Recycle your gear at Gauley Fest!

If you have broken, worn out, or non-functioning gear taking up space, bring it to Gauley Fest and I will recycle it for you.
There will be a booth set up with a large recycling logo. Drop your gear at the tent and I'll do the legwork to recycle the items. No fees or hoops to jump through.
This is not a solicitation for second hand gear to re-use. I'm offering to RECYCLE the petroleum based gear we use into raw materials. Nobody wants to keep your faded 25 year old hi-float PFD.

I can accept: 

• Helmets 
• Paddles 
• Boats
• Base layers 
• Splash gear and dry gear 
• PFD's 
• Skirts 

I know I hang on to dead gear longer than I should, and one of the reasons is that there is a lack of good locations to recycle the material. I've been able to identify several companies that can accept used materials, break them down, and integrate them into new products.
Fiberglass, polyethylene, nylon, polyester, foam, aluminum, and steel can all be recycled.
So bring out that old creek boat cracked in three places, the board shorts you can see through, and that skirt better suited as a colander and get rid of them!

Please feel free to comment below with questions, or email me at jbseay@yahoo.com

Hope to see you there!

~JB Seay

Middle Cherry

June 20, 2009.
I am sitting in my boat, alone in an eddy. Cliffs on both sides, and a 40' waterfall roars below. Double the expected flows are pouring over an unexpected drop.
Everybody else ran it and was fine.
I've never run a drop this big.
The portage has poison oak and wet cliffs. Even if you manage to seal launch in by yourself, you might get spanked against that wall, and in the hole below. You don't wanna be the guy that swam out of a seal launch.
I don't want to run this.
I don't really have a choice.
I'm gonna run this.
Line up here, get to the edge, and send it home...

We had an adventure on Middle Cherry Creek. We put on at the confluence with Eleanor Creek, and found ourselves with 750cfs or so. A lot more than the 300 we saw at the take-out, that the groups the day before had paddled. Guess they turned it up while were running shuttle. It was a bit more of a day than I was looking for, but it was also an experience I won't forget. Middle Cherry is a classic granite mix of bedrock and boulder pile, sieves and waterfalls. I hope to get back someday.



Hiking in. This was referred to as the Ewok jungle. As in, it would be a lot easier to navigate if you were an Ewok. If you hike in at the confluence, DO NOT get down in that ravine.


First Portage. Bad hybrid of heavy water and mank. Adam Johnson photo. I think the river right portage was better, the wall Shannon and I are walking along was slick and exposed.

Jay Moffat boofing into a Big Boulder Garden.

Early Portage. Not sure where/if this gets run at lower water. Adam Johnson photo.

Jay Moffat on a nice clean bedrock falls.

Shannon Carroll on a sweet ramping drop right below. Gorgeous Place.
I drove too far left here, and smeared off the rock with no speed. Fell into the hole below flat, disappeared into the foam, and then hit the green water behind it. It stopped me immediately, and I buoyed back up into a short surf. I'm not sure I'm explaining that well, but it was a unique experience. Enough so that I was laughing as it happened.


Shannon Carroll right above the big waterfall

Shannon Carroll on the big waterfall. (Freebird? Quarterpipe?)

Jay Moffat on the same. I asked what his line was gonna be, and he succinctly replied, "I'm gonna boof the s**t out of it. " He did. Worked well.

Late portage. (Crazy Train?) Boil in the landing area was too aggressive for our mix of time/level/injuries.

Other notes:
1. Observing the others contrasting paddling style was interesting. Don't know why it stood out that day, but it did.
-Jay took hard, precise strokes, like he was literally punching holes. Strong, intense and in control.
-Adam paddled with the efficient, fluid style of a playboater, and of a youngster who already has more days boating than most will ever log.
-Shannon boats with grace and comfort. She tends to glide through the chaos like she's dancing. Even when we made her sit in her boat, in an eddy, for fifteen minutes while we portaged across/through a sieve, next to a huge complex drop. Which she cleaned.

2. I was an extremely happy, relieved dude when, shortly before dark, I saw a diversion dam with a small shed next to it. Building=Access=Egress. Below the diversion dam was a huge slide into falls that we wanted no part of, but has gone nicely at lower flows for other people.

3. There was a lot more I originally wanted to talk about when I started writing this:
-Differences between vacation paddling and expedition paddling (and paddlers),
-Coping with loss and fear, as this was right after Ed Gaker drowned in Colorado. He was supposed to be with us on this trip. My head was all messed up.
But, I could never find a tone I was comfortable with, so you are stuck with some bullet points and a notion.

4. There are more photos from our day at my picasaweb, and Adam's
The Caliproduct crew has several photos from the trip the day before. Start here and click previous to browse through on chronological order. They also have one of those new fangled motion pictures from the same run.
Geoff Calhoun ran it this summer at low flows, but still had a fun time. I'm glad to see his reaction above the big falls was similar to mine. I may be alone on this, but I enjoy his running commentary on go-pro clips.

The art of Porte Crayon

I've always been drawn to the sketches of David hunter Strother, who wrote numerous articles for mid- 19th century periodicals under the nom de plume "Porte Crayon".
Strother covered a wide variety of topics and places, but his words and sketches of the Allegheney Highlands, in particular, appeal to me. You can read about him at the WVU library, and see a huge catalog of his sketches here.
You can read his book Virginia Illustrated on Google Books. I conveniently linked it to open on a page with what looks a lot like Pendleton Falls, a tributary to the Upper Blackwater. The story contains themes familiar to anyone who has boated in the area. Logistical uncertainties, hiking under hemlocks, scrambling through seemingly endless rhododendron thickets.
Another visit to West Virginia, entitled "The Mountains" was written about for Harper's New Monthly Magazine, in April of 1872.

So how does this relate specifically to boating? I took a good hard look at several of the sketches I really liked, and tried to figure out where they were, and even from what perspective they were drawn. In particular, I chose two shots from the North Fork of the Blackwater; one of Douglas Falls, and one looking up toward Double Indemnity.

What's wrong with this picture?

I went looking back in my files for a different photo, and stumbled on this one instead. Both guys in the photo are gone. Drowned while pursuing our sport.
Perhaps it is because I am going to Don's funeral in an hour, perhaps because the two year anniversary of Ed's death is coming up fast, maybe I'm just depressed. Whatever the reason, I saw this and just kind of ground to a halt.

There are a lot of things right with it, this photo. The North Fork of the Blackwater, around 1.7 or 1.8. Good water. Good friends. Mostly good lines, although I think that was the last time I bothered running Junkyard, the put in rapid. I haven't been seeing eye to eye with it since it last shifted around.
The eddy is the beginning of what was a casual run, on our toes enough to be safe and have fun, but not gripped, or anxious about what lay downstream on this familiar creek.

(I realize this is a disjointed mess, and the following paragraphs are nothing new, but I needed to get them out of my head so I could look at it, and solicit ideas.)

I can't get past the questions, not yet anyway. Is it going to happen again? Will I end up watching it happen to someone else? Will it happen to me? Is it worth it, do I enjoy what I am doing enough to keep going out there? Am I good enough? I've talked a lot with friends this week. Talked about boaters whose careers I admire. One commonality is that all the names that pop up are still around, which was probably why I cited them. Still boating engaging, difficult whitewater, but paddling far enough back from the edge of their abilities to be safe and comfortable.
We also talked about different kind of paddlers, how different people pursue the sport, how the adventure smooths out our wrinkles, lets us focus and flow in the moment. And how, for some, it takes an escalating challenge to keep finding yourself locked in. How do you find that balance to stay safe and engaged? I don't want a faux exciting amusement park ride, but Its miserable to keep losing friends, peers, to what is essentially play.
Some people paddle for fun occasionally, some people paddle a lot for the experience and the joy. Some people paddle so much that its a major, if not THE major component of who they are. If I had to guess, I'd say that last group is where most of the people we keep losing came from. Is it only because they have a higher exposure?
Finally, I have to agree with Doug Ammons on this one: "He died doing what he loved" is a cliche that needs retired, ASAP.

2011 Big Sandy Race (when C-1's attack!)

While running the Big Sandy on Friday, a light bulb went off about the coming weekend: The forecast was for a little bit of rain, and then sunshine and 80 degree temps on Sunday. The rain would hold a nice comfy level on the Big Sandy, and what better way to enjoy the sunshine than a race down our mainstay run? (The times are at the bottom if you have to skip ahead)

A bakers dozen showed up Sunday afternoon, with the usual suspects out of Morgantown, plus a few new faces. The agreed upon format was a mass start sprint race from the put-in bridge at Rockville to the pool below Wonder Falls. The course is easy class 3-4, and 1.2 miles long. The day of the race, we had about 6.2' on the gauge at Rockville.

We had ten longboats and three shortboats in a pretty tight bunch. I was behind all the longboats, but could still see the leader, Ben Ledewitz, all the way in to the rapid above Wonder. He had a pretty comfy lead, with Eric Henrickson and Jack Ditty battling for the second spot as they came to the lip of Wonder Falls. Which is when things got interesting.
We had debated whether to end the race as you landed Wonder, or to move it to a rock downstream to allow for final second passes and carnage penalties off the falls. I'm going to let the photos from photographer and artist Annie Simcoe do the talking.






Do note that Jack is looking back to check on Eric.

Hey look, here comes Brad and Brian!


At this point Eric is downstream of his boat swimming hard for the finish line. I imagine Brian (green Green Boat) had quite a view as he came over the lip here. Charlie Walbridge was standing next to Annie when she took this photo, so that makes it all okay right?

The above series all happened in about 10 seconds, and included but not shown was Eric Nies running the falls and passing a swimming Eric Henrickson to claim third place.
The remainder of the race was pretty tame. We had less than 90 seconds separating the first and last finishers, which made the jobs of Mike Vanderberg and Ty Miller, our official timekeepers (translation: buddies I conned into helping at the put-in) VERY busy. No further wrecks or carnage, however.
Thanks to everbody who came and raced, Thank You to Ty and Mike for helping keep times and finishes, and Thank You to Annie for letting me use her pics from the day. Much appreciated.
More of Annie's photo's in a chronological order slideshow below. Note the race winners attire, obviously drytops make you slow.

Ben Ledewitz 9:10 LB Jack Ditty 9:43 LB C-1 Eric Nies 9:48 LB Eric Henrickson 9:49 LB Brad Buddenberg 9:50 LB Brian Menzies 9:51 LB Art Barket 9:52 LB Dave Gore 9:58 LB James Fogartie 10:08 SB JB Seay 10:10 SB Brad Romano 10:19 SB Kathrin Allen 10:37 WLB Lila Menzies 10:37 WLB

2011 Top Yough Race

Almost 40 kayakers came out on a snowy, chilly April morning to race down Maryland's Top Yough . This was the largest turnout by far for the Isaac Ludwig Memorial Race. This year we had about 250 cfs on the gauge in Oakland. Not as much as previous years, which is reflected in the times. Speaking of times, here is race organizer Jon Harmon announcing them to the crew:
Roger Loughney provided start times for everyone and ran sweep on the race, and Walter Augustine went out in front and recorded everyone's finish time at Suckhole rapid. Thanks Fellas!
Jason Beakes won for the 2nd straight year, and Charley Bartlett won the shortboat class for the 2nd time in 3 years. Jack Ditty was the fastest C-1 as usual. We had a ladies class this year, which was won by Paula Knochel in her inaugural race.
Full spreadsheet of times is at the bottom.

The pre-race HQ and post race party were held at Streams and Dreams rental cottage, which was perfect for getting ready beforehand, and for partying after the race. The cottage is a great location to stay if you wanted to paddle in the area. Sleeps 8+, right at the Top Yough takeout, and close to a whole lot of other boating.
We got to eat great food, and check out several hundred photos of everyone's run at Swallow Falls:
Kayakers Love Pictures

Zach Yomboro shot this video of all the racers on Swallow Falls. Pretty cool, and much appreciated. You can see a mix of lines, with a lot of the longboats choosing to go left of center.



The snow on the course made it extra beautiful out there. Good for snowballs at the finish line too.

Full times for the 2011 race:

Jason Beakes	10:26	Overall Winner
Ben Ledewitz	10:34
Jack Ditty	10:42	Fastest C-1
Jon Harmon	11:01	AwesomeOrganizer
Geoff Calhoun	11:05
Matt Fithian	11:08
Andrew Robinson	11:10
Charley Bartlett	11:45	Fastest Shortboat
Bobby Miller	11:51	#2 Shortboat
Micah Weglinski	11:51
Art Barket	11:52
Travis Coles	12:07
Martin Wick	12:09
Justin Teague	12:10	#3 Shortboat
Randy Greidever	12:16
Blake Huber	12:26
Jeff Blood	12:31
Roger Loughney	12:35
Seth Chapelle	12:37	#2 C-1
Andrew Miller	12:38
Andrew McCauley	12:38
Chris Schwer	12:38
Dave and Rob Fusilli	12:48
Matt Burnstein	12:49
JB Seay	12:56
Nori Onishi	12:57
Matt Sloan	13:04
John Stephens	13:15
Paula Knochel	13:18	Fastest Womens
Sean Chapelle	13:27
Max Harbert	13:39
Chris Heim	13:44
Mackenzie Hatcher	13:49	#2 Womens
Bob Norr	13:56
Nico Zegre	14:02
Laura Lindzey	14:26	#3 Womens

If I HAD to leave

The smarter, better half has been interviewing for a Residency position in various locales. I tagged along and got a chilly run on the Green.
If I had to leave West Virginia, I could think of worse rivers to have in the backyard:


Dave from Johnson City on a lap of Gorilla, Scream Machine, and Nies's Pieces.

Jack Frost is a kayaker

Stewart, one of my most stalwart paddling buddies, after a solo run on the Lower Meadow.
Glad his better half had a nice warm car waiting for him.

Kayaking advice from a three year old

Hey Isaac, I'm gonna go kayaking





(sticks head out from shower curtain)
You got your paddle!?




It's right here buddy (waves paddle)





You come back?






I'll be back later




Okay! (goes back to showering)






(kayaks the Big Sandy. returns home. )




Hi Daddy!





You fall in the river?






Nope, I stayed in my kayak.





OKAY! (wanders off to toys)

Notes from the Upper Blackwater

I love the Blackwater River, and enjoy the opportunity to paddle it. I also have a great deal of respect for it, bordering on fear at times. I've donated lots of skin, a paddle, bad lines, a few beatdowns, and way too much adrenaline to the King of the Canaan area runs. Its an unforgiving streambed, raw from repeated high water scouring and jumbled with sieves and ill-placed rocks.

Here are some notes and river updates from a weekend trip. I took several photos of the site of a fatal accident, at Flatliner Falls, to try and further understanding of where/what happened.
High water this spring has also moved a few things around and put wood in unfriendly places, so I tried to note that as well. Clicking on any photo should open a larger version.
I think paddlers familiar with the Upper Blackwater will notice other subtle changes in rock positions and some scouring effects in various parts of the river. If you have noticed any other changes you think people should watch out for, please feel free to comment on them below


Great view from Backbone Mountain on the way over to the river.


Beautiful Blackwater Falls, from the overlook at the put-in parking lot. 220cfs or so. The usgs Gauge at Davis may be reading 20 or so cfs low, maybe more at higher flows. Time and more runs should develop a consensus on any changes.

Adam Johnson finishing up Tomko. The standard left line ( a 6 or 8' boof, driving right) on the bottom falls has a log in it. It is covered at higher flows, but in the low 200cfs range we had, it sticks out into the line. We ran center.

Wide view of Flatliner Falls, the site of a fatal accident on October 1. The line is to boof straight, off the furthest protrusion of the ledge. You are fighting the flow and gravity as you come around the corner and drive to the point. At the time of the accident, there was aproximately 400cfs in the river, almost double the flow pictured here.

From above, showing the tilt of the ledge to the left.

The pin spot/pocket is in the center of the photo. There have been several non-fatal pins here prior to Friday's drowning.


Log in the Turncoat boof crack, on the far right entrance to "My Nerves are shot, I can't take it anymore" Its good the crack is filled, but the log could definitely spoil a line if you are unaware of it.

Staying Engaged

Whats going on around here? A move back across the state, a sorely needed kitchen renovation, and the beginning of my wife's fourth year of doctor school. Plus a little whitewater.
Creeking season ended a long, dry time ago, so it's been maintenance paddling mostly. A trip on the New with my Dad, a few runs on the Upper Yough. Enough to remember how and why I do it, and enough to finally wear through the hull on my Burn. I had good luck with that boat, a surprise Father's Day gift,- I never had to swim out of it. I suppose that might be because I boat quality over quantity, or I haven't been pushing myself, but I prefer to attribute it to the good luck of a thoughtful present.

Dry times are a good time to do creek maintenance too. Adam Johnson and I got out on Deckers creek twice for some log removal.

Someone else had already done some work just above here, thanks whoever you are! This one was in the run-out of the creek, just above the old takeout slide.

Moving and busy schedules made us late for our annual Father's Day paddle. We did get out there eventually, and did a Lower Yough trip with our family of four + my Dad, and two other friends with their kids as well.
Five adults, six kids, and a teenage safety boater made an entertaining flotilla.
Isaac with my Dad in the doldrums. Every wave that crashed on our duckie was met with a gleeful "Do it again!". Just like his big brother.


Patrick tried out a Thrillkitty in the doldrums, and liked it enough that his Grandparents ordered one a few days later.


He was not nearly as big a fan of the thunderstorm that rolled through during lunch at Swimmers.

We picked up the brand new boat from Custom Inflatables a few weeks later, and got right out on the water. We are very pleased with the boat; incredibly stable and light. Perfect for a kid to learn in. Dad and I chose an upper mile of the Arden section of the Tygart Valley River for the shakedown cruise. Low water at 180cfs, friendly geology, road side access, and a swimmin hole where we took out made for a great run.


The big one of the day.

I commented to a friend that taking my family out on the water puts joy back in river sections (or levels) that I had written off for MY pursuits. The changing priorities of taking the whole family out is actually going to get me on a lot of river stretches I've rarely, if ever, seen. I'm looking forward to it as much as I am the next steep creek run.

Almost everyone looking at the camera.

2010 Top Yough Race

Sunday, March 28 just over a dozen boaters got together for the Isaac Ludwig Memorial Race on Maryland's Top Yough.
We had about 550cfs, which made for a very fun race course, and quicker times than last year.
Reigning champion Geoff Calhoun was unable to make the race, so this year Jason Beakes came in and claimed the title and a sweet Limited Edition GreenVest. Geoff also missed out on getting chased again by the angry goose next to the hydro plant, so I took his place as the outlet for the wrath of that particular Branta canadensis.

I really appreciate Jon and Roger getting everybody rounded up for the race, and Thanks to Walter Augustine for timekeeping.

Paddler	Time	Boat	Note
Jason Beakes	8:45	Green Boat	That is Fast
Matt Fithian	9:30	Green Boat
Brian Menzies	9:32	Green Boat
Sam Kane	9:35	Green Boat
Jay Ditty	9:44	Response C-1
Jon Harmon	9:45	Green Boat
Adam Johnson	9:54	Magnum	Fastest shortboat
Charlie Bartlett	10:00	Karnali
Nathan Sass	10:06	Green Boat
Clay Warren	10:23	Green Boat
Nori Onishi	10:39	Jefe	Fastest Asian
JB Seay	10:41	Burn	Slowest Asian
Roger Loughne	10:45	Jefe
Billy Clipper	10:50	Nomad	Handpaddle Champ
Cody Walsh	11:09

High Ridge Run

In WV, the Allegheney Front is the boundary between the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Allegheney Plateau. It also helps to divide the Potomac drainage from that of the Ohio River (which the New, Gauley, Cheat, Youghioghney, and Tygart all join) in our State. The various branches of the Potomac have been boated for years, and are well know for their scenery; soaring Seneca Rocks, the wildlife and fishing of The Trough. Seneca Creek, a major tributary flowing off the highest point in the state, is one of the traditional Canaan area steep creeks, and was a proving ground in the infancy of vertical waterfalls and steep creeking. Exploration of other, smaller creeks has been minimal, with access, tiny streambeds, wood, and small flow windows deflecting a lot of effort. It is understandable, particularly when there is great class V boating ready to go on the other side of the escarpment. Interest and exploration has revived along the front however, and this past weekend I got to enjoy a great new creek.
High Ridge Run collects itself in a small drainage below one of the steepest parts of the Front. At the put in, the creek is tiny, and grows slowly as it drops 1000' in two miles toward the North Fork of the South Branch of the Potomac.
Harpers Ferry boater Mike Moore has been scouting this creek for years. I knew it as "Mike Moore's Secret Creek" long before I knew its name or location. He has scouted, checked on access, chatted with landowners and fisherman, and spent weekend after weekend clearing logs from drops and learning the creek. He must have a good Tom Sawyer speech too, because he drafted his friends to help him get things boatable. The hard work paid off, and I can't thank those guys enough for their effort.
Saturday morning found nearly twenty people hiking up a forest road to the top of the creek.

Sometimes the gate is open, but this was not one of those weekends. We climbed 1400' in two miles before turning left and crossing another mile down into the very top of the creek. I was soaked in sweat and hurting by the time it was done. I am terrible at pacing myself, and currently have sub-optimal fitness. (which begs the question of why I did it again the next day)

The hikers filtering down into the put-in, at the highest runnable portion of the creek.



Chuck Morris on the put in rapids.

The second significant drop: a transition onto a slab and then out.

Busy Busy Busy.
Whoah. Long day for this man, but he did it with a smile and a game effort. Big boat on a little creek.

Sam Burke in one of the more boulder filled rapids on the upper section of creek. The rock to Sam's left dished out a lot of abuse, from scraped knuckles to full on swims. Above this drop is a 12' falls, and a 10' slide, and some other stuff all in sequence with no real stop. I ran it on verbal directions from Chuck, who got them from Mike Moore, who spent much of the day standing on various perches giving out directions like an air traffic controller. (or a mountaintop guru of rapid lines) Beta from Mike, and from Don Smith, who had also been on the creek previously, made for confident probing and bombing away.


Chuck Morris keeping his bow up in a tight LZ. Just below this ledge is a large, broken tree spanning the river. While you portage around the tree, you can take a moment to scout the confluence canyon.

Don Smith runs the second of three drops in this sweet little crux gorge. 20' entrance falls, a 12' or so kicker in the middle, then a twisting slide to exit. At this point on the run, you have traveled about 1/2 a mile and dropped 400'. Awesome.

Geoff Calhoun finishes up the third slide.
A decent sized fork of the creek is entering on the river right, directly into the bottom slide. Beautiful place. The pace eases up somewhat from here down, and our large group of nearly twenty ended up stretched over several hundred yards of creek. Eventually, a handful of us, (chasing Jason Beakes) started moving really fast out in front and we split into two groups.

By really fast I mean we didn't scout here.

Or here. Or countless other ledges and turns. The work Mike and crew did, the super friendly nature of the creek, and some very comfortable probes out front made quick work of the bottom 1 1/2 miles of creek, which were still dropping at a 400-500fpm pace.

Mild mannered elementary school teacher Robert Miller genteelly makes his way down a babbling brook.

Don Smith loads up for the best boof on the creek. Taller than it looks.

Eric Amason charges around the corner and prepares to log dodge.
The creek quieted down even more below here, and was straightforward read and run to the takeout. These photos are by no means a complete representation of the creek, there is lots more I didn't have time or angles to photograph. Think of this blog post like a movie trailer, it tells enough of the story to get your attention, but by no means is it the whole thing.
High Ridge Run is an incredible combination of friendly streambed and gradient. Every drop is runnable, with countless 6-10' ledges and unique falls and rapids. It is a busy creek; there are no real pools anywhere along the run, and an out of control line can take a long time to recover from. Eddies were minimal at times, as can be expected for a micro-creek with this kind of gradient.
More pictures from our run can be seen on my picasaweb album. Hopefully I can add more pics and some video as the media other guys shot becomes available.
For Saturday's run, the NFSB Potomac crested near 11,000 cfs at the Cabins gauge. I don't think there is a direct correlation, but that gauge climbing high combined with heavy local rains is the best indicator that High Ridge Run is flowing. Seneca Creek was also bankfull in nearby Onego, WV on Saturday. A group of us went back in on Sunday, and while the creek was fun, it was really too low, the watershed is quite small for this creek, so catch it on the way up and don't delay, it won't hold it water for long.

Update: an addendum from Mike Moore himself. I'm just gonna quote his e-mail:
"Tim Gavin felt that the Allegany Front held secrets that us kayakers ought to know about, but we were all pre occupied with the Blackwater and North Fork @ the time, and could not be distracted with other things!

Jeff Cogle and I renewed the interest, flyovers on Google Earth and poring over the raised relief topo map Jeff has.

I was the 1st to step and see with boaters eyes, could not believe what I was seeing only a 1/2 mi up the creek bed, Chris Good and I went up to the confluence drop that same day, making it just @ dark. It looked like fantasy land, looking up @ the confluence drop in the fading light.

Back in the following weekend, and following 4 weekends, with Jeff Cogle, Clarke & Jeremy Gesey to begin working away and scouting the Upper section, which was dubbed The Wet Dream Section. Truly amazing section of whiteh2o, more boofs than any creek around, and hardly any boulders.

Exploring out of the High Ridge drainage has been fruitful as well, the whole Allegany Front is peppered with classic class 4-5 creeking in the wettest of times. Its nice to see a new place with world class runs when all of our west side creeks are blown out and our signature east side run[ Seneca] is too high.

So kudos to Timmy Gavin for the thought, and the inspiration to keep searching and discovering.

Somehow, I think Tim was along for that 1st D!"