The Motivation for this Journal

My name is Matt and I play in West Virginia. Actually, I'm addicted to the state.

Living inside or within a few hours of a WV state border for all of my life, I've had plenty of "West Virginia Moments," a characterization that could range from WV stereotype reinforcements of the cultural (could be bad) to the natural persuasion. Fortunately, the number of the latter is far greater than the number of former.

I wish to document with this blog these "West Virginia Moments." If you're reading this, then you are a friend or family member, or have stumbled upon this blog, and I thank you for reading and hope you'll get a laugh, discover a new natural place in WV, or gasp at the thought of it. However, the real reason for this blog is personal. I will consider this blog an archive of these moments for a man with a poor memory.

Enjoy!

10 December, 2007

XXX in MMVII

On Sunday, December 9th I paddled to the confluence of class 4 Teter's Creek and the flooding Tygart River in Barbour County. I waited for the crew with whom I had been boating to assemble, slogged through marshy grass while carrying my kayak from the creek bed past the piers of an abandoned railroad bridge and up a steep embankment strewn with bottles, television sets, and appliances, and dropped the heavy boat at my car. It was cold and soggy and the puddles around my car were deep and muddy, but I had just paddled two amazing and intense creeks, the second of which was a milestone. Despite the muggy day, I was even happier than I typically am in this scenario because I had completed a goal that I had set when I realized that I was pacing rapidly through new runs at some time around the Webster Spring Wildwater Festival in March. My goal of paddling 30 new runs in 2007 had been realized.

Like every other exploratory goal, my little, adventurous goal provokes controversy.

First, paddling Little Sandy Creek into Upper Big Sandy Creek counts for two according to AW. But, I'll need to get in one more new run before the end of the month to simply satisfy my own self-skepticism. Two runs, Rasler Run and the Rapidan River, are seldom run and so they are not official AW reaches. Rasler definitely makes the list (see www.got-boof.com for trip reports from both Rasler and Laurel/Teter's) but the Rapidan was a very small flooded stream with little gradient. So, if I want to be a snob about it, I need to replace the Middle Yough and the Rapidan with some more bona fide whitewater. The goal will hopefully be solidified in the next few weeks with two more good runs.

And, it just rained a lot.

Here they are, organized by state.

2007-1 MD Savage Merrill - Lake (Upper)
2007-2 MD Savage Lower
2007-3 MD Yough Upper
2007-4 MD Yough Top
2007-5 NY Hudson Gorge
2007-6 PA Casselman Markleton - Fort Hill
2007-7 PA Laurel Hill Creek Whipkey Dam - Footbridge
2007-8 PA Rasler Run To Indian Creek
2007-9 PA Shade Creek To Stonycreek River
2007-10 PA Slippery Rock Creek Eckert - Harris (Lower gorge)
2007-11 PA Stonycreek Canyon
2007-12 PA Stonycreek Upper Gorge
2007-13 PA Stonycreek Lower
2007-14 PA Yough Middle
2007-15 PA Meadow Run Dinnerbell Rd - Ohiopyle
2007-16 VA Rapidan Rt. 231 - Rt. 29
2007-17 WV Big Sandy Little Sandy - Rockville (Upper)
2007-18 WV Potomac, South Branch Smokehole section
2007-19 WV Gauley Upper
2007-20 WV Gauley Middle
2007-21 WV Gauley Lower
2007-22 WV Big Sandy Lower
2007-23 WV Cheat Canyon
2007-24 WV Elk, Back Fork from Sugar Creek
2007-25 WV Little Sandy Rt. 26 - Big Sandy
2007-26 WV Meadow Upper
2007-27 WV Stony Dam - Rt. 50
2007-28 WV Potomac, North Branch Bloomingon
2007-29 WV Laurel Creek into Tygart
2007-30 WV Teter's Creek into Tygart

Note: Since writing the non-italicized text of this post, I have paddled two new rivers, Fike Run (PA) and Indian Creek (PA). So, I figure I've got that going for me, and I definitely hit the big three-oh.

Having a prolific year like this under my belt, I begin to feel like I'm actually worth my salt as a whitewater boater and that Life in West Virginia is good. This may or may not be the case, but if most definitely feels that way when I'm on my way to the river and the skies are dousing the watersheds.

Git 'r Dun.
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