Roaring Creek (Tygart Valley River tributary)

4/23/06 - I just managed to catch this after very heavy rains. This may be the best Class 4-5, very small creek in WV! I don't agree at all with a Class 3-4 rating. Also, the guidebook says that one mile is up to 160 fpm, which seems more accurate than 80 fpm.

I was later told that I put on with five 'bricks' showing on the bridge, left side, downstream; this is a reasonable minimum. An absolute, abusive minimum might be with 5 1/2 bricks showing.

After one mile or so of flatwater , there are 3 ledges---NOT, as has been reported, a 3-foot ledge. The first two ledges come up suddenly and are not really scoutable, due to the eddy-less solid slab streambed with laurel branches overhanging both banks. Fortunately, the third, Class 5 ledge is scoutable on the left. The ledge is about 5-6 feet and has something horrible, even evil, buried in it, but I don't know for sure what. It could be a rock or it could be a '54 Ford or anything else, but it is very sharp, and not to be messed with. I glanced lightly off its right side, and it tore a deep gouge in my new boat. This thing is nasty, and a portage (easy, left) would be a good idea.

Below here, a long slab/slide (about 1/4+ mile) is Class 2 for a long ways, and would make/has made an excellent tubing place, at the proper level. Know when to take out, though, because the bottom soon drops out. A very enjoyable, steep, Class 4 boulder garden ends at two old bridge piers. (In this garden was a drop with a hidden, submerged potential pin rock below a ledge--be careful.)

These piers are at the upstream end of the only pool. At the downstream end of this pool is a log jam that is entirely disproportional to the size of the stream. At the minimum level, I was able to limbo underneath, barely avoiding a face-smash as I frantically paddled for the eddy on the right; at other levels, it's a portage---right would be best, I'd say. And, oh, yeah, this log jam is the first move in a long, complex rapid. If you fail to catch this eddy, you might end up going down the rapid upside-down and backwards---or, at least, a brief scout would definitely be helpful. I seem to recall running it over to the right side, somewhere.

If I haven't messed up the sequence, the next big drop is one that I call Turbo-Heinzerling (I'd call it Class 5-); I don't know if it has been named by anyone else. A pillowed rock in the center blocks the stream. The right side funnels into a sieve against an overhanging rock wall. The left side of the pillow drops into a narrow slot that is too narrow for a boat---possible pin, or a flip into the ledge hole below. A bit farther left/ upstream is an awkwardly sloping launch rock that sends one toward an undercut rock that is avoidable---the true line.

An island appears soon. The right side is so narrow that one tree/log could make a deadly pinning spot, and I don't think that there are eddies over there. I went down the left side, and, at the downstream end, I 'wheelchaired' across a damp rock on the right end of a ledge to avoid nasty, overhanging slots and pinning rocks below the jagged left end of the ledge.

The next rapid involves three potential lines that are difficult/impossible(?) to scout, unless you plan further ahead than I did. I ended up going right, through a narrow slot against an undercut cliff---this was only marginally satisfactory, but, with low water, I had no real choice. Scouting here is difficult. This seemed Class 5-ish to me, as well, but would probably be easier with more water.

Below, more Class 3-4 rapids took me down under the last bridge (strong hole) and then to the Tygart, where I took out on river right, downhill from the Kynett United Methodist Church at 250/13 (old 250).

To see the lower part of the creek, turn east from 53 on Scott Rd, CR 5/5, and take the left fork to the lowest bridge. When southbound on 53, this is a 160-degree left turn.

At any level higher than the minimum, this would likely be a nightmare to scout/boat-scout, because it is so small, and would probably be a bad idea for first-timers. (4 1/2 bricks showing might be ideal.) It reminds me a lot of Fikes Creek, although much smaller, and is somewhere between Drake's Run and Sovern Run in size and technicality. I've heard that there are some mystery boaters out there who have done it higher (3 bricks showing), but I guess they must know it very well, or they're big risk-takers. (When I did it, I see after checking some gauges via the internet, the Tygart at Dailey gauge was peaked at 5.4 and 1600 cfs; the Belington gauge was peaked at 9.3 and 4500 cfs. If it's rising, you'd better get there fast! I barely caught it as it was dropping, not as quickly as expected.) At low, sane levels, though, it's great fun!