Springtime on the Gauley…Be Careful

Just about every whitewater paddler knows about the legendary Fall dam release on the Gauley. In recent years, truly adventuresome paddlers have learned that the Summer Gauley is simply the world's best commercial "ducky" trip. But what about the Gauley during the Springtime? With all the Spring rain we get in West Virginia, isn't Spring a good time to run the Gauley?

The answer is…maybe.

As most paddlers know, the Army Corps of Engineers raises and lowers the level of Summersville Lake several times throughout the year. The idea is to have a full lake in the Summer, to provide recreation and water storage in case of drought, and a low lake level in the Winter for flood control. It's this reduction from Summer pool to Winter pool that gives us our Fall Gauley season. Incidentally, for the last decade, this Fall reduction for recreational purposes has actually been mandated by Congress. This is good because it prevents the Corps from capriciously withholding water and ruining our Gauley season and all the revenue it brings into the local economy.

In the Spring, the reverse situation occurs as the Corps begins to fill the lake to its high Summer pool. Usually, they shut the dam's flow down to 250 cubic feet per second and begin bringing up the lake around the first of April each year. If the long-term weather outlook is for a dry Spring, they'll begin the process a little earlier. As Spring weather is notoriously fickle, the Corps has to be careful not to fill the lake too soon. A prolonged period of Springtime rain could easily overfill the lake if its level was too high too early in the year. Thus, the earliest start of the refilling is mid-March.

What this means to Springtime rafters is that, while the lake is being refilled, Summersville Dam's output will only be around 250 cfs…much too low to run the Upper Gauley. Since it normally takes about a month to bring the lake up to its Summer pool, that most always means no rafting on the Upper Gauley during the entire month of April.

But what about the Lower Gauley? When you add in the Springtime flow of the Meadow River, which confluences with the Upper Gauley at Lost Paddle rapid, the combined flow usually means that the Lower section is runnable throughout the Spring. However, if we get some of that nice heavy Springtime rain, the Meadow quickly floods and that can make the entire Gauley, Upper and Lower, unrunnable. But even though the Lower Gauley is runnable for most of the Spring, its levels are usually well below the Fall release levels. This is fine if your outfitter has small boats that can provide a fun ride at lower water flows. At ACE, we have these small boats, quick and agile 12-footers. We also have an exclusive private Lower Gauley takeout which eliminates that 3-1/2 miles of flatwater at the end of the Lower Gauley run…a bore at any level but a nightmare at lower flows.

What all this means to the rafting customer is that he or she should be very careful when booking a Springtime Gauley trip. Unfortunately, several outfitters have employed "bait and switch" tactics to get Springtime business. They use the Upper Gauley's well-deserved reputation to get folks to book a Springtime trip, knowing full well that it's just about 100% certain that the trip will be switched to either the Lower Gauley (almost always at reduced flow) or the New river. Now the New river in the Springtime is one fabulous run, but it's hard not to feel disappointed when you've anticipated doing the Upper Gauley.

At ACE, we firmly believe that "happiness is getting what you expect." We don't book trips on the Upper Gauley during the month of April unless we're absolutely sure we'll have enough water to actually make the run. April is a fantastic month for rafting…on the New. With the year's highest levels, the New is rockin" and rollin" with mountainous waves and crashing hits! If you haven't seen 20,000 cfs or more, you won't believe how exciting a big-water run can be. As for the Gauley, wait till late Spring and Summer and run the river in small rafts or ducks and enjoy one of paddling's truly unique runs. And of course, we'll see you in the Fall for a world-class experience on the Gauley.