On September 11, I flew to West Virginia for some whitewater rafting. On this page you will see the photos, meet the people, and hear some stories from the trip.

You will meet Kim, Aletha, Adena, Steve, Dave, Christi & Johnny, Jarhead, and my pilot, Ray McKenzie. You'll hear about good people, our Team Leader, lots of laughs, thrilling whitewater,"green" guides, anticipation, cold feet, great scenery,teamwork, good food, new friends, and a dramatic rescue.

Early Saturday morning, we met at Class VI Whitewater to sign the necessary paperwork, have some coffee and muffins, and meet the other people we would raft downriver with. Jarhead, our bus driver, drove the modified International bus carrying our rafts and supplies slowly down some narrow, winding roads leading us to the put-in. It was chilly, ~50 degrees, but getting warmer quickly.


Aletha, our fearless leader gathered us together to give us a safety talk. Soon, we found ourselves breaking up into groups of six. We figured out early that it would be more fun if we wound up on the more fun raft, and it wasn't long before Johnny, from Tallahassee, Florida, recruited us to join his raft. What a team we turned out to be! We set the pace. We laughed a lot!

Adena was our river guide for the day.
Our team included Johnny and Christi, Dave , Steve, and Kim.

We headed down the river, following Adena's paddling commands through each set of rapids. "All Forward" - "Right Back" - "Take a Break" - "Dig In!"... Miraculously, we managed to keep everyone in the raft.

Occasionally, we could hop out of the raft for a swim or sneak up on one of the other rafts for a water fight! It was all in good fun.

We all got to know each other as we paddled down the New River. Adena, our guide, was originally from Ohio and her love for the outdoors, a man, and river rafting brought her to West Virginia. She has a great smile and shared her candy, sunblock, and life story with everyone on the raft. What she didn't tell us at the time was that this trip was her check-out trip - her first trip guiding on this river. She was considered a "greenie" by the other guides, although we didn't know it at the time.

We all had a lot to learn over the next few hours...together.

The New River

The New River begins high in the mountains of western North Carolina, crosses Virginia, and enters West Virginia near its southernmost tip. It then heads north to join the Gauley River, and form the Kanawha River. In so doing, it manages to transect every ridge of the Alleghenies. Its name is actually a misnomer in that it may be one of the oldest rivers in the world.

New River Gorge National River includes 53 miles of free-flowing New River, beginning at Bluestone Dam and ending at Hawks Nest Lake. The New River typifies big West Virginia style whitewater. Within the park it has two very different characters. The upper (southern) part of the river consists primarily of long pools, and relatively easy rapids up to Class III. It is a big powerful river, but very beautiful, always runnable, and providing excellent fishing and camping. There are a number of different river access points, and trips can run from several hours to several days. The lower (northern) section of river is often referred to as "the Lower Gorge."

In a state that is justifiably renowned for colossal rapids, the Lower Gorge has some of the biggest of the big with rapids ranging in difficulty from Class III to Class V. The rapids are imposing and forceful, many of them obstructed by large boulders which necessitate maneuvering in very powerful currents, crosscurrents, and hydraulics. Some rapids contain hazardous undercut rocks. Although the gradient is a modest 20 ft/mi, the rapids are of the full-grown West Virginia variety: big, brawny, and bodacious!

West Virginia Whitewater Links

CLASS VI River Runners

New River Gorge

O'POSSUM CREEK Retreat

Red Dog River Saloon

Water Levels

The Kennebec Gorge in The Forks, Maine is one of the most popular rafting runs in the country. It combines a beautiful wilderness setting with big water action in a cavernous gorge. A scant 200 yards below the put-in the river accelerates.

The raft hurdles through the Rock Garden, Big Mama and Alleyway rapids lurching over 7-8 foot waves. Then comes Magic Falls, a world class drop.