Cheat, Shavers Fork

Got another opportunity on 4/17/2004 to run the Shaver's Fork- the level when we put on at 9:00 AM was 3.6 ft Bemis, 6.0 ft Cheat Bridge. We found that this run was much scrapier this time around, despite the fact that the water was only an inch or so lower; keep this in mind when planning trips up here- small changes in water level overnight can be a big difference. Several of the smaller rapids at the top and a few of the larger rapids below High Falls were very tough to negotiate, causing us to run aground or become pinnned a few times. High Falls itself was too low for the Shredders this time, although a kayak could have easily ran it. One thing we have noticed about the drop on both trips is that the river right side of the falls is very dangerous- a massive boil (the boil constantly surges 3-4 feet above the pool level) blocks the outflow of the hole at the base of the falls. Additionally, due to the low water we noticed that there is a recess behind the waterfall curtain on this side of the falls that would not be a good place to end up. After running this section again, I realized that there were a few difficult and possibly dangerous rapids I simply didn't remember from the first trip. Most of these are straightforward but strong class 4 rapids similar to the bigger rapids on the Kitzmiller section of the North Branch Potomac. One rapid, though, deserves a mention, and comes about 2 miles below High Falls. The river bends slightly to the left and several large, rounded boulders split the flow into slots on river right. These slots carry the majority of the river's flow, as opposed to a wide, shallow, rocky sneak on river left. Unfortunately, these slots are completely blind from the top, and all of these boulders are severely undercut. The line starts from river right and forces the paddler to work hard towards river left through a narrow slot, avoiding a center channel which had 3 trees pinned in it today. This drop is pretty sketchy due to the undercuts and trees- if you are unsure about the safety of the passage it is best to try and bang down the sneak on river left. In general, we noticed alot more undercuts this run down; most of the major rapids have at least one undercut boulder or shelf of rock which would be fatal to a swimmer- one guy dropped his paddle on accident only to watch it disappear underneath a rock shelf just downstream (it never came out). As far as water level is concerned, kayakers should be fine down to the minimums in the guidebooks; rafters, however, would be wise to stay off the water unless it is at least 3.7 at Bemis- higher is probably better still though.