..... inevitably gets plastered all over the Internet!Mango wrote:
What happens at the Gorge..........................
I've been joining this trip for the past ten years or so and am sure it occurred for years prior to that but I've never met anyone who can say when the first ever New River Rendezvous occurred. Feel free to chime on that one if you happen to know more history.
Or not. Part of what I like about it is the friendly anarchy. Loosely organized. It mostly just happens on its own. Mike Sawyer and I, and now Charlie Duffy, just set the basic background (meet at Ray's on Saturday at ten), say our hello's, and let it flow from there. Expect gigantic groups or spin off small groups of your own, all cool, relax, and make days of it on the river. Head to crowded local restaurants with friends new and old, or not, stay up too late, miss some beauty sleep, and head out again the next day.
My first encounter with this trip was in 1999. In those days it was loosely organized by the Chapelle family and we stayed across the street from Ray's at River Retreat campground. (River Retreat has changed its focus since then.) I have fond memories of asking for and getting advice on eddy turns from Garland Reece on the Glade Creek section.
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We had huge groups on Saturday (big K-1 for me) and Sunday (R-6 for me) on the gorge so every move took forever but if you are prepared for that then a mindset change happens, you relax, and enjoy. (Hmmm. Paradigm shift, maximize the river time knowing you will eventually eat dinner and go to sleep.)
Sunday was a repeated treat for me as I got to play raft "suggester" thanks to a generous loan of a raft from Mike Sawyer. I say "suggester" rather than "captain" as my crew has become more seasoned over the past few years and most of the moves just seem to happen. Gotta love hanging out with a bunch of sweaty athletic women in fuzzy rubber. ... (And George.) (Friendly chuckle.)
Monday was a much smaller group with most noses pointed toward the barn. The theme was "not rushing, but not wasting time either". We were a bit under three hours from ramp to ramp with a snack stop. I like that pace too. OC-2 this time for me along with bowman, er, bowwoman, er bowperson Alicia. Gotta love those bilge pumps as the Blast is a wet canoe when set up as a tandem plus we were running the meat of the wave trains just for the fun of it.
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I had a touching / funny moment upon entering the Mexican restaurant which used to be in the building where Pies & Pints used to be and is now where the Exxon station used to be (got that?). I was pushing being about an hour late as I was the one who shuttled folks back to the put in to gather vehicles. I opened the door to the restaurant, dressed to the nines in grimy shorts and my latest really-loud-but-I'm-just-kidding colorful shirt, and was greeted by a round of applause from my table. This spread to the next table and eventually to the entire restaurant thanks to support to the Richmond contingent which was seated on the other side.
Gotta love a little town in West Virginia.
(Who IS that guy?)
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Overall we had several first timers to the event along with several first timers on the gorge. I hope everyone had a good time and look forward to seeing you all next year.
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Cheers as always,
Ken Dubel
