Up and Down

This morning was spent at the top of of the New River Gorge, and the afternoon was spent at the bottom of the Gorge.

First, the top.  After finishing a group breakfast we drove to the trailhead for the Diamond Point overlook.  A 1.5 mile hike through a thick forest containing lots of rhododendrons brought us to the overlook.  Some of the rhododendrons were still in bloom. Must be quite the sight when they are all in bloom.

Diamond Point looks over a section of the river containing Class 4 and Class 5 rapids, a favorite stretch for more experienced boaters.  Several rafts could be seen, shooting the rapids.  We could hear the shouts and screams from way on the rim of the gorge.

After a quick lunch at the campground we headed out for the bottom of the gorge, an 8-mile rafting trip.  There were 8 of us and one raft fits 8 people.  Perfect.  

This section of river was more sedate than the section seen from Diamond Point, having Class 1 and Class 2 rapids.  Not as much an adrenaline journey as a trip on a beautiful river with some splashing and excitement thrown in for good measure.

We rode to the put-in point in an old school bus, courtesy of the outfitter, West Virginia Adventures.  Our guide, Sam, was an amiable young man with a lot of knowledge of the river, including the history of the area.  It’s part of what made this trip interesting and memorable was his nearly constant commentary on the local lore and history.  At 24 years old, he has probably lived more life than most people and has that youthful energy.  He rowed the raft for the entire 8 miles, including several stretches with no appreciable current, all while sharing his deep knowledge of the river.

While Sam was preparing the raft, several of us took a dip in the river.  The water was quite warm and pleasant.

We covered 8 miles of river in about three hours.  A long time to sit on a raft, but the scenery and the rapids were worth it.

We didn’t get back to the campground until after 7:30pm.  We were responsible for serving dinner to the group this evening and when we got back to the RV, we discovered that an electrical overload had shut everything down, including the potatoes we had cooking in the Instant Pot.  So it was a mad scramble to reheat the potatoes while warming up the pulled pork for dinner.  We pulled it off however, and everyone got fed.

Right as dinner was ending a few raindrop started to fall and thunder could be heard in the distance.  Another scramble to clean everything up and get it all inside, but the rain never materialized, other than a few drops.