"Deep down, I am just a West Virginia Hillbilly."
~Brad Paisley~
I awoke Sunday morning and made one final paddle out from The Island at sunrise. It was a symbolic paddle out. The water was low, the sun was peaking over the horizon, and a new day had dawned. I was headed for West By God, and felt this funny feeling that I hadn't felt in a long time................excitement. I was headed up for two days with a good friend. I allowed him to choose his own name for this post, and he chose a great one............Buzz Holstrom. We were heading up to check out his cabin, do some manual labor (which I love), and hit the rivah for some surfing and squirt boating. (I will explain the squirt boat concept later) Buzz is a good man.........one of the best. He has a beautiful family, beautiful life, and a beautiful attitude about the world. Being around him makes me happy. He is also a phenomenal boater, and understands the true meaning of what it is to be a boater. He loves the rivah, and it shows when you are paddling with him. We met up at his house, finished loading up his truck and took off for West By God by 10am.
We arrived at the cabin in the early afternoon. I was prepared to work and work hard. Getting to the cabin is an adventure all its own. You know how in West Virginia there are the back roads that are one lane and you sometimes don’t want to go down them because the Deliverance people may be down there waiting to make you squeal like a pig?……….well, to get to Buzz’s cabin you not only have to go down that road, but you then must turn off it and go down an even more sketchy road with nothing but bears and deer. It was awesome. The roads are all one lane, but cars go both ways, and there are about 129 blind curves along the way. Buzz also loves traveling about 70 mph down them, so I felt like we were already in the Class V realm before we even reached the cabin.
Once we arrived I was in awe. The cabin was awesome. It was exactly what every kayaker would picture their backwoods escape to be. There is a loft, small kitchen that consists of one burner, an incinerator toilet (yes, it burns your poop up after you create it. The cabin smells of burning poop for about fifteen minutes after you do the duty), an old fashioned wood stove, and a lot of forest full of bears and deer. (I have learned that the chances of hitting a deer on the back roads while here is about 98 percent…………..but I am in West By God, so once I do hit one I can just take it home and eat it.) The cabin also has a quiver of boats..........and a boogie board (because every boater needs a boogie board on the rivah) There is no TV, no running water, and it is about 2/3rds completed………..but it is very cozy, and you can walk to the Gauley in minutes from the front door. Let me repeat that……………..you can walk to the Gauley in minutes from the front door. There are also access roads to the rivah throughout the “neighborhood” (pretty sure this is not considered a neighborhood) ……….oh, and the drive to the cabin is West By God beautiful (and if Buzz is not driving you can actually enjoy the view). There are about 79 calendar landscapes to view on the way.
"Greatness lies, not in being strong, but in the right using of strength; and strength is not used rightly when it serves only to carry a man above his fellows for his own solitary glory. He is the greatest whose strength carries up the most hearts by the attraction of his own."
~Henry Ward Beecher~
I am happy that I have friends who demonstrate this, because as much as I wish I was doing it, I know that I am failing. I'm sorry everyone. I want to inspire you all, but I know I first need to inspire myself.
When we arrived we unloaded the boats and gear, took a tour of the land, and settled in. I was ready to work……………..Buzz was ready to hit the rivah…………awesome! We loaded up the car with what was needed for the afternoon and took off. When we got to the end of the road the cabin was on, Buzz was quoted as saying one of the best quotes I have heard in a long time. He looked at me and said, “well, we can turn right and go to the Gauley, or turn left and go to the New.” Any true boater understands why that is such a great quote. We chose the New, saving the Gauley for the following day. We turned left, and headed for Fayetteville.
We arrived at the New Rivah Bridge in about 20 minutes, but had another 20 minute drive to reach the bottom of the gorge. If you have never been to this part of West By God then you need to understand that the landscape here is very different. First, there are no real mountains. It is simply a giant plateau that covers about 2/3rds of the state. Second, the rivah was here before the mountains. The name New is actually a misnomer, because in reality the New is one of the oldest rivahs on earth, older than the Appalachian Mountains. (which are also really old………how they figure these things out is beyond me) Given this geological set up, the rivah rips a giant gash through the earth, and cuts deep into the plateau. Due to this, you drive along for a while with small rolling hills as the landscape. Then, all of a sudden, the land drops away and falls steeply 1000 feet straight to the rivah. When you reach the New Rivah Bridge, you are sitting 871 feet above the rivah. It is a remarkable sight.
After reaching the bottom of the rivah, we geared up, threw our boats over our shoulders and headed up the train tracks (illegally) for a little park and play at a squirt spot named "Mellow Ledge". There is a nice little wave at the bottom of the rapid, and a few different bigger features, like "Brain Wave", to try out in the rapid itself. Squirt Boating is a difficult concept to explain in one paragraph, however, I will attempt to sum it up in less than 100 words………………..ready, set, go!
"Swift or smooth, broad as the Hudson or narrow enough to scrape your gunwales, every river is a world of its own, unique in pattern and personality. Each mile on a river will take you further from home than a hundred miles on a road."
~Bob Marshall~
First off, buoyancy is an important part of kayaking. You are basically sitting in a giant plastic air bubble that will resurface due to the laws of physics. The point of a squirt boat is to take as much volume out of the boat as possible, decreasing the buoyancy to almost nothing. This does not allow very much room for anything at all inside the boat. You basically have two sleeves to slide your legs into. Once in it is very difficult to get out. There is also a piece of foam that can be placed between your legs, eloquently known as a suicide block………..so now you are sitting in a boat that has almost no volume in it, making it extremely unstable and easily sinkable, plus you have very little chance of escape if something goes wrong. I know what all non kayakers are asking themselves right now……….why in the hell would you ever want to do that?!? Well, the following video will demonstrate the answer to that question………………
I awoke Sunday morning and made one final paddle out from The Island at sunrise. It was a symbolic paddle out. The water was low, the sun was peaking over the horizon, and a new day had dawned. I was headed for West By God, and felt this funny feeling that I hadn't felt in a long time................excitement. I was headed up for two days with a good friend. I allowed him to choose his own name for this post, and he chose a great one............Buzz Holstrom. We were heading up to check out his cabin, do some manual labor (which I love), and hit the rivah for some surfing and squirt boating. (I will explain the squirt boat concept later) Buzz is a good man.........one of the best. He has a beautiful family, beautiful life, and a beautiful attitude about the world. Being around him makes me happy. He is also a phenomenal boater, and understands the true meaning of what it is to be a boater. He loves the rivah, and it shows when you are paddling with him. We met up at his house, finished loading up his truck and took off for West By God by 10am.
We arrived at the cabin in the early afternoon. I was prepared to work and work hard. Getting to the cabin is an adventure all its own. You know how in West Virginia there are the back roads that are one lane and you sometimes don’t want to go down them because the Deliverance people may be down there waiting to make you squeal like a pig?……….well, to get to Buzz’s cabin you not only have to go down that road, but you then must turn off it and go down an even more sketchy road with nothing but bears and deer. It was awesome. The roads are all one lane, but cars go both ways, and there are about 129 blind curves along the way. Buzz also loves traveling about 70 mph down them, so I felt like we were already in the Class V realm before we even reached the cabin.
Once we arrived I was in awe. The cabin was awesome. It was exactly what every kayaker would picture their backwoods escape to be. There is a loft, small kitchen that consists of one burner, an incinerator toilet (yes, it burns your poop up after you create it. The cabin smells of burning poop for about fifteen minutes after you do the duty), an old fashioned wood stove, and a lot of forest full of bears and deer. (I have learned that the chances of hitting a deer on the back roads while here is about 98 percent…………..but I am in West By God, so once I do hit one I can just take it home and eat it.) The cabin also has a quiver of boats..........and a boogie board (because every boater needs a boogie board on the rivah) There is no TV, no running water, and it is about 2/3rds completed………..but it is very cozy, and you can walk to the Gauley in minutes from the front door. Let me repeat that……………..you can walk to the Gauley in minutes from the front door. There are also access roads to the rivah throughout the “neighborhood” (pretty sure this is not considered a neighborhood) ……….oh, and the drive to the cabin is West By God beautiful (and if Buzz is not driving you can actually enjoy the view). There are about 79 calendar landscapes to view on the way.
"Greatness lies, not in being strong, but in the right using of strength; and strength is not used rightly when it serves only to carry a man above his fellows for his own solitary glory. He is the greatest whose strength carries up the most hearts by the attraction of his own."
~Henry Ward Beecher~
I am happy that I have friends who demonstrate this, because as much as I wish I was doing it, I know that I am failing. I'm sorry everyone. I want to inspire you all, but I know I first need to inspire myself.
When we arrived we unloaded the boats and gear, took a tour of the land, and settled in. I was ready to work……………..Buzz was ready to hit the rivah…………awesome! We loaded up the car with what was needed for the afternoon and took off. When we got to the end of the road the cabin was on, Buzz was quoted as saying one of the best quotes I have heard in a long time. He looked at me and said, “well, we can turn right and go to the Gauley, or turn left and go to the New.” Any true boater understands why that is such a great quote. We chose the New, saving the Gauley for the following day. We turned left, and headed for Fayetteville.
We arrived at the New Rivah Bridge in about 20 minutes, but had another 20 minute drive to reach the bottom of the gorge. If you have never been to this part of West By God then you need to understand that the landscape here is very different. First, there are no real mountains. It is simply a giant plateau that covers about 2/3rds of the state. Second, the rivah was here before the mountains. The name New is actually a misnomer, because in reality the New is one of the oldest rivahs on earth, older than the Appalachian Mountains. (which are also really old………how they figure these things out is beyond me) Given this geological set up, the rivah rips a giant gash through the earth, and cuts deep into the plateau. Due to this, you drive along for a while with small rolling hills as the landscape. Then, all of a sudden, the land drops away and falls steeply 1000 feet straight to the rivah. When you reach the New Rivah Bridge, you are sitting 871 feet above the rivah. It is a remarkable sight.
After reaching the bottom of the rivah, we geared up, threw our boats over our shoulders and headed up the train tracks (illegally) for a little park and play at a squirt spot named "Mellow Ledge". There is a nice little wave at the bottom of the rapid, and a few different bigger features, like "Brain Wave", to try out in the rapid itself. Squirt Boating is a difficult concept to explain in one paragraph, however, I will attempt to sum it up in less than 100 words………………..ready, set, go!
"Swift or smooth, broad as the Hudson or narrow enough to scrape your gunwales, every river is a world of its own, unique in pattern and personality. Each mile on a river will take you further from home than a hundred miles on a road."
~Bob Marshall~
First off, buoyancy is an important part of kayaking. You are basically sitting in a giant plastic air bubble that will resurface due to the laws of physics. The point of a squirt boat is to take as much volume out of the boat as possible, decreasing the buoyancy to almost nothing. This does not allow very much room for anything at all inside the boat. You basically have two sleeves to slide your legs into. Once in it is very difficult to get out. There is also a piece of foam that can be placed between your legs, eloquently known as a suicide block………..so now you are sitting in a boat that has almost no volume in it, making it extremely unstable and easily sinkable, plus you have very little chance of escape if something goes wrong. I know what all non kayakers are asking themselves right now……….why in the hell would you ever want to do that?!? Well, the following video will demonstrate the answer to that question………………
I know..........it is pretty fucking awesome, and also scary as hell…………..oh yea, it is also hard as shit to be good at and takes years to learn. Due to these factors it is probably the most well respected form of paddling by any kayaker who knows about the TRUTH………………..which is probably why Team WAV kids would think it is stupid. There are no big rapids involved to glorify themselves on in videos......you know, like EVERY single kayaker in this country does. So now that you understand the concept of the boat itself, let’s talk about the water.
Whitewater kayaking, rafting, canoeing, and any other form of paddling for the most part are one dimensional, meaning we only focus on reading the surface currents of the water. However, whitewater itself is not one dimensional. There is more happening under the surface of the water than you think, and any kayaker who has ever been unintentionally caught in an eddy line, been stern squirted through a big rapid, or had the lovely experience of being trapped in a whirlpool knows this to be true. Moving water is three dimensional, and the boils and swirls that you see in the water are a result of what is happening beneath the surface. Eddy lines form downward whirlpools and currents that move under the surface with controlled and predictable flow. The best examples of these are at the bottom of rapids whose outflow meets deep, still pools. When moving water meets still water, "weird" things happen. Squirt boating takes those “weird” things, and uses them to the boaters advantage.
At this point you should be able to understand why squirt boaters want as little volume as possible in their boats…….you also don’t want to wear a PFD. Basically, you want to let the water take you under so you can explore the depths of the rivahs. This is called downtime. I read that the world record downtime is currently fifty seven seconds. That is fifty seven seconds of being taken to the bottom of the rivah, gently bounced around for a bit, and then slowly risen back up. There is always the chance that coming back up does not happen when you want it to. This should now explain why it is scary as hell. (by the way, I am aware that this is a lot more than 100 words….told ya it’s difficult to explain.) Everything I have just explained represents about 1/10th of 1 percent of the sport, but hopefully it gives you a general idea.
The great Buzz Holstrom demonstrated perfectly some nice 10 to 20 seconds of downtime on some of his rides, and he showed complete control through all of it. The squirt spot that we visited was a more advanced spot, and the rivah was running at a healthy four feet, so I passed on my first squirting experience. (that sounded dirty) I did find a nice beefy wave above a feature called bloody nose (or broken nose. I don't remember), and had some nice big rides on the wave. We then floated the one mile we had hiked up, running Class IV Fayette Station to end the session. Fayette Station is an awesome rapid! Big waves, and big fun. The day was a success, and we returned to the cabin to knock out some work and knock out some late night beers………………and we did both very well. The next morning we were up early and working hard to clean the cabin up, move some heavy lumber, cut the grass (in West VA that is known as weed whacking), and rebuild the wood shed. Buzz is a beast when it comes to work and one of the first people that I have ever hung out with who has more energy than me. He wore me out by the end of the weekend, and he was still going strong.
In the afternoon, we took the right turn and headed for the Gauley. The afternoon session was spent at a secret spot that I will not divulge in this post, but good times were had and I met a truly inspirational figure in paddling, had my first squirt boating experience, and learned that a day chilling at a good play spot is a day well spent in boating. I was happy with my own success in a squirt boat, and although I am reluctant to catch a lot of downtime, I understand the beginning concepts of the sport and can see why it is so addictive. Squirt boating with hand paddles is probably the purest form of paddling out there because you are more connected to the movement of the water than in any other form of paddling. I am looking forward to my future sessions in a squirt boat, and am thankful to Buzz for introducing me to the concept and sport itself.
The return trip to Va was a blur because I slept most of the way. We returned very late, and I awoke the next morning to head back to RVA for a transitional week of work and packing, as well as logistical planning for my next adventure...............living in a cabin in the middle of nowhere WVA. Day 152 was my final day living on The Island, and I would spend the next few days prepping, making it yet again a "Minus Week". Stay tuned, because new adventures, hard and lonely times, and some tough experiences about the reality of my life are ahead.
“Although no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.”
~Carl Bard~
See ya in West By God.............hopefully on the greatest rivah in the world! PEACE
The return trip to Va was a blur because I slept most of the way. We returned very late, and I awoke the next morning to head back to RVA for a transitional week of work and packing, as well as logistical planning for my next adventure...............living in a cabin in the middle of nowhere WVA. Day 152 was my final day living on The Island, and I would spend the next few days prepping, making it yet again a "Minus Week". Stay tuned, because new adventures, hard and lonely times, and some tough experiences about the reality of my life are ahead.
“Although no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.”
~Carl Bard~
See ya in West By God.............hopefully on the greatest rivah in the world! PEACE
