Into the Deluge

A couple of years ago, a mirco-cell thunderstorm stalled over the town of Florida, Ma. and nearby areas. The news service reported that over 7 inches of rain fell in the two hour duration of the storm. I chose that day to invite my Uncle on a paddle trip down Fifebrook. A year later I …

Beaverfest 2014

This account of the Beaverfest was written and paddled by Mark Hrubant Friday August 29th, noon… I call the caretaker at Soft Maple campground & ask if he will hold a site for me as I am driving up from Bingo. While enroute to Croghan I learned there will be six of us camping for the …

Trouble on the Toe

I don't see it until I am at the lip of the drop, the large trunk wedged diagonally in the slot. Its really nasty on the upstream side, a frothy mess, barely bigger than my boat, with the current pouring over the lip and slamming the rock on the right before surging beneath the trunk. …

Moose River Chapter 2: In Which I Join the Swim Team

The water picks up speed as I enter the narrow channel that marks the entrance to the right side line of Shurform rapid. I'm running right down the center of the channel. away from the curler that lurks just to my left, hoping to catch an unsuspecting paddler and send them down the center of …

Big Water Gauley

A roar of the water assailed us as we left our car and walked through the parking lot. Up ahead, the massive earth and rock dam rose nearly 400 feet up from the river bed, holding back the clear waters of the 2700 acre Summersville Lake. Water poured into the river through an enormous pipe …

Rescue on the Neversink Part II: The Saga Continues

I told Fran that I would rewrite the rest of this if she worked at Paddlesport so I guess I've got to finish. Heres what happened next....... It was an easy choice to make, I abandoned Nate's sodden craft, hoping that Neval might be able to grab it and went after her boat It was …

Rescue on the Neversink

"Nate is out of his boat!" We had pulled up on a beach to scout the entrance to the gorge on a cold day in mid-March. The river was running high, around 1400cfs and the temperature was in the mid 30s. The water was cold, chilled by the remaining snowmelt from the ski area at …

Winter in the Shahola gorge

The mid afternoon January sun sends shafts of sunlight streaming into the gorge from the upstream entrance as John and I sit in an eddy waiting for the rest of the group. Above and around us, solid rock walls rise straight up from the narrow river bed, climbing 30' or more to reach the snow …

Personal 1st Descents 2012

As the year comes to a close its always kind of fun to look back at the rivers we paddled. Besides, there is no water anywhere and there's not much to do besides read about boating. 2012 was kind of a down year for me. I had only 2 personal first descents,  the Stoneycreek and Tygart. Not too …

Open Boaters – A Kayaker’s View

They seem to be popping up everywhere, swarms of open boaters descending class 4 and 5 drops previously paddled mainly by kayak and one or two reckless souls in an open boat. What is the cause of this phenomenon? It really can't be the sleek lines of the newer model boats. Most of them kind of …

Beaver Weekend Taylorville

The wispy tendrils of ground fog had reluctantly released their tenuous grip on the wooded mountain slopes to the mid-morning sun as our small group of paddlers arrived at the Taylorville put-in. The road and pathway seethed with chaotic activity as enthusiastic paddlers parked cars, changed clothes, greeted friends and carried brightly colored boats, all while holding general road …

Bottom Moose

This post about my first Moose run is out of sequence from my last couple and jumps forward about 5 years from when I ran the Moodna. I peel out gingerly from behind a large rock and work my way cautiously to the right around a shallow rock ledge. The current isn't very strong here …

Moodna Creek

I'm paddling around in the pool at St. Elizabeth's College on a Saturday morning. It feels kind of strange to be back here. I was dating my wife when she attended this school. The nuns make everyone who attends the school take swimming lessons, so Carole spent some time in the pool also. She did …

Battle of the Sexes

 Something a little different from my previous posts. This past summer I took 2 of my daughters and their boyfriends for a short trip down the Delaware. None of the 4 had ever paddled a kayak before. I immediately noticed that while the girls were quick to grasp the concept of using their hips and …

Learning to Roll, or maybe not

We've all gone through it, or are at least in the process of it. Learning to roll a Kayak can be extremely frustrating. Of course some people seem to pick it up right away. I hate them just a little. After my debacle in the Ken Lockwood Gorge I decided that I just might need …

Swimming Lessons

After my sucessful trip through the Ken Lockwood Gorge I decided to get my own equipment. I don't really know how to go about it but I spend a lot of time on Ebay looking for a bargain. Finally I see a boat, paddle, helmet, spray skirt, jacket and boots all listed for a starting …

Ken Lockwood Gorge

Mid-January and I haven't paddled in a while so I thought that I would write a series of articles chronicling my paddling experiences from beginner through easy class V. As this is a blog format, I welcome any discussion both negative and positive, or maybe a post from someone with similar experiences. Not being a good …

Raymondskill Creek

The water starts to pick up speed as I approach a huge horizon line. Art has already disappeared over the edge and I am following his line. I've never run a waterfall this big and I'm hoping everything works out OK. I enter the top of the drop a little left center and really lean …

2011 Personal First Descents

With 2011 drawing to a close I thought it might be fun to start a thread on personal first descents accomplished this past year. I was surprised at how big my own list was. It would be interesting to hear what our members have been paddling so please post your own list. Even if you are a …

My First Day

I got a call from my friend Ed asking if I'd like to go boating with he and Dan the next day. I've known Ed my whole life, he was at my christening, at least I assume he was as his parents are my God parents. I didn't meet Dan until I joined Boy Scouts at …

1st Trip on the Gauley

I'm standing near my boat nervously waiting for the return of the shuttle drivers. I've already watered the local flora a few times and my mouth feels kind of dry. I'm pretty keyed up.  The Gauley is the river of my dreams. I had rafted it about 10 years before and thought then how much fun …