O.C.T. New River Rendezvous in WV
Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2022 9:02 pm
O.C.T. New River Rendezvous over Labor Day
Put on your attention span hats as this has gotten longer and there is important information about water levels at the bottom.
By my count, welcome to the 30th annual New River Rendezvous. I've been "loosely coordinating" this trip since 2003.
We'll meet at Ray's Campground on Saturday, September 3rd, at ten a.m. If you are arriving on Saturday morning try to get there early enough to set up camp as trips generally spin off right after the meeting and it's helpful for shuttle if your vehicle isn't loaded to the gills with camping gear. When you arrive, folks who spent Friday night will be chomping at the bit to get going. If you are camping Friday night then please try not to chomp at the bit too much Saturday morning. We'll get there. ..... We'll meet at the picnic tables behind the office. We'll meet at nine on Sunday and Monday.
If you are camping "off-campus" please don't ask me to coordinate with you. I'm not smart enough to do that. Show up at Ray's for the morning meetings or hire a spokesperson, not me.
This trip is open to almost all levels of paddlers. If you've never been in a boat before then you aren't ready. At ordinary water levels the upper sections of the New are pretty newbie friendly while the gorge offers more difficult rapids. With rain other options open up.
Where? Ray's is in Hico (pronounced HIGHcoh) near the intersection of routes 60 and 19 which is about five miles north of where the New goes under route 19. Head west very briefly on 60 and turn right on Sunday Road. Ray's is about a mile on the left. 304-658-4386. Reservations are not required for tent sites. At last count it was $10 per person per night. Electric sites are $10 extra. Dogs must be leashed. Please respect quiet hours.
They accept cash, check, and all major credit cards. I'll guess they prefer cash so bring some bills.
GPS user note, I love that technology. Trust it blindly if you wish but I recommend at least glancing at a map or two before you head out. This is the wild part of wild wunnerful West Virginia. Your technology might fail.
We tend to have large groups on the river during this weekend. If you are not in to such things then that's totally fine. Spin off your own small group trip and we'll hear of your adventures in camp. Please stop by the meetings to say hello.
I'll post this to Coastals, the Monocacy Canoe Club, and the Carolina Canoe Club, the three with which I'm most active. Feel free to cross-post to other clubs if you wish.
And so, eesh, the covid stuff. I'm tired of it too but it needs mention. I attended an event somewhat similar to this earlier this summer and about ten percent of the crowd got sick -- and that's just the ones who got mentioned on Facebook. I'll wild-guess it was twice that. Thankfully I haven't heard about any hospitalizations nor deaths but some got quite sick. Please come prepared to be open minded about folks who are more worried or less worried about this than you are. Wearing masks and /or having windows down during shuttle probably won't kill anyone.
====================================
Often this time of year we are lamenting a lack of water in the New. Not so, this year. It has been enjoying healthy flows, sometimes quite high, for most of the summer. As of this writing the gorge is higher than some might want but it is dropping fast. Not to scare anyone away, just pay attention.
Cheers,
Ken Dubel
Put on your attention span hats as this has gotten longer and there is important information about water levels at the bottom.
By my count, welcome to the 30th annual New River Rendezvous. I've been "loosely coordinating" this trip since 2003.
We'll meet at Ray's Campground on Saturday, September 3rd, at ten a.m. If you are arriving on Saturday morning try to get there early enough to set up camp as trips generally spin off right after the meeting and it's helpful for shuttle if your vehicle isn't loaded to the gills with camping gear. When you arrive, folks who spent Friday night will be chomping at the bit to get going. If you are camping Friday night then please try not to chomp at the bit too much Saturday morning. We'll get there. ..... We'll meet at the picnic tables behind the office. We'll meet at nine on Sunday and Monday.
If you are camping "off-campus" please don't ask me to coordinate with you. I'm not smart enough to do that. Show up at Ray's for the morning meetings or hire a spokesperson, not me.
This trip is open to almost all levels of paddlers. If you've never been in a boat before then you aren't ready. At ordinary water levels the upper sections of the New are pretty newbie friendly while the gorge offers more difficult rapids. With rain other options open up.
Where? Ray's is in Hico (pronounced HIGHcoh) near the intersection of routes 60 and 19 which is about five miles north of where the New goes under route 19. Head west very briefly on 60 and turn right on Sunday Road. Ray's is about a mile on the left. 304-658-4386. Reservations are not required for tent sites. At last count it was $10 per person per night. Electric sites are $10 extra. Dogs must be leashed. Please respect quiet hours.
They accept cash, check, and all major credit cards. I'll guess they prefer cash so bring some bills.
GPS user note, I love that technology. Trust it blindly if you wish but I recommend at least glancing at a map or two before you head out. This is the wild part of wild wunnerful West Virginia. Your technology might fail.
We tend to have large groups on the river during this weekend. If you are not in to such things then that's totally fine. Spin off your own small group trip and we'll hear of your adventures in camp. Please stop by the meetings to say hello.
I'll post this to Coastals, the Monocacy Canoe Club, and the Carolina Canoe Club, the three with which I'm most active. Feel free to cross-post to other clubs if you wish.
And so, eesh, the covid stuff. I'm tired of it too but it needs mention. I attended an event somewhat similar to this earlier this summer and about ten percent of the crowd got sick -- and that's just the ones who got mentioned on Facebook. I'll wild-guess it was twice that. Thankfully I haven't heard about any hospitalizations nor deaths but some got quite sick. Please come prepared to be open minded about folks who are more worried or less worried about this than you are. Wearing masks and /or having windows down during shuttle probably won't kill anyone.
====================================
Often this time of year we are lamenting a lack of water in the New. Not so, this year. It has been enjoying healthy flows, sometimes quite high, for most of the summer. As of this writing the gorge is higher than some might want but it is dropping fast. Not to scare anyone away, just pay attention.
Cheers,
Ken Dubel
