I just wanted to thaknk evryone who came on my third annual Webster Springs trip. Once again, we lucked out with the water.
I was able to get in two laps on the Back Fork of the Elk (with the pro shuttle) on Friday, only one run in on the Upper Meadow Saturday and a repeat performance on the Upper Meadow on Sunday. It was a big time.
For those of you who went, chime in here and maybe we'll have an even bigger and more funner group for the 4th annual trip. Same time next year?
twas three grand times, indeed. While it was looking a little sketchy from home we ended up having plenty of water.
First and foremost of course, good river Karma and Kudos to our famed organizer, Dave Kessmann. Not to up the pressure or anything but it seems anytime I'm within fifty miles of that guy the rivers rock.
Friday, Back Fork of Elk. Never run it before, heard folks brag, been on the list. The water level had dropped to 6.0 USGS by the time we got there which was bumpy but okay. The access creek offers a bang early on, cool, a few miles of mild follow, one starts to wonder. Then, ledge, ledge, ledge, ledge, ledge, ledge, don't have an accurate count, thinking maybe six significant ones, ranging from four to twelve feet. Somewhat oddly, the tallest one was perhaps the easiest. An eight footer offered several opportunities to show off rolling techniques. The more hardcore in the group (that'd be the ones younger than I, meaning all of them) had already run the river once by the time I got there but several were way game for running another lap. Big thanks to Dweasel and Johnson Rice for donating shuttle on that one!
By Friday night hordes of boaters were descending on the town. They were literally descending as this place is surrounded by mountains. Webster Springs seems far because it's nowhere near an interstate highway. In fact it's roughly the same driving time as the New Gorge and its remoteness makes for a pretty drive. It's a diverse crowd. Lots of open boats made for a refreshing change.
We picked up a nail in a tire and so spent some time Saturday morning reaping the benefits of the generosity of a fellow boater who had a compressor and plug kit handy. The motel hostess noted watching the tire inflate was much like watching the grass grow. I noted she hung around watching it anyway. Apparently what happens in Webster Springs generally doesn't need to stay in Webster Springs.
Saturday, Elk River below Webster Springs / Upper Meadow. I was not involved with the Elk part of this day but heard it was eleven miles, fun, eleven miles, pretty, eleven miles, plenty of action, eleven miles, class II / III. (There is a paddling culture history statement SCREAMING in there somewhere, feel free to chime.) On the other hand, there was the Upper Meadow.
I've only run the Upper Meadow a few times but it seems to draw epic reports into it's realm, at least for me. Been skunked trying to find the short put in, wished I'd gotten skunked when it was booming, shredded (meaning gashed) a Shredder at a mild level, [If the tube you're on sinks, does it count as a swim?]. Enter the challenge of OC-2.
The Upper Meadow is tough to gauge. The USGS device is maybe 24 hours downstream and so only gives you a vague reference when levels are fluctuating. It also tends to go haywire when you really need it. You can compare the flows on the Upper and Middle Gauley (Meadow drops in mid way) to get a decent idea of what is going on.
It was raining during shuttle.
We got a little more than we expected (it was getting juicy) but I'm pretty sure everyone had a good time. The OC-2 challenge was a hoot but will find me sore for a few days. Bigtime happy to have a bow partner who knows her way down a river. We passed a HUGE group of almost forty boaters only one of which knew the river. Most of them were still on the river an hour and a half after we took off. Some of them were walking out. Yep, the "epic" tradition continues.
On Sunday a few went back to the Upper Meadow. Apparently they had a good time as I got two thumbs up from Juggy and Shaggy as they passed me on I-81. Many of us were paying to live at the takeout for the section of the Elk which had served as the race course the day before (meaning we were staying at the esteemed Mineral Springs Motel). King, the motel cat, being of black tabby and bobcat heritage, did a good job of keeping unseemly characters away while finding us tolerable. The hostess at the motel was great, gave us Internet access in the office, invited us to a wedding (open bar!), and let us stay late on Sunday.
The Elk above Webster Springs was a fine intermediate run. 5.3 feet USGS was enough water. We put in at Curtin which is about four miles upstream. Racers had run it in a little over half an hour the day before. It took us two hours which gives an idea of how much playing / goofing went on. This stretch offers plenty of low-impact action, some nice play spots, ledges, creeky spots, beautiful spots, and, well, some really trashy back yards. One rapid stands out. Marked by a RR tie retaining wall on the left bank it's essentially a ledge / slide with several routes possible and a pretty forgiving landing zone. It could easily be carried on the right. We had some carnage here, some harmless, some not-too-serious battle scars.
Gromit and I rolled into town on Friday evening, met up with the rest of the coastals crew at the motel, had dinner and talked about Saturday's prospects. We were sad to hear they boiled down to either the Elk or the upper Meadow. We had hoped the Cherry, Cranberry or Williams would be an option. Since the upper Meadow is described as "one rapid, about 4 miles long" we decided to run the section of the Elk below town.
So on Saturday we met a group of 12 boaters from MCC and CCC and off we went. The entire run is 11 miles, and just about the whole thing is busy water in the class II range with a moderate sprinkling of class III drops just to keep you interested. Plenty of water + no scouting + no carnage + lots of play opportunities + hardly any flatwater = a great day on the river.
Sunday we joined the core of the Coastals crew and had a blast on the Elk again, this time on the same section where Saturday's race is held. Dave Gunn raced on Saturday (3rd in class!!!) and showed us the fun line at the feature rapid. Several folks carried up to run it again, I was happy to come through it clean and continiued on down. I agree with Ken that the river is a fine intermediate run. I had a blast and it was nice to finish the day with dry hair
Dave Kessmann did a great job coordinating the trip. I want to encourage those of you sitting on the fence to jump off and come on out next year. The cabin at Camp Caesar is fine with comfortable bunks, hot showers and a handy breakfast buffet as well as the free beer, pizza, and live music on Satruday night for the award presentation.
“...And Lord, we are especially thankful for nuclear power, the cleanest, safest energy source there is. Except for solar, which is just a pipe dream.” Homer Simpson
I had a great time too! Chickened out of the upper meadows run - the emphasis on continuity class 3-4 scared me! I didn't fancy swimming for 3 miles!! Anyway the elk was fun. It was 11 miles but was moving (thankfully!). I enjoyed being comfortable doing a PFD on a river! Wallace had a moment of glory witnessed by me! We came up to a nice big wave, which then went dark and turned into a rock! Wallace was committed and did a flip!! I dodged the rock and was full steam ahead to the upside down Wallace, and then he rolled!! Woo hoo! That was a big relief! It was a good rest of the day, finished with some fantastic Webster Springs cuisine!
Sunday was also a good time - minimal carnage, not from me or Wallace!
The cabin was actually better than expected! It was relatively quiet but very minimal snorage from the boys! The most disruption was the unmistakable shuffle of Guys crocs as he came plodding through to use the loo! And he wasn't staying in the cabin - merely using the facilities after throwing down on the dance floor to the blue grass band!!
So thanks Dave for a fun weekend - looking forward to next year!
We rolled up in Webster Springs, three men, one woman and a baby, to the cheers of throngs gathered together in the parking lot of the Mineral Springs Motel. We rolled out, three men, one woman and a baby to the cheers of the staff of the Mineral Springs Motel.
dave puts on one hell of a trip. thanks kessmann, you rock.
saturday on the meadow was bitter sweet as one of my closest friends voluntarily gave up paddling to babysit the most infantile of the corn (give it up for noah's first trip with the corn in the van!)
sunday was laid back hanging with noah and napping. good river, better trip coordinator, the greatest friends.
oh, and according to one of those who walked off of the meadow on sat., they didn't get back to the camp till 10 that night.
"You push a damn environmentalist, mountain hippie, devil worshipping pacifiest too far and you've got trouble!" - Jim Durham
fatdoug wrote:the most infantile of the corn (give it up for noah's first trip with the corn in the van!)
So, next year, will Noah be running shuttle for us? If I took the tags off of my truck and wrote "farm use" in the mud on teh back window, I think it would be legal for the Meadow, at least.
Envelope – Free stationary taken from the Marriott while on a business trip.
Snowflake address label – sent to me free and had to be used up.
Stained glass stamp – It was more then three feet away from me when I decided to get them so you know I didn’t see them clearly
Butterfly and Sunflower stickers on the back – Also free and required because the glue on the envelope was so old it no longer stuck.
--KessmanN
Thanks to Dave for putting on a sweet trip! Three great days of boating. On Friday we did 2 laps on the back fork of the elk. I had done it years ago and always wanted it get on it again. The short shuttle was key, since I drove around for hours trying to find the put-in on my first trip. It was a great day. On Saturday we ran the upper meadow. It was my first time on this run. It was a sweet run. The highlight of the trip for sure. A perfect run for picking your way down and reading water. Level was a bit chunky. On Saturday night we went to the festival shin-dig. It was cool, although it was dissapointing not seeing the crazy dreadlock guy catch anyone on fire. On Sunday we ran the Elk into Webster Springs. It was cool, but I kinda was thinking the whole time that I should have run the upper meadow again.
