The sun was setting as we neared the take-out.  We hustled up the hill knowing time was of the essence.  We were hoping to hitch a ride back to the put-in.  As we crested the top of trail from the take-out to the lower parking lot we caught the last fishermen closing the door to this truck.  We yelled out and asked for a ride back to the put-in, and he generously obliged.

We loaded boats and set out to find some food.  Fellow instructors Scott Anderson, and Sean Devine were en route from Washington and they joined the group for a few good laughs over a home cooked meal at Little Sandy’s restaurant.  We spent the night near the town of Albright on the banks of the Cheat River.  It was a glorious sun filled, warm and adventurous afternoon.

In the morning we headed to Valley Falls State Park on the Tygart River.  Billy, Robert and Justin were veterans of the Falls.  Gilbert and Albrittain were excited newcomers.  Nerves abounded above the first fifteen foot drop, but after a few successful runs the group relaxed considerably.  I was impressed with the quality of the lines off the first falls.  It was a great chance for the group to work on their boof stroke, and try a series of different moves in a fairly user friendly set of rapids.

Following multiple laps on the upper set of waterfalls, we ventured down river into a three more rapids.  The first, a technical class III with multiple slots.  We worked on boat scouting and group spacing as we moved through the rapid.  A bit of flat water, and we approached ‘Hamburger Helper’, a nasty looking rapid on any scale.  The river pinches into a ten foot wide slot that slams into a huge boulder and creates an explosion of whitewater that looks like an enormous white mushroom.  It was a bit of a stretch for the kids, but the instructors scouted the line and fired it up.  Good lines were had by all, and we decided the rapid actually boats a bit easier than it looks.

The next rapid was ‘Twist and Shout’, a solid class IV with consequences if not run correctly.  We hopped out of our boats and discussed the line.  I ran the line as an example of how to run the rapid, and hiked back up to set safety above a sieve on river left.  I clipped my pfd into a rope that Sean held, and worked my way out on to a rock above the sieve so I would be able to deflect any boats if they were headed in that direction.  The chances of getting near the sieve were small, but setting safety took a bit of the worry out of the rapid.  Robert, Billy, and Jack Albrittain were stoked to fire it up, and each had a good line with no consequence.  Everyone was excited about the group’s success.  It was a great rapid, and it allowed the group to push the limits and progress in their river running experience.

We headed back upriver for some lunch and a rest.  A few of us continued running laps on the Falls.  We discovered a great new move on the middle line of the second falls, and ran about fifteen more laps by the time the afternoon was over.  Tired, hungry, and cold, we drove to Morgantown, West Virginia to eat dinner at the Black Bear – an incredible burrito spot with live music.

We camped in Albright again.  We lucked out.  The weather cleared and we were able to build a fire.  There is nothing like a good story telling session around a bold campfire in crisp night air.  I was the first to fall asleep sitting up in my chair, and soon thereafter everyone retired for the night.  Scott and Sean had their own tents, I had my sleeping platform in the back of the bus, and the boys hunkered down in the newly refined version of the tarp shelter built off the side of the bus.

The temperature dropped dramatically over night.  It was a cold morning.  We geared up and Sean and I headed out to set shuttle.  The shuttle is long and the take-out road is class V.  A few of the welds on the trailer actually split because the road into Cheat Canyon is so extraordinarily bumpy.

We had a great adventure on the Cheat.  The water was low, but the rapids offered up a few technical lines that kept the group challenged.  There was even a rapid, ‘Q-Ball’, that turned into a huge version of ‘Swimmer’s Hole’ on the Yough.  We stopped and played for a while.

After the flat water at the end of the run, we were all relieved to see the bridge and get to the take-out.  We loaded boats and began the arduous climb out of the Canyon.  On the way home we stopped in Cumberland to eat barbecue at the Crabby Pig.  We talked about all kinds of things on the way home, and the drive went by quickly.

It was an incredible weekend in the hinterlands of West Virginia.  The group learned a lot, and all of the instructors were happy with the quality of paddling and the progression of their skills.

Hopefully we will be able to hit a few more river before the end of our season.

Our first global project!  We traveled to Nicaragua in March to visit la isla Ometepe and study aspects of permaculture applied to tropical agriculture at la Finca Bona Fide.  We are hoping to launch our first international trip and return to the island in one year with a group of students.

Highlights from the fall 2011 kayaking season!

We will gain ground in the next two weeks by hosting a fourth session.  Everyone had a great time on the first day.  The group worked out all the basics: getting in and out of the boat, putting on gear, how to hold the paddle, wet exits, and the basic forward and sweep strokes.  The scene on the water was first day magic, the sight and sound of lots of boats bumping into each other, and a flock of students emptying their boats on shore.

The instructors are headed out to enjoy a much anticipated weekend of paddling in West Virginia with all this rain!  The small creeks and larger rivers will be chock full of great whitewater, and we are sure to return with ear to ear smiles and great stories.

Next week we are all business on the water.

We saw ferns, a huge beetle, a few deer, and a giant root ball from a tree that fell down in a storm.  We stopped for a quick snack and then continued on toward our tubes.  When we got to our tubes we stopped to eat lunch.  Thomas found a crayfish and Meg spotted a school of minnows hanging out in the water underneath the bridge.  We followed a small creek out to Seneca, getting wet and muddy along the way.  We hopped in our tubes and were whisked away by the gentle current.

Seneca Creek was so much fun!  We bumped our way down the river, swam, and even found a cool rope swing on the riverbank.  The highlight came at the end when someone built a big rock tunnel to funnel the water into one spot so we moved really fast!

The next day we went fossil hunting on the Chesapeake Bay at Calvert Cliffs State Park.  We saw a giant lizard on a log and found all sorts of bugs on the hike in.  A big storm was brewing on the horizon, and by the time we reached the water we had to take shelter under a big tarp until the storm passed.  We were a little scared, but the counselors showed us a cool card game while we waited out the storm.

When the storm passed, the sun came out and the hunt for fossils was underway!  Thomas and Mac found tons of fossils while the girls played in the water.  After a while, everyone was out in the water, and Mac was keen on getting the counselors to throw him in the air so he could do a flip!  We finished the day with some ice cream and played with Olive the pig in the car on the way home.

On the third day we headed out to the country to pick blueberries.  We never saw so many blueberries in our whole life.  They were everywhere.  There was this weird screeching bird noise when we got there and we didn’t what it was.  The farmer told us it was to help keep birds away so they wouldn’t eat the blueberries.  We picked four quarts of berries before we got back on the tractor and went to eat some lunch.   After lunch we played this really cool duck racing game where you had to pump water out of a barrel to make your duck move!

In the afternoon we drove to South Mountain Creamery, a local dairy farm.  We got to pet some baby cows, learned about how they are milked and what they eat.  There was a really cool collection of old tractors and all of us climbed into the driver seat and pretended to drive.  At the end of the day we found out that South Mountain Creamery has the best ice cream around!

On the last day we went to the Shenandoah River to go tubing.  One of the best parts about the ‘Mini-Mobsters’ program is that we get to spend so much time playing in water.  Tubing down the Shenandoah was awesome!  The river was so much bigger than Seneca Creek and a lot deeper.  We swam around with goggles and got to see all kinds of fish.  We ate lunch when we were finished, and headed back up river for round two.  On the way home we stopped at the Bluemont Country to get ice cream.

We had the best time doing the ‘Mini Mobsters’ program.  The group size was just right, we learned a lot, and everyday was a new adventure!

Check out the video below to see us tubing down Seneca Creek!

We are looking forward to seeing everyone in the upcoming fall season!

The following students were selected to receive the awards listed below:

Spring Kayaking Awards

Most Improved or ‘The Bulldozer’ Award – goes to a guy who is all heart out on the river. There were a lot of days were Curt and I were pretty unsure if he was going to make it or not, but he really surprised me at the end, developing his role with a never say die attitude.

Alex Becker

M.V.K Award – the Most Valuable Kayaker award goes to the guy who demonstrated the greatest prowess on the water in both personal skill and ability to assist others. He was one of the first guys to hit his role, and definitely the first to get it down solid in moving water. I looked to him throughout the season as a leader, and know that he has the ‘stoke’ to become a great paddler one day.

John Raesly

The ‘Stoke’ Award – the ‘Stoke’ award goes to the guy that was most jazzed up about being on water every day, rain or shine, and was willing ‘almost’ go through anything to become a better kayaker.

Eric Blitzer

The ‘Rocks and Water’ Award – this award goes to the guy that displayed the most courage under fire on a consistent basis. He was absolutely unwavering in any situation and showed no fear. His roll is smooth, and he spits water like a river cherub when he surfaces.

Jack Albrittain

The ‘Stylin’ It!’ Award – this award goes to the guy with the greatest flair and sense of style out on the river on daily basis. If you’ve seen this guy’s facial expression when paddles, it looks like he’s trying to bite the air while lip sinking Celine Dion.

Keenan Monroe

The ‘River Sense’ Award – this award goes to the guy with the uncanny ability to stay upright. He has a keen sense of balance and only swam once or twice in the entire season. Impressive.

Jon Matthews

The ‘Quiet Lion’ Award – this award goes to a guy that has it all, a big heart, a solid roll, shows courage under fire, and often led by example out on the water. He has a great sense of the river, and I hope he continues to pursue it when he heads up to Vermont this fall.

Connor Laird

The ‘Hit Me with your Best Shot’ Award – this award goes to the guy that hung in the even when things were not going so well on the water. He was always determined to make it through the day, no matter the circumstances. Whether he continues to pursue paddling or not, we wish him the best of luck next year.

Jack Metelski

The ‘Brown Claw’ Award – biggest beat down in a hole

Alex Becker for his swim through the hole at high water on the far river left channel of the Mather Gorge.

The ‘Gnar’ Award – best carnage

Keenan Monroe for taking it to the teeth on the last day of the season!

Check out the video below to see the River Mobsters in action!

After snorkeling and catching a few fish, we headed into the mountains to go canyoning in Staton’s Creek.  Johnny Wise’s Hole was an awesome fifteen foot jump into cold clear mountain water.  We camped on the Piney River and ate sausage from Jenny’s farm.

On the third day we headed off to backpack along Crabtree Falls.  The waterfall seemed to drop forever down the side of the mountain and we were tired by the time we reached our camp site 1,500 feet above where we started.  In the morning we headed off for the summit, ‘The Priest’.  The view was spectacular and the challenge of the day included squeezing our bodies through some tiny cracks in the rocks to get ready for caving!

Highland County is beautiful, and night caving is a little scary.  Even though we were a little scared, it was so worth it.  We made it through some places I never thought my body would fit, but after a few hours we finally made it back out to the entrance and it was totally dark!  We hiked backed to the bus and listened to some chill tunes on the way to our camp spot at High Valley Farmstead.

In the morning we headed into another cave called Aqua.  As you may have guessed, it was wet.  We had to hold our breaths for a second as we swam under a rock into a room inside a mountain with an underground river in it.  We followed the river for a while, before making it to the end.  The trip was coming to an end, but we had one more day left mountain biking near Charlottesville, Virginia.

Mountain biking was harder than we thought, but it was a great experience.  We headed home to Washington D.C. tired, happy, and with a sense that we accomplished something great.  We learned a lot about our local lands and resources and shared a great adventure in the process.

We are definitely looking forward to next year’s trip, ‘The Grand Experience’!

The trip consisted of five recently graduated seniors returning for one more big experience with ‘My Own Backyard’.  We decided to return to the Maury River and start the trip off by relaxing by the river, swimming rapids, fishing, and a little river clean up.  We camped outside Buena Vista in the local town park.

We explored Staton’s Creek and swam in Johnny Wise’s Hole on the second day before heading off toward Highland County.  On the way we passed the Spring Run state trout hatchery and decided to stop to see if we could pull out a few browns or rainbows.  The water was icy cold and crystal clear, and on the third cast we pulled a huge brown trout!

We slept at High Valley Farmstead and met up with Nikki and Alex Dymersky in the morning.  We ate some breakfast and headed off to explore Aqua Cave.  Our goal was to find ‘French Lake’ at the end of the underground river.  We twisted our way through all kinds of passages for over two hours and finally ended up in a small room staring deep black hole of water.  It looked like we could continue on, but we needed something to float on like a big tube, so we decided to turn around and head back to the entrance.  We ate dinner at High Valley and caught some sleep before heading out for North Carolina in the morning.

A few guys decided they wanted to try their hand kayaking the Nolichucky River on the border of North Carolina and Tennessee, so we decided to camp in the Roan Highlands.  We took a random left on a gravel road and traversed up the side of a mountain for twenty minutes.  We were not sure where we were going, but were hoping it would be somewhere awesome.  We were super lucky and found a place the locals call, ‘the Beauty Spot’.  We slept under the stars in an open field at five thousand feet overlooking the tiny town lights in the valley below.  We built a huge fire, and shared a good meal before falling asleep.

In the morning we paddled the Nolichucky.  The class III-IV rapids were challenging, but the best part was enjoying the scenery of one of the deepest gorges on the east coast.  We drove further south to Transylvania County in the highlands of North Carolina.  We camped in the Pisgah National Forest, and explored some of the largest waterfalls on the east coast in Dupont State Forest the next day.

One of the most exciting moments of the trip camp when we drove across the state in search of the oldest living trees on the east coast.  In a spurt of energy, we drove through the night and ended up at the Black River in eastern, North Carolina just in time for sunrise.  We unloaded the boats and hit the river, paddling among trees almost two thousand years old!  We were exhausted when we were finished paddling.  Luckily, we had some down time to enjoy.  We drove the bus on to the Cedar Island ferry, and enjoyed the two hour ride to Ocracoke Island.

The mosquitoes were out in force on the island after a recent rain storm.  We bunkered down for the night at Blackbeard’s Lodge.  In the morning we went surfing, and hung a skull and crossbones flag from our trailer.  After catching some great waves, we headed north to Hatteras Island and camped in the Oregon Inlet.  We reflected on the last ten days and the great adventures we shared.

In the morning we made the long drive home.

Check out the trip video below for highlights from this awesome trip!