Sovern Run

This small Big Sandy tributary has, as well as the ubiquitous downed logs every ten feet, a history of Acid Mine Drainage. Click here to read of Friends of the Cheat's successful project to improve Sovern Run! (Clicking will open a new browser window.)

From a post to rec.boats.paddle:

Creekin' Sovern Run Style!

November 26, 1999

Craig and Dave

Sovern Run begins on the hill high above Rockville, West Virginia, by meandering through a farm and cow pasture before making its approximate 200+ foot-per-mile descent to the Big Sandy. The cow pasture explains the bad taste of the creek but does it have anything to do with the class V rating! If you don't like 'em steep, narrow, slot filled, and hard to scout, go no further than reading this description or maybe driving beside it on the way to Rockville.

Craig and I scouted most of the run before deciding if we could/should run it. Starting at the bottom and working up river, nothing appeared too difficult until we reached the first rapid. Long and steep with 3 linked moves and no way to stop between them. A missed line could result in anything from a pin to a major loss of skin or emergency room visit. The line was complicated and not runnable, due to an unavoidable log sticking in the crux of the second move. Well, at least that was the case until 'Hercu-Craig' was able to move the log. The pending reality of running this rapid made my heart start to pound. It's one of those times when you know you are good enough but also know you can get hurt if you make a mistake. Few words were spoken as we dressed, a sure sign that we were undertaking something serious. After putting on, you have no warm-up. 50 feet and 2 micro-eddies later, you sit at the point of commitment. 'You going?, I'll go, You going?.' I reviewed the line in my head. Over a ledge, close to an undercut, don't get shoved under the bank,

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