Kayaking Review: The New River Gorge
Fayetteville, West Virginia
As you probably know, we've been fans of kayaking for some time, especially after Santa brought my husband a Sea Eagle 330 inflatable kayak.We've been whitewater rafting/duckying before down the Upper Pigeon River in Tennessee, but because Alex and I had to ride in a raft because of his age and size, we didn't have the full experience. Taylor and Kevin had a blast in their individual duckies, so I knew I'd love it.
For our vacation this year, we chose the New River to be our river of choice because rafting company ACE Adventure Resort would allow Alex to ride. So, we reserved three duckies and waited in anticipation!
Some info about the New River:
One of the oldest rivers in the world, it is believed to be older than the Appalachian Mountains themselves
The Upper New River Gorge (which we paddled) features class I-III rapids. Lower New River houses all the way up to class V. (ooooh!! :)
The New River Gorge Bridge is the largest single arch bridge in the western hemisphere...and it's really dang high!
Our experience with ACE Adventure was awesome. They were patient when we were late (darn GPS), met every need we had, and our guides were very nice, knowledgeable, and personable! We are definitely hoping to return again soon to experience more at the resort...including mountain biking! We paddled August 2nd on the 7-hour trip. It was a 60* the night before, high of 77* on kayaking day.
Ok, now about the whitewater:
We wore dri-fit shirts, fleece jackets, and our tennis shoes with poly socks. Very thankful we had everything because we got rained on...and the mountain rain is COLD! PFDs make great body heat trappers and keep rain off your neck. Our cold-sensitive Alex wore a fleece with the hood up and fleece pants.
Water temps weren't bad at all.
We hit our first class II immediately. Then a class III!!
I had Alex in my ducky, and when we headed to the more treacherous rapids, I pulled him between my knees to keep him safe.
NO ONE CAPSIZED!! Our guides were astonished. Even through the Ducky Muncher rapid. Nose into wave...that's all you've gotta remember...oh, and paddle!
Lunch was great, and it was cool how they prepared the hamburgers, hotdogs, and such right there with a portable propane camping grill.
Mountain whitewater is different than Florida whitewater. I didn't feel like I was going to get stuck on rocks...I did feel like I might get sucked into waves and had to be cautious of hydraulics. But, we all came out ok!
Waterfalls from mountains are COLD!! So glad our guide let Alex stick his hand in to experience it!
Never did I feel at risk; that being said, I know I'm not ready for class IV yet. I need to be able to recognize dangerous paths on my own. I relied on following my guide.
I highly recommend ACE Adventure. You can find them at aceraft.com.
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Some pics from the paddle:
Our put-in...how beautiful
Taylor did an awesome job in his own ducky!!
Mommy and little Alex. He was the hit of the paddle!
Breathtaking...
After the rain! We survived!
Daddy!
Our little videographer
Super cold waterfall!
Ducky wars!
See the fawn?
Alex's handiwork.
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