Meadow (Gauley River trib.)

While boating the middle meadow today we had a near terminal pin. In the second main drop of the Miracle Mile you will see a river right, house sized boulder, with numerous trees growning on top (there is a yellow knotted rope on the backside that people climb up from). The rapid consits of a eight foot wide shoot, between a left center boulder and a center right slanting rock, that the majority of the current flows through. A green tongue drops over a 3' ledge and into a moderate foam pile with outflow moving easily down stream. At the level today, 800 cfs, there is no indication of any obstruction in this drop; definitive boil line, roostertail, etc.

When running the chute I went deep into the hole and my bow hit an obstruction and put me into a side surf with the tongue of water pouring on my side. I flipped upstream and was pushed upstream into a depression under the drop. All I could feel was rock to my upstream side and head/back. My paddle lodged between the depression and the downstream rock. I hand rolled up, surfed a bit with my downstream side bashing into the obstruction, flipped again, rolled, flipped, then I pulled the cord. Exiting the boat the cockpit was facing downstream and temporarily trapped one leg between it and the obstruction. Not good for anybody. I swam free but the boat pushed under water and pinned.

Examining the drop as the water level went down throughout the day, the main drop is formed by a three foot ledge that contains an upstream cave. About a foot under water, four feet downstream is an undercut rock, facing upstream, sitting perpindicular to the flow. I believe the shape allows it to act as a sieve. I have never heard of this hazard's presence before and has not been an issue at higher water. Be wary running this chute at levels less than 1000cfs...I feel very lucky to have exited this spot alive.

UPDATE - 3-27-04

Boat and paddle recovered...pics above.