Rafting the Upper Gauley River is an intense ride and an awesome time! The first weekend of October brought about an opportunity for me to get a chance to run this section of river. It was my first time rafting the Upper section, although I have rafted the Lower Gauley as well as the Upper and Lower sections of New River in West Virginia (on top of some other different sections of rivers). West Virginia rafting is world class!

Luckily, I was going with an experienced group of friends, all who have rafted before as well as some who had rafting the upper section before. This made for a good time because our guide, who was great and willing to have fun with group, was willing to take either more adventurous or more fun lines through rapids hitting different holes, waves, and rocks that all the other boats were avoiding.

Boston Strangler: The Untold Story movie The Cell 2 psp

Everyone was worried that it was going to be a cold day on the river, but the skys stayed clear and the weather warmed up for us. The forecast was for mid 60’s but it peaked at around 70 during the day. Plus the water temperature wasn’t too bad so getting splashed or taking a swim was not uncomfortable.

With 7 class five rapids, the trip is well worth it. Spots such as Pillow Rock and Sweet’s Fall draw a lot of attention from locals, hikers, tourists, and other boaters that are on or around the river. These are two hot spots for groups of people to stop and take out of the water to watch some of the other paddlers and commercial trips hit the rapids.

• which is better pail zoloft Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger video

• buy Manhattan Melodrama

If you EVER have the chance to go rafting on the Upper Gauley (and have rafting experience) then DO IT! Do not hesitate. It may seem a little scary or intimidating, but some of class V rapids are safer than some of the lower class rapids. The thrill will be worth it!

Grim Reaper divx

download Creepshow 2 dvd

Horror buy

Here are a few pictures from our trip. Our trip was booked with North American River Runners

and they absolutely have a class act operation that they run. I have been rafting with them multiple times over the last 5 years and every trip has been great. If you are looking to book a commercial trip with an outfitter, then I would highly recommend them. Their service, prices, and facilities are great.

Ben-Hur hd

Vampitheatre trailer

Sliding Right Up Pillow Rock

Coming Down from Pillow Rock

Boogeyman 3 trailer

Spiker ipod

• download All Hell Broke Loose dvd

Sgt. Bilko divx

Chillin' at the lunch spot at Sweet's Fall

Another raft in Sweet's Fall

Our group and guide at the take out

• Danny the Dog trailer Rat Race hd

Welcome back!

The trip was great, don’t get me wrong. There were a few downsides and a few upsides. I’ll reflect on them as well as post a couple pictures at the end.

First off, to learn more about Gauley Fest, check out this post I wrote last week. Now that you are caught up, lets get down to business. The festival was great – everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, enjoy the river, drink lots of booze, and spend lots of money at the marketplace.

Friday
Courtney and I drove down from the Northern Virginia area and took about 5 1/2 hours to get there. We wound up taking some back roads type of way to get there but it was pretty scenic and a nice route. There was one spot in WV where we crossed by the windmills, I wish we stopped to take pictures, but it was just amazing at how big these things were. Instead of having a road that went right by them, the road literally made a giant 20 mile circle around them and you could see them from any angle. Here is a picture from Google of them.

Gas prices reached around $4.15 a gallon for unleaded as we strolled through the country side…when I had just paid $3.44 the night before outside of the BWI Airport. When we did stop to get gas, it was down to about $4.05 and stayed that price pretty much everywhere else that we saw all the way into Summersville, WV. We finally arrived in Summersville at about 6 and checked into our hotel…yes I said hotel. Rather than camp out Friday night, we stayed at the Sleep Inn because Courtney still was not feeling well and did not want to get any worse. After checking in and dropping our stuff at the hotel, we headed out to the Festival grounds to get set up for the rest of the night. We pitched our canopy, set up some tables, and the tent before the both. We wanted to save the space so no one parked right behind our area so that we could get in and out. We ran out to Wal-Mart to grab some beer and a couple other items and it was back to the festival to open up the booth and try to sell some gear! Friday night is usually just a ‘chill’ night around the campground and festival. However, this year they pushed to have the marketplace open and have the vendors set up. I was surprised by the amount of people that were actually making rounds, but it seemed as though most people were doing just that, just walking around. Not many were buying, but just looking. We had a few sales Friday night which was fine. We packed everything up around midnight and headed back to the hotel to crash.
Read more…

One of the largest whitewater focused outdoor events, Gauley Festival, is happening this coming weekend, September 19-21 in Summersville, WV. Gauley Fest is hosted by the American Whitewater .

Gauley Fest just keeps getting bigger and better! Started in 1983 to celebrate the derailment of a hydro-electric project that would have disrupted the flows on the Gauley River

Frida dvd

, Gauley Fest has grown to become the largest river festival in the world.

Relentless Enemies trailer

• Mini’s First Time hd Murphys Romance dvdrip

The festival is a showcase for American Whitewater and the top whitewater vendors in the boating community, plus it’s THE place to catch up with old friends, make new ones, and just have a great time with like-minded river loving folks.

• Mad City hd

Sonic Underground ipod buy Clown of the Jungle

Weirdsville movie download

Gauley Fest is also AW’s largest fundraising event. All proceeds from the festival support American Whitewater’s conservation and access works throughout the nation.

A Ideal Husbandn video

The Godfather: Part II full movie

• The Sleeping Dictionary full movie

The festival will feature live entertainment, a whitewater marketplace, raffle, and a silent auction where you can pick up some awesome outdoor gear. Come out and join us for a weekend of great paddling, exciting camaraderie, live entertainment, killer boat raffles, and the infamous silent auction.

I am pretty excited about the event coming up because it will be the fourth year in a row that my fiance and I have gone. It is a great time to camp out, pick up some cheap gear, hang out with friends, and get outdoors. I am also super stoked because The Gear House will be set up as a vendor pushing all the great products that I sell on eBay and in the gear shop Tick Tock Lullaby move

The Master of Disguise film . To get ready for the event, I have been putting price labels on all the gear that I’ll be taking, printing signs for my tent, and just gathering all the supplies that I am going to need.

If you are going to be checking out Gauley Fest next weekend, be sure to look for The Gear House tent and stop by and say Hi! If you’ll be there, leave a comment and let me know!

Not sure what to take when you go on your canoeing trip? Perhaps this will answer your questions.

buy Oh, God! Boat Items

Maps and map case with tiedowns
Compass
GPS (optional)
Bow and stern ropes
Carabiners to attach bow/stern ropes
Bailer(s) with attachment clips
Throwbag(s)
Paddles and spare or alternative paddles
Ties for spare paddles
Tiedown rope or straps for gear
Knee pads, installed or separate
Seat pads (optional)
Spraycover (optional)
Flotation bags (optional)

Read more…