm, with plenty of layers. We’ll be in tents Saturday night, if you have one, as well as sleeping pads and bags, please bring them. You can rent wetsuits for $13 and nylon windbreakers for $5 (if you rent these the club will pay half the rental cost). However, the club owns 4 wetsuits and 6 windbreakers. The first 10 to pay in full will have their pick of these, first come, first serve basis.

Itinerary:
Carpooling will be arranged ahead of time. Those that need rides will be picked up at Echols on Saturday at appropriate times. During the day, groups of people can do as they choose – hiking, biking, watch BASE jumpers, raft the New. PIG ROAST DINNER AT 7:00 PM SATURDAY AT CAMP. After we’ll make a big fire to purch around. SUNDAY – 8:00 AM Breakfast (provided by Songer). DEPART FOR GAULEY AT 9 AM! Rafting will take 5-6 hours. They provide lunch on the river. After you’ll meet with the car/people you arrived with, pack up, and head back to C’ville.

IMPORTANT:
Unlike other trips, signing up for this is NOT FIRST COME FIRST SERVE, instead, its FIRST PAY FIRST SERVE – When you sign up you’ll be put on the trip list or on the waitlist, depending on when you sign up, and after your club bux are deducted from the trip cost, we’ll be able to see how much you owe for the trip. The people on the trip list will have until OCTOBER 6th to pay. After the 6th, I’ll take trip fees from those on the waitlist. At that point, the first 40 to pay the $95 are in. I’ll send a reminder email on or around the 6th. Checks can be made out to UVA Outdoors and given to me, put in my mailbox (105 Sunset Ave.), or dropped off at the Newcomb Hall mailroom (the club’s box is # 400444).

UVA Outdoors provides:
Camping Fees, Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner fees, gas money, half of wetsuit/windbreaker rental cost (SAVE YOUR RECEIPTS FOR THESE AS WELL AS GAS), Tents, sleeping bags and pads, and seat in car

You should bring:
Clothing layers (NO COTTON! – avoid if you can; wear wool, polypropylene, capilene, fleece) dress warm, you will get wet. River sandals, aqua socks, or old tennis shoes for your feet. Tent, sleeping pad, sleeping bag if you have them, snacks, water, money to rent wetsuit and jacket, towel, toiletries (they have bathrooms with hot showers), and they have a bar so bring money and your ID for drinks

ONE MORE THING…
…sorry about the book-long description! 🙂

For more info, check out http://www.songerwhitewater.com