Gauley River:
Enjoy the run, but Be Aware!
By Lee Belknap, Former AW Safety Chair
updated 8-2000
Early in 1981 I moved from the Midwest to the southeast. Where I came from, the Gauley was the last river you did before you retired. If you had paddled the "Class VI" Gauley, you were hot stuff. With all the undercuts and other hazards the Gauley has, it was Thought to be just too dangerous to move beyond that level. The first person I paddled with in my new town was my future creeking partner, Victor Jones. He was hot off the racing circuit and barely in college. He told me "aw, it’s just a big play river". By the end of the year I was in agreement, and I was hooked. This began a long love affair with this river that continues to this day.
But the Gauley is like a dangerous pet. Much respect ane experience is required to enjoy the experience and not get hurt or even killed. Unfortunately this has happened far too often on this river and two of it’s victims have been personal friends.
The Gauley is a wonderfully busy river with an outstanding number of high quality rapids throughout it’s 24 mile length. On the upper section, the rapids by definition are the very bottom of class 5. Several other rapids on this river came in just a hair below this and are rated class IV+. The implication is simple. A paddler needs excellent endurance and very solid skills to prevent trouble on this long, powerful river. Bomb proof bracing and 2 sided rolls, along with big water skills and precise maneuvering, are required to have reasonable assurance of a safe and enjoyable run. I must say that, unlike in 1981, today there are many paddlers with skills way beyond this level.
Years ago I found myself participating in so many rescues on the Gauley that I used to joke about joining the "national river patrol". While swims and rescues are much fewer these days, they still occur. And there’s still the occasional paddler who has a great day until a certain point, then runs out of steam. It seems that this point is sometimes reached about half way down Pillow Rock. Watch out for your friends. Once this level of fatigue is reached, mistakes and trashings occur more frequently. Your friend may require some watchful assistance (and perhaps a few more rescues) before the day is over. PLEASE be careful! And remember, there’s no shame in walking. The rapids won’t be going anywhere.
The rapids on the Gauley are legendary. Lost Paddle, Insignificant, Iron Ring, Pure Screaming Hell, Sweet Falls, and Pillow Rock are world famous and deserve the notoriety. They are Big, Steep, Demanding, and can have a serious bite for the paddler in the wrong place. But these aren’t the only places where care is required. In fact some of the most dangerous places on the river are not as well known. A couple of simple pieces of advice can make the difference between a tired paddler and a beaten one at the end of the day. First, if you see a horizon line, go around it. There’s usually a hole there. If you see a slot and nobody who knows the river well is going there, then don’t (until you scout it and check for rocks at the bottom). And if you should swim, be careful not to swim into an undercut.
Follow this advice and know about the following rapids. They’re listed in order of the run so that you can remember them.
The Upper Gauley:
Initiation: If you put in at the upper put-in, the gage is almost half way to one of the most dangerous rapids on the river. There is a deadly sieve on the right side of the drop and an inviting wave with rocks that spin the surfer into the sieve. The proper way to run it is down the left side of the long, wide, steep tongue on river left.
Despite the notoriety of this rapids, several people boat into the sieve every year. Two of them drowned in it. What makes this rapid even more sinister is the inviting surfing wave at the top. The wave has a slight right diagonal that appears to send the surfer into a large and deceptive eddy. What is not obvious are the hidden black rocks on the right end of the wave. These will sometimes catch the surfer and pivot the boat directly into the sieve. This writer has talked to countless former surfers of this wave and almost always finds that they, like many of it’s surviving victims, had no idea they were so close to such a dangerous spot.
Yet, even those who know about it can be seduced by the wave. My friend Dave Mills was very familiar with all of this when he surfed into the rock and then the sieve. Despite the heroic efforts of his friends, it was the last wave he ever surfed.
Funnel: An easy drop with a rather large hidden hole about a hundred feet down the outflow. I once watched a friend launch to the moon from this hole. Hidden by a pillow that looks like a wave, it’s probably not too dangerous. However, you don’t want to begin your bad day here: Insignificant is at the other end of this long pool.
Insignificant: Partially cheatable on the right bank, this long and pushy rapids is a series of ledges with undefined horizons, large waves, irregular holes and common loooong swims. There is also a wide vertical pin zone on the left half of the top away from the normal line, a "minor" undercut at the large boulder near the bottom right, and several play boaters in the 3 consecutive ender waves at bottom river left. It is possible to do 3 consecutive enders here as a grand finale to your run. The most common failure mode in this rapids is the loooong swim. A third of the way down, the crux move requires that you tweeze from the center to the left between an unseen piton rock and a major hole. There are no landmarks on this horizon and no mercy for the surfer. A long swim here is typically not fun, but if you happen to think about it, be sure to briefly turn around and watch for the enders your boat will probably be doing without you.
Please be careful while playing on the waves at the bottom. There have been a number of collisions and swims resulting from this. When you stop to enjoy the surf, Please remember that the oncoming boater has the right of way and that you have much more time than they to get out of the way. Please also remember that many of these boaters, while ready enough to run this rapids, may not be ready enough to run it with you or me in the way.
Below Insignificant: Watch for pinning rocks and undercuts if you’re an explorer or find yourself off line in the next several rapids. One hair move in particular is an arcing slot move in the left bank where the turn should be made as tight as possible.
Iron Curtain: This one is probably more devious than dangerous, but in the event of a long swim, watch for the house sized undercut way down in the run out. Why would someone swim? Hit the bottom left eddy line wrong and you’ll find out. It’s a mean one.
Pillow Rock: Pillow Rock will be found at the end of a left curving pool, below a mountainside clearing on river right where a park viewpoint exists. Hazards here include a piton rock in the huge hole at the bottom right (above the pillow) and the "Room of Doom" on the bottom left (wrong side of the pillow). There is also a second pillow just above the main pillow, and Volkswagen Rock just below and to the right of the pillow. The rapids has a natural tendency to blow the boat to the left. At the same time one must not go right too soon because of the nasty piton hole down there. Best line? Narrowly avoid all the holes on the left and bottom right, then paddle like hell unless you plan to splat the pillow. A swim in the Room of doom is never a fun thing to do and a swim anywhere else is generally deep and long, so take a good deep breath before taking a dive.
Lost Paddle and Tumble Home: Located at the end of the Carnifex Ferry pool which is also the confluence with the Lower Meadow. Check to see how much water is coming out of the Meadow. You may not be in Kansas anymore. It’s not uncommon for several thousand CFS to join you at this point and with a low release the volume can more than double.
This is the rapids I use to gage a paddlers readiness to run this river. It’s the one major rapids that is very difficult to portage. This very long series consists of the 3 drops of Lost Paddle (4 at low levels) and a the boiling, twisting drops of Tumblehome at the bottom. The undercuts are legendary and the drops are big, boiling, and shallow all at the same time. There are major eddies between drops and I’ve dispensed much aspirin below third drop to paddlers who’s helmets probably saved them. Swims here are very long and serious with a risk of flush drowning or being swept into one of the dozens of undercuts lining the banks. Help swimmers as quickly as can safely be done. It is in one of these undercuts that Bob Taylor perished in 1977. He was probably the best paddler in the state. Please be careful.
Conestooga: As the next large rapids below Tumblehome, this two drop rapids is marked by a wagon looking rock on the left. A dangerous ledge on the right side includes a bad hole on the far right and a deadly undercut slot towards the middle end. There have been one drowning and several near misses in this slot and several bad recirculations in the far right hole.
Ship Rock, or Table rock: Next (and the second rapids below Tumblehome) is a long wide rapids marked by a long flat rock blocking the river at the bottom. The rock itself is severely undercut. The left end is known as the Orange Juice Squeezer. There have been many near misses here, some requiring emergency breathing. The problem is that there is an eddy under the undercut that catches swimmers and keeps them from being swept out to safety. While even this writer has been known to occasionally run this side, precision is of utmost importance and anything that might compromise precision is enough to seriously consider paddling the other, safer, right side.
While there is a cheat route all the way down the right side, most people start in a narrow left bank channel through the first half of the rapids and then cut across the wide, turbulent waves back to the right side. For most paddlers, there is plenty of time to make this move.
Iron Ring: Two rapids later is Iron Ring. This rapids, which was blown up early in this century by loggers, consists of a large wide slide and a bottom obstruction known as Woodstock Rock. At 600cfs you can see Snoopy’s friend snoozing here. The danger is on the left side of Woodstock Rock where a narrow boat wide slot makes a 90 degree bend. If debris or a boat becomes lodged here, then a swimmer’s bets are off. There is a large tail ender hole on the right side of the slide that throws boats towards Woodstock so most run left to right and avoid the mayhem.
At levels below 2000 the diagonal route becomes very shallow and the few attempts that are made typically include the hole on the far right side. Severe tail enders often send the boater into Woodstock which now creates a pillow with a whole lot of current going the wrong way. This writer has seen many head and dental injuries, especially among raft customers, at levels below 2000 as well as many frantic, and so far (barely) successful, attempts by hard boaters to stay out of the twisting left slot.
A note far away from the beaten path: Some of the eddies in the rock pile on the left bank have serious drains in them, especially at lower levels.
Sweet Falls: A mile or so below Iron Ring is a band of cliffs that comes down to the river on the right side. Hazards here include "Dildo Rock" on the left side of the drop, Undercuts in the "room of doom" area, some bad holes for those who wander way too far right. There is also a potential vertical pin at lower levels, especially in longer boats. In a famous incident, one open boater spent more than 4 hours pinned under water here at a level below 2000 cfs.
Cheat or portage far left. If you’re running the main drop, stay to the right side of the depression and even on top of the very first hump on the right side of the depression. Don’t go too far right though, paddles get broken there. Sometimes you can see the rooster tail Dildo rock kicks up. I was a witness to it’s naming when a raft was turned into a very large condom here (one passenger was momentarily trapped in the rigging!).
Woods Ferry (Lesser Insignificant): A couple of miles below the Mason’s Branch is a long rapids culminating in a left hook over a large rock/hole. Drive to the left or sneak the right bank to avoid the hole. The Woods Ferry access is in the pool below.
Back Ender: Just above the Bucklick access point is Backender. This rapids starts gradually and ends in a large keeper hole at the bottom. Stay left at the bottom to avoid it, or paddle very hard (good luck).
The Lower Gauley:
Koontz Flume: Just below the Bucklick access point is Koontz Flume with it’s wonderful 5 boat hole. It’s easy to stay away from the house size undercut on the right bank half way down the rapids but be aware. In 1999 an unfortunate paddler missed a commonly caught eddy just above this undercut and swam into an undercut immediately above the house sized one. The victim had joined a group of strangers at the put-in for his first trip. Because this was basically the first eddy in the run his group didn’t have a chance to assess his skills. Those with doubts can sneak down the left side, but watch for a couple of pinning rocks near the bank before charging to the left bank to avoid 5 boat hole.
Junkyard: Named for a feature on the bank, this common rapids can get very shallow and ornery on the popular and easier river left side. Please be careful.
Mash: This monster includes a great raft pinning boulder at the bottom of Upper mash. Just above it are some irregular holes that can cause an intermediate kayaker to swim. There is a large eddy on river right between drops, try to swim there if you must, rather than swimming Lower Mash. Lower Mash is BIG…. Good luck.
Stair Steps: Shortly below cliff side rapids, and just above Pure Screaming Hell is what looks like a typical Lower Gauley rapids. The Bottom of the rapids includes a large ugly upstream facing slab of rock a with water exploding upward and over it. Stay on the left half of this rapids, but be ready for the rocks that lurk just under the surface.
Pure Screaming Hell: Long and forceful with plenty of holes and other action ending with a right to left slalom around some serious holes. Although these holes are punchable, fish counting is the usual result of a successful attempt, impromptu rodeo is another unpopular result. There is a nasty sieve on the right bank just above to the last major hole and the water wants to take you there.
The final rapids: Beware of an undercut at the narrow, runnable (if you can get to it), slot on the right bank where the rapids funnels down. There have been several incidents here.
The Gauley is a beautiful river with incredible play opportunities. There are countless places to test one’s skills, strength, and endurance. The purpose of the above information is not to scare those who would otherwise have a great time there, but to make allow people more aware of the dangers. As my friend said so long ago, "It’s just a big play river". But it can still have a nasty bite. So please be careful out there.
Have a wonderful trip,
Lee Belknap,
American Whitewater Safety Chairman
copyright 1999, American Whitewater