Wildwater Blog
Jonathan Danz - General Manager
New River Gorge Bridge - Steve Shaluta, WV Tourism
7/17/06
Heat Wave
Right now we've got the best of both worlds: Great Water and Hot Summer Temperatures. That's the perfect excuse to make your way to West Virginia for a whitewater rafting adventure! The rapids offer loads of fun and excitement and the pools in between offer opportunities to regroup, relax and swim to cool off.
The Wildwater campground was full of enthusiastic rafters who joined us for perfect conditions on the Upper and Lower New River. Hoots and hollers filled the air as we navigated the class III - IV+ whitewater on the Lower New. Big hits at Surprise, Middle Keeneys and Fayette Station kept our guest wet and smiling all day long.
We are in the midst of preparing for some old friends to join us in the upcoming weeks. Tom Cashen and his merry band of adventurers are joining us next week and the gang at Wilderness Adventures at Eagle Landing are bringing their leadership class for a two day excursion on the New River.
6/27/06
Water Water Everywhere!
Great Googly Moogly! The rain over the past few days has been relentless and as a result the New River is coming up fast and the Gauley River is running well above our normal Fall flows. Needless to say, as the flows increase, the whitewater gets bigger and pushier.
If we wind up getting washed off the New River, we usually set our sites on the Lower Gauley. the Lower Gauley is a stretch of river comparable to the Lower New, but with some different nuances and different scenery. Whitewater Rafting in West Virginia starts to look like whitewater rafting on the Colorado! All told, it's a nice treat to be able to go whitewater rafting on flows usually seen in early spring.
If big water is your thing, give us a call and jump on this opportunity before the water goes back down. There is nothing like busting big waves and big holes on West Virginia's best whitewater!
6/24/06
The last three weekends have been simply wonderful. Last weekend the Rausch group joined us again for another year of great whitewater rafting on the New River and good times in the camp ground. We've spent time with our guests swimming in the flat water pools, surfing West Virginia style and navigation awesome West Virginia whitewater.
With hot weather over the last few weeks, folks have been making plenty of last minute reservations to beat the heat. Between the rapids we take time to swim to cool off or listen to some bad river guide jokes. Be warned; as a captive audience, you will likely be the test group for your guide's new jokes. If puns aren't your bag, you've been forewarned!
The bunk cabins that we built this spring are a hit. Our guests are enjoying them frequently and the cabins are providing a nice alternative to having to set up a tent. The cabins, which sleep up to 8 guests, go for $40 for 1-4 guests and $10 for each additional guest. Mattresses are provided and you never have to worry about the rain coming up through the floor like you might in a tent. We plan on building a total of six cabins over the next two years.
We've also cut in a new hiking trail here at basecamp. The .5 mile trail wraps around the Wildwater property taking hikers down along Possum Creek and through various microclimates, including cool rhododendron thickets, stands of hemlock and eastern hardwoods.
6/4/06
The Bob Grossman/Gary Allen group joined us on the water this weekend for their 33rd year of whitewater rafting on the New River with Wildwater Expeditions. It's always a pleasure to see those guys, do a little catching up and run some choice West Virginia whitewater.
We were also joined by the Gillespie group from Cincinnnati. Between riding our garden cart, betting on who would fall out first, jumping off the BIG rock and taking everyone to the "gun" show, these guys had a great time.
It's so much fun to see all the old faces and the new. That's the best part of this job -- connecting with all kinds of different people. Everyone comes here for various reasons and we do our best to help make this experience what you want it to be. Come join us!
6/1/06
Memorial Day has come and gone and the Summer whitewater rafting eason is here! Memorial day provided loads of hot weather, cool water and plenty of fun. The campground was hopping. We saw guests arrive from Indiana, Virginia, New Jersey, Florida, and Michigan to join us on another adventure here in New River Gorge country. Folks enjoyed whitewater rafting in West Virginia on the New River and climbing in the New River Gorge.
We also saw a number of our veteran whitewater guides make their way in to help out for the weekend. A special thanks to goes out to the Wallen brothers, Braddock Stevenson, Gary Miller, Rich Knight, Sam Stewart, Sam Hess, and Steve Barber who made the weekend not only possible, but special. Heck, even Chris Dragan was seen in the evening hours here at Wildwater Expeditions.
The Walker group joined us to enjoy the river as Charlie Walker had for so many years. It was great to see Beth, Steve and Greg together here at Wildwater, sharing the good vibe with their family and friends. It was also great to see Steve at the wheel of his Shredder again.
The Rust Kings did not disappoint with their brand of roots music on Sunday evening. By the end of the night people were dancing and having a grand old time. I know their schedule is filling up fast for the rest of the summer, but we may see about having them join us again sometime in the near future.
5/24/06
Today Joe Manchin III, governor of West Virginia, joined Wildwater Expeditions for a whitewater rafting trip on the New River. His visit was part of a larger ad campaign by West Virginia Tourism to promote all kinds of tourism activities all over the state. The Governor was a good sport and enjoyed the ride.
As part of the visit, we took the Jon Dragan for its inaugural ride. We name our boats after people who have had an influence on the history of the New River Gorge, most of whom are connected with the boom days of the coal industry along the New River. Because of Jon's contribution to West Virginia Tourism and economic development, it only seemed fitting that the father of whitewater rafting in West Virginia should have a boat named after him.
The Governor, Melanie Dragan (Jon's wife) and Melissa Dragan were all on board (Jon's Daughter) for the maiden voyage of the Jon Dragan. As the guide of the boat, I can tell you that it was a pleasure to host such wonderful people. The Governor, Melanie and Melissa chatted away between rapids and then dug in for the big stuff. The Keeney's Creek rapids were raging and Sunset offered its challenges as well, but the rapid that had everyone talking was Fayette Station. We finished off our West Virginia whitewater rafting trip in style, hitting every single big wave in Fayette Station from top to bottom.
Once we hit the beach, we took some photos with everyone on the trip and shook hands with Joe Manchin III before he was whisked away for his reception at the White Horse Bed and Breakfast.
Now it is time to gear up for Memorial Day Weekend. Wildwater is going to be rocking. There will be plenty of campers here at Wildwater and we've got live music on Sunday Night. The Rust Kings and their brand of Appalachian Stompgrass will be here to entertain from 7 to 10 PM.
I'll drop in sometime next week to report on our whitewater rafting Memorial Day weekend. To borrow a phrase Jon Dragan often used, "See ya on the flipside."
5/7/06
It's hard to believe that two weeks have passed since my last visit to the Wildwater Blog. The season is gearing up to be fast and furious. We had visitors from Bridgewater College in Virginia and Hanover College in Indiana over the last two weekends as well as a number of guests from Chicago, IL; Atlanta, GA; Roanoke, VA; Charlottesville, VA; and Ypsilanti, MI. As you would guess, they made the journey to southern West Virginia to enjoy the best whitewater rafting in the eastern U.S.
The New River did not disappoint, thundering through the gorge, challenging us with big waves and powerful holes. There is nothing like enjoying the smiles of our guests when they reflect on their experience. When we got back to basecamp yesterday, we took our big screen video projector for its trial run. It looked great and provided our guests with a large unobstructed view of the video chronicling of the day's trip. The smells of the hamburgers and hotdogs grilling on the front deck wafted through the air and the sun was providing warmth on an otherwise cool day.
Memorial Day is fast approaching and it looks to be an exciting weekend. We will be offering live music featuring the Rust Kings on Sunday, May 28th. We'll have more folks coming from all over to join us here at Wildwater Expeditions for West Virginia white water.
We will also be remembering Charlie Walker, longtime friend of Wildwater who passed on late last year. His son, Steve Walker, a guide here at Wildwater in the 1990's, will be here along with friends and family to enjoy the whitewater that Charlie absolutely loved. We'll hoist a frosty beverage to Charlie, knowing that somewhere he is trying to convert angels to the full appreciation of southern West Virginia and white water rafting.
Hope to see you here at Wildwater Expeditions, West Virginia's First Whitewater Rafting Outfitter!
4/25/06
Good morning from Wildwater Expeditions! We are into the West Virginia weather that I enjoy so well: cool nights for good sleeping and warm days for whitewater rafting.
This past weekend was great. The New River was flowing the way we like it. At about 4.5 to 5 feet on the Fayette Station Gauge, the West Virginia whitewater was thumpin'. We had a few groups from various places (Missouri, Ohio, Virginia and Ireland) joining us for some world class West Virginia whitewater rafting. I'm pretty sure there were a few extreme cases of perma-grin after our rafting adventure on the Lower New River.
Robin Carroll's class from North Carolina State University joined us this weekend as well. It's always great to spend time on the water with Robin and his crew. Robin is a long time friend of Wildwater as well as a former guide at Mountain River Tours and former director of Liberty Expeditions.
I had the pleasure of driving the training raft through the big whitewater on Saturday and working with new staff to help them develop into top notch Wildwater guides. It's always a pleasure to watch the learning curve of our new staff. When I see the lightbulb click on about a certain concept, that's when the reward is the greatest. Encouraging a sense of teamwork and camaraderie throughout the whole process ensures that we end up with a cohesive unit of rafting guides that are truly looking out for each other.
We are preparing for more adventures this week. With trips on Thursday and Saturday, we are getting all the staffing squared away and keeping an eye on what the New River is doing. It spiked considerably a couple of days ago and is on its way down now. That's the beauty of whitewater rafting on the New River, because of the volume of whitewater that can pass through the New River Gorge, you can experience great whitewater rafting at all levels!
If you've been thinking that you want to take a whitewater rafting trip in West Virginia, now is the time to make your reservations. 2006 is off to a great start and looks to be a banner year here at Wildwater Expeditions!
4/20/06
This is an early morning test for the Wildwater Blog. I started as general manager of Wildwater Expeditions on January 1st of this year and have been trying to decide on the best way to reach whitewater rafting enthusiasts with a more personal message. With so many companies in the whitewater rafting industry, it is rare that the people who visit these companies have an opportunity to meet the owners, much less spend time with them. Ideally this blog will provide those who are viewing Wildwater Expeditions' website with a little bit of insight as to the kind of rafting company we are and why we do what we do. I welcome any comments you may have at wvaraft@wvaraft.com. Thanks for checking out Wildwater Expeditions!