“It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.”
~Lucius Annaeus Seneca~
Great Falls.............thinking about that place gives me chills. There are lots of boaters reading this post right now who run Great Falls regularly and have no problem with it..............I am not one of those boaters. I will take The Narrows, Lower Meadow, Upper Gauley at high water, etc., long before I want to paddle Great Falls......but I have too. I have to defeat my nemesis. Every boater has them, and Great Falls of the Potomac is mine. Here is what I am referring to for those of you who do not boat.........
Great Falls is just outside of Washington D.C. and drains a large portion of Northern West Virginia and Maryland. There is A LOT of water in Great Falls. It is usually too high to run, which makes the summer the best time to catch it (disregard this summer.....remember, we are in a rare year) There is also A LOT of gradient in a short span at Great Falls. When you combine a ton of water with a lot of gradient, it usually equals one thing........Class V-V+ whitewater........the stuff that will kill you.
I learned to paddle in WNC, which contains tons of creeks. Creeks contain an unbelievable amount of gradient with not a lot of water. Big volume rivers contain a little gradient with A LOT of water. (The James at flood stage is a good example). Great Falls contains both.....which is what makes it so hard. Entering the Falls is a cool experience. You arrive in a parking lot with tourists, walk through forest, and put on to a flat water river that looks like a lake. After a short paddle you drop over a ten foot dam and cruise down some Class II-III for about 200 yards. Ahead of you is what looks like a giant hole in the earth. There is mist rising up out of the hole and huge pointed black rocks peering up over the horizon..........sounds like the entrance to hell. The first rapid on the Maryland side of the river is Pummel, which is a clean 20 foot boof (and I do mean BOOF!). As you cruise towards the edge of the hole a horizon line appears in front of you. If you have scouted Pummel before, it doesn't help to do it again. Just run it and save yourself the nerves. Rocket down the slide at the top of the drop and pull the biggest boof stroke imaginable, do your sit up, and brace for impact. Boofing at Pummel is mandatory, otherwise you have the pleasure of finding out how the rapid got its name. When you clear your thoughts at the bottom (which is hopefully fast), paddle to the first eddy you see and then look around and take it in. There are massive waterfalls all around you, thundering over and through huge rock formations. It is an impressive and intimidating sight.
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| Boofing into the entrance to hell!....or whitewater heaven. |
There is so much to explain about Great Falls, that I am going to let American Whitewater do it. The link below is to the AW river page for Great Falls, just like the link in the last post to The Narrows. If you have never heard of AW, check out the site and become a member. They are our voice in government, community, and social affairs pertaining to rivers, land rights, environmental protection, etc. In short, American Whitewater is the heart of the paddling community.
http://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/River/detail/id/5553/
“Not all those who wander are lost.”
~J.R.R. Tolkien~So now you can see why RVA is such a great boating town. We have it all, and we have a lifetime of road trips to keep us entertained. It doesn't matter if you paddle Class I or Class V+, there is something for everyone. I have been paddling for a decade now, and still have more rivers and creeks on my to do list than I have on my checked off list. Last summer I paddled the following:
Five laps in three trips on the Green Narrows Western North Carolina
Three laps in three trips to Great Falls Washington D.C.
Big Sandy Creek Northern West Virginia
Three laps in three trips on the Upper Yough Western Maryland
Top Yough Northern West Virginia
New River Central West Virginia
Three laps on the Lower Gauley Central West Virginia
One lap on the Upper Gauley Central West Virginia
Two trips and tons of laps on Valley Falls Northern West Virginia
One trip to the North Fork of the Tye Nelson County, VA
One trip to the South Fork of the Piney Cascades Nelson County, VA
One trip to Staton's Creek (Feb. 2013) Nelson County, VA
.....oh yea, and about 8 to 10 laps on Reedy Crick RVA
.....and about 200 laps on The Jimmy RVA
This list is not that impressive compared to a lot of paddlers in this town, or anywhere for that matter. (I may have missed something. I rushed it) And believe me, this list scrapes just the surface of the whitewater in the Mid-Atlantic. But whitewater and the whitewater lifestyle are the same in all areas of the country and the world, and one thing is for sure...............kayakers are dirty, gypsy like, traveling, nomadic bums.......and that is awesome. Here are some of the best displaying some of the best and showing you how a proper whitewater road trip is accomplished.....seriously, these boys are the best there is, and they get better and better every year. Watch this video to see just how beautiful our sport can be.
http://vimeo.com/68798514
To see a lot more pics from last summers travels, check out this album on Facebook. (The haters will love it. It is mostly of them, and the FSW as well.......Fat Bastard may be in there too.......The Dumb Ass on the Log definitely is) That is all.....Enjoy :)
https://www.facebook.com/justin.harris.58/media_set?set=a.231559340286434.47002.100002971097796&type=3
My list above includes three little cricks at the end that deserve some special attention..............so stay tuned, because Nelson County, VA has a lot more to offer than brewery's and backwoods..............
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
~Lao Tzu~
See ya on the rivah!.....or travelin' to the next one.........PEACE
