I recently went out to Gauley Fest in West Virginia. Gauley Fest is the largest whitewater festival in the world. I figured that a festival like that I should probably check out. I had a
WRO booth at the festival where I was giving out information and free stuff. Thanks to everyone for stopping by and visiting. I walked down to the Gauley before the festival started to watch some people run through one of the major rapids, Pillow Rock. I had never seen anything close to what I witnessed at the river that day. So many people!!! People running the rapid at the same time, crashing into each other, people swimming everywhere, boats flipping, people on pool toys, every kind of water craft you could imagine, people in costumes, people jumping into the rapids, complete chaos. I took many photos which was pretty fun, trying to document the chaos. This was my first white-water experience on the east coast. I am sure that it is not this crazy all the time, but people were saying that there is always a line of boats running down the Gauley on the weekends. I was not able to get my kayak out for the festival, so I did not get to run the Gauley unfortunately. I did meet some nice folks that let me jump on the New River with them the last day I was in West Virginia. I did witness the Gauley and know that next year I have to come out with my kayak. It was fun to witness the festivities, but I must say I am glad I live where the rivers aren't so chaotic with people.
After the Gauley Fest I drove down to North Caroline, where I flew into. There I went to the U.S. Whitewater Center in Charlotte. This was another new experience. They had many kayaks to demo which was nice, since I had no kayak. Here at the Whitewater Center people have created a circle river. They pump the water back to the top of the concrete river bed. The people paddle over to a conveyer belt that brings them back to the top. You don't ever get out of your boat, you paddle right on to the conveyer and it pulls you on. From the top there were three different channels you could choose from, some easy and one was actually kind of challenging. From my understanding this center is where the Olympic trials are held, and many people train here. Overall this was a fun place to spend an afternoon. They also had rock climbing, zip lines, and mountain biking. The Center was an outdoor fun zone in the middle of a large metropolitan area. If your ever in Charlotte, I recommend checking this place out.
Now I am back in Idaho and Fall is definitely here. Well I hope you enjoy some of the photos.
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