So me and 5 friends are rafting the Upper and Lower Gauley rapids on September 13th. 2 of them have been before and have said it was the most intense experience of their lives. I've only been rafting twice (both times on the Nantahala, which was very tame). I plan on going to the Whitewater Center in Charlotte before the trip to get a little practice on some Class III-IV. I'm excited about the Gauley, but a little nervous based on the video footage I've seen on some of the Class V+ rapids (Pillow rock, Iron Ring, Sweet's Falls, etc). I also know that there have been a few deaths on the Gauley before as well (although probably from doing something stupid).

Anyone that has ran the Gauley before have any advice, tips, or stories to share?

8/27/2009 9:35:35 AM

I dunno if I would label it "most intense" I've been more scared of imminent injury mountain biking than at any point on the Upper. However, I didn't fall out of the boat on a rapid and get trapped in a hydraulic or pinned under a rock, so maybe that's part of the reason.

Seriously, it was a damn fun time, however an 8 person boat with a guide that is taking conservative lines isn't going to blow you away. Actually, I almost enjoyed the 30ft cliff jump I took more than any one rapid we went through.

I haven't been down it in a smaller boat, I can imagine the experience is much more intense with the probability of getting tossed near 100%.

If the Nantahala is the only thing you have to compare it to though, it will be a massive step up.

[Edited on August 27, 2009 at 9:40 AM. Reason : .]

8/27/2009 9:40:04 AM

I've done the Gauley before. It was my first time ever rafting. I don't really know that you need to go practice. Just make sure you get that foot wedged in the raft and hold on. However, our raft had to navigate around the biggest rapid b/c a woman in a raft behind us fell in and we had to jerk her into our boat and she just laid there and no one was steering.

8/27/2009 9:48:29 AM

Quote :

"I also know that there have been a few deaths on the Gauley before as well (although probably from doing something stupid)."

Plenty of people have died at Nantahala too. It doesn't take much water flow to produce much more pressure than you could ever control. It usually happens with those rocks that hang over the edge of the river, creating a little pocket that a person can get pushed down into. Just use the same amount of care anytime you're around moving water.

I've rafted the New river...Never been on the Gauley. I concur with this statement:

Quote :

"Seriously, it was a damn fun time, however an 8 person boat with a guide that is taking conservative lines isn't going to blow you away. Actually, I almost enjoyed the 30ft cliff jump I took more than any one rapid we went through."

[Edited on August 27, 2009 at 10:56 AM. Reason : l]

8/27/2009 10:55:41 AM

Yeah, I hear that if your guide is pretty conservative and follows the standard runs, the experience won't blow you away. However, buddy of mine who has been before said he plans on pulling our guide aside and telling him to make the trip one none of us will forget. Last year he said his guide dropped them in backwards at Pillow Rock. So I'm banking on things getting interesting, very quickly...

Fail Boat - is that 30 ft cliff you jumped off of pretty close to wherever you camped when you rafted the Gauley? That sounds like a hell of a time, so hopefully we'll get a chance to do that when we are there.

8/27/2009 12:02:37 PM

I only did the Upper, no camping. I want to say it was around half way into the trip on the right side of the river. We only had time to jump off it once though. And of course, the water is god damn cold.

8/27/2009 12:10:10 PM

I went when I was 13 14 years old. I had a blast! They had a killer italian lunch for us. I remember the ride up the mountain pretty scary we rode in a bus. I think the driver was drunk. The beer cooler was right next to him. They also have a pretty kick ass paintball field up there. The only thing that sucked is the fact that the town had a curfew. Hope you have fun. I cant wait til I get the chance to go again.

8/27/2009 3:22:39 PM

oooh have fun. were going to the ACE Adventure Resort and rafting on the New River on Labor Day weekend

8/27/2009 4:02:19 PM

Quote :

"Seriously, it was a damn fun time, however an 8 person boat with a guide that is taking conservative lines isn't going to blow you away."

LOL, are you talking about the upper gauley here and when? You take an 8 man raft down the upper when they're releasing water and you're going to be in for a ride, I don't care that its a bigger raft or if the guide is trying to take you down a more conservative line.

I would suggest getting to know your guide before you get on the river with him, make sure he knows what he is doing. When I went during fall break last year we saw a guy dislocate his knee in the first serious rapid. Probably b/c their guide did something stupid, but shit like that can happen.

There are a few super dangerous spots. If you have a good guide they shouldn't be a problem though.

8/27/2009 6:52:02 PM

if you haven't picked a rafting company yet, go with NARR - they're great folks, a lot of fun and (usually) well experienced on the lines.

8/27/2009 7:45:05 PM

when a hit a rapid called postage due, listen to the guide when he says paddle hard and stay right. If you end up on the left the boat flips.

8/28/2009 12:03:05 AM

message_topic.aspx?topic=568242

8/28/2009 7:44:59 AM

I believe we are rafting with ACE...

8/28/2009 9:08:36 AM

http://www.class-vi.com/rivers.cfm?RiverNameID=6

top notch

8/28/2009 12:32:49 PM

bttt

thinking of going in early October for a two day lower/upper trip


who all here has done the upper? who was it with and how was the trip down?

8/27/2010 10:17:14 AM

Quote :

"he most intense experience of their lives."

I have only been rafting once and this is where we went. It was awesome and super thrilling

8/27/2010 1:15:01 PM

I can't remember if I did the upper or lower, but I've been down the Gauley 3 times. The first time we went down the water was really low. It must have been during the drought of 2007. I fell out of the raft going down a rapid and got trapped in one of those hydraulic things. It felt like I was 10 feet under water. Finally it spat me out and the guys in my raft yanked me back into the boat. It was really scary at the time, but I went back for rafting twice and it didn't happen.

8/27/2010 2:42:49 PM

bttt

9/1/2010 4:24:55 PM

Two years ago my friend and I rafted the upper and the lower Gauley with Songer Whitewater in late October. I would recommend the company and certainly the trip. Our guide was a fun good ol' boy, they provided as much beer as you could drink for the ride back, and they have a small bar on the grounds for getting your drink on if you spend a night there. For the upper, we headed up an 8 person raft, ironically with fellow NC State students. I tell you what, those 6 freshmen couldn't paddle for shit!

We went in late October, and it was pretty friggin cold camping there and getting up at like 5:30 am to raft the upper section. BUT, there was a cool caveat... when we got on the river, the water was extremely warm, like bath water. Our guide explained to us that as the Corps drops Summerville Lake throughout the season by letting out water from the bottom of the lake, the warmer water from the upper half of the lake is released later in the season. What resulted was lots of warm river water in a pretty frigid environment, and so the whole river was shrouded in fog for the first hour or so of the trip until the sunlight could peer into the gorge. THIS WAS SO AWESOME! You couldn't see the rapids at all, but you could hear the roar of the water increase as we approached closer to each big drop. Our guide did an amazing job of knowing where to go basically in the dark, although we did end up going through one of the major rapids totally backwards.

If you're going to do both sections, I would recommend doing the lower, spending the night, and then doing the upper in the morning. If you do the upper first, the lower is going to seem really, really tame in comparison. If you do both the same day you're definitely going to be worn the heck out by the end of the trip.

I also see that you're going as a group of 6. If some people drop out of the trip and you end up with 4 people, it's DEFINITELY worth the money to spring for the "high-adventure" raft. It's a smaller raft, and if you all know how to paddle, and if you have a good guide, you will have way more fun going through side parts of some rapids and doing tricks that aren't possible with the large, standard 8-person rafts.

Don't be fooled though, no matter how you go down it's a whole lot of fun and totally worth the money. I've rafted the Gauley (III,IV,V+), the Pacuare (III,IV) in Costa Rica, and a swollen upper Trancura (V+, one VI rapid) in Chile. In my opinion the Trancura was the best with the Gauley a close second (just cause the flow in Chile was so huge), and the Pacuare was a distant third.

Don't worry about practicing in Charlotte, your adrenaline on the river and your guide's knowledge will take care of you.

NUMBER ONE RULE OF RAFTING, DON'T LET GO OF THE T ON THE PADDLE

[Edited on September 2, 2010 at 6:35 PM. Reason : ]

9/2/2010 6:32:40 PM

^Truth. Friend of mine just got one of her teeth knocked out on the New River last week when she let go of the T in a rapid.

I did the Gauley a long time ago when I was 15. It's really all about having a good guide. We had a n00b guide who had just started and he steered us between some rocks on Sweets Falls and we all went swimming. Meanwhile, boats full of housewives were coming down the river doing tricks off of Pillow Rock and shit. We were the only raft to swim that day and everybody lol'ed at us.

9/2/2010 6:49:20 PM

a rafting trip would be awesome this time of year. i haven't been since i was 15 but i'd love to go again soon. i probably won't get to anytime soon but maybe this time next year. what's this rafting center in charlotte? i've never heard of it

9/2/2010 8:12:39 PM

http://www.usnwc.org/

You can pay to go rafting on it. It flows down in a loop and ends in a stillwater area where you ride a 'raft escalator' to the top and go down again. The rapids are customizable with parts under the water that can be moved to create different flows. There are a lot of whitewater events that have been held there already ie US kayaking championships. Really cool place. They have a bar at the top of the hill where you can pound beers and laugh at people rafting.

9/2/2010 8:33:30 PM

looks like they have some climbing too! i'm definitely going to have to check that out whenever i have some time off work. which will be no time soon thanks for the link!

9/2/2010 8:40:17 PM

Songer, that's who I went down with too. I'd recommend them. We went in May after final exams.

9/3/2010 3:05:38 PM

anyone been yet?

9/21/2010 5:32:18 PM

going this weekend with rivermen

$292 for cabin (2 nights), rafting (middle/lower), buffet bfast/dinner, and lunch

and there is a bar

9/22/2010 1:18:07 PM

^ nice


here's videos of all the rapids
http://www.gauleyriverrapids.com/entrance-rapid.html

9/22/2010 1:50:03 PM