Marathon Gauley Ride, West Virginia

The last adventure of the year for 2008 consisted of an all-day marathon whitewater rafting excursion on the Gauley River in West Virginia. I have been before on the Gauley and the New River, but never for the full adventure. The marathon trip is a full-day excursion that covers both the Upper Gauley and Lower Gauley. The Gauley is continually rated among the best whitewater rafting trips in the entire U.S., usually losing out only to the Grand Canyon (and not because of rapids, but because of the beauty of the canyon).

We started off the day in the freezing cold and thick fog rising above the water. The outside temperature was about 35 degrees (if we were lucky) and the water was probably 55 degrees. It's warmer because it comes through the dam and the top of the lake contains warm water. Fortunately, we were prepared with multiple layers and a wetsuit. We hit a rapid right out of the gate and stayed warm (in and out of the water) throughout the day. Keith bounced out of the boat on the first three rapids and lost his paddle each time!

I managed to never fall out of the boat unless it was a group spill where the entire raft capsized. Since we were in the "Team Extreme" short, seven-foot boat, this still happened quite often. We were doing 360-degree spins ahead of the rapids and before going through the most treacherous parts. We went backwards on one and then spun around quickly to go forward down the next, but ended up spilling. The guides kept saying "this is the last day of the season, so no one can get fired. We're going to push it all day long."

It was a wonderful experience. I probably won't go again since I have been so many times, but with the right group it would still be a load of fun!

Seneca Rocks, West Virginia

Keith prepares our equipment for the day's climbing.

The rock face of Seneca Rocks, West Virginia

The face on the left that we will climb as our first climb of the day.

Keith led this first route and prepped a top rope for my ascent of this easy section.


At the Summit of Seneca Rocks, West Virginia.

Keith at the Summit of Seneca Rocks, WV.

Fun, easy climbing in West Virginia

Beautiful views in West Virginia. It's not the Swiss Alps, Rockies or other more well-known areas, but holds a beauty all its own.

Another Summit view from Seneca Rocks, WV

Beautiful Fall view of Seneca Rocks, WV.

As our last adventure of the year, Keith and I decided to go rock climbing and whitewater rafting in West Virginia. It's a pretty long 9+ hour drive from Indianapolis to Seneca Rocks, West Virginia, but as you can see from the Saturday afternoon pics, it's every bit worth it. The views are amazing and the climbing is sweet.

I was a little nervous since, generally speaking, I'm just not a very good climber. Keith is always on his game even though he has had some time off as well. We have been here several times before but timed it perfectly with the Fall weather for this round as you can see in the pics.

Keith always does lead climb while I second merely because the difference in our skills is vast to say the least. He's a pretty experienced climber and I'm (thankfully) along for the ride. We have been here several times before and so this time we decided to take it easy. We combined some light climbing (5.5 to 5.8 range) with a hike to the North Summit. We have done some multi-pitch climbs to the South Summit already on previous trips. (North Summit is on the left of the "gun hole" in the rock face pic and the South Summit is on the right.)

The weather was cool and crisp. We enjoyed a chili cookoff and some local micro brew beer in the town below once we were done climbing.

We are going to hop in the car and drive to Oak Hill area so we can crash and wake up at the crack of dawn to go whitewater rafting! I've been before several times, but never during the timed dam releases of the more popular Fall rafting season. Also, we're going to do the entire Gauley River and in a short, 12 foot raft, which promises a bigger, more adventurous ride!

West Virginia Adventures

I'm excited to head down to West Virginia this coming weekend to go Rock Climbing on Saturday and then Whitewater rafting on Sunday! Keith and I are going and thankfully he has some coupons for Sunday rafting discounts. We're also driving and camping to keep it on the cheap.

If you look closely at the pic above I grabbed off the Internet, you will see a small climber going up the face. We haven't climbed in over a year, so we will take easy routes, but it's beautiful climbing in West Virginia. The scenery is amazing.

Sunday is the last day of the rafting season in West Virginia's Gauley River, where timed releases from the Summersville Dam ensure strong water flow and serious rafting rapids. I've been to the area rafting probably three other times in the past. However, this time we're doing the entire Gauley River and going during Bridge Day Festival weekend. During the festival in Fayetteville, BASE Jumping off the New River Gorge Bridge is legal. The bridge is nearly 900 feet tall and is billed as the world's second longest single arch bridge. More than 450 jumpers will participate by jumping off the bridge with a parachute on their back and starter/opening chute in their hand. They will jump and fall for about 4 seconds before releasing and deploying their chute. BASE Jumping stands for those that jump off of Buildings, Antennas, Spans (bridges) and Earth (cliffs, etc.). You have to be experienced and certified to jump during the festival.

We won't be jumping.

We've both already done other similar activities (sky diving, bungee jumping, etc) and the cost for a tandem BASE jump is just too high. However, the festival is the biggest thing to hit the county all year long. It was originally started as a means to provide a sanctioned and legal day for the BASE and bungee jumpers that continually tried to illegally jump from the bridge throughout the year. There are now more than 200 vendors with large sponsors such as AT&T. It will be a fun time to take in the atmosphere after climbing and before rafting on Sunday. We will drive home on Monday.

West Virginia is beautiful and ideally suited for rafting and climbing. It's probably an 8-9 hour drive from Indianapolis.

The weekend will be a great close to this year's adventure activities!

(Incidently, I'm listening to Fleet Foxes as a write this entry.)

Choosing A Path

TWO ROADS DIVERGED in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

--Robert Frost

Finding It

Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves.

--Henry David Thoreau

Austin City Limits Recap

Austin City Limits Music Festival on September 27th.

The pic above details the schedule of Saturday's bands.

When in Austin, do it up Texas style!

The Fratellis jam out.

The Black and White Years plays (above).

Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings funks it up.

Jose Gonzalez plays some sweet melodies.

Electric Touch above had a good crowd, but they played at the same time as MGMT.

MGMT had the crowd of a headliner. It was crazy.

Some of the crowd that gathered for MGMT. Click this pic for an enlarged version and a better sense.

Jumbo Screen shot of Beck rocking the stage (above).

Beck was the last act to perform

So the music festival was a great time. Unfortunately, lots of good bands played at the same time. However, it was a great time. Here is a summary of the bands we saw...

The Black and White Years really rocked it out. They were my surprise band for the day. I had heard one of their songs on XM or someplace, but they put on a a strong enough performance for me to recommend the album. Interesting dance/guitar/rock group based in Austin. They don't take themselves too seriously. Bit of a Talking Heads influence. Punchy guitar. Good times.

Next, we checked out Five Times August...basically a solo songwriter and guitarist. I wanted to like the guy, really, but I just couldn't. Very teenie bopper pop rock and trying too hard to be a heart throb. Probably featured on MTV reality shows. He's probably on Tiger Beat (if that even still exists), but I honestly wasn't impressed.

The Old 97's were a very solid rock band. I enjoyed their tunes. They really rocked it out and put on a good performance. I don't think they have a sound that stands out a ton, but they had a diverse rock sound with alt country, Kinks and some punk influences. Mainly just a solid rock band. Worth a look.

The Fratellis were fun to watch. Rockers from Glasgow if you can imagine. Nice hooks, strong guitar, fairly ordinary rock, pretty good sound.

Jose Gonzalez was sweet. As you can tell from the pic above, he had a massive crowd. This is the guy you want to see at a smaller venue. A real small venue, ideally. He reminds me of Nick Drake (he of tragic story) who had a slight revival when VW featured one of his songs in a commercial a while back. Sweet melodies. Great vocals, stripped down classic, around the campfire sound. Great story telling, and wonderful guitar throughout. He had a female backup singer join him at times to sing harmony or join along. Great time, but I just didn't feel in the mood to fight the crowd to get up front. He needed more wattage to push that beautiful sound out to the crowd better. Great performer. Would be better in a smaller venue.

Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings. This girl can ROCK it!! Man, she's like a female James Brown. Loved it! Killer funk. Great dance sounds. Must see live act, but like much of this genre of music, probably loses the energy on a CD. Don't miss 'em if they ever play near you.

The Concert Supremes. They provided a high energy gospel/soul groove that really got the audience moving. Stopped in for a short bit and glad I did, but I wouldn't buy an album. Not my style, but fun to watch. Got your feet tapping and your soul cleansed a little.

Electric Touch. Great band. They are another band that I've started to like. I have a couple of their songs and a friend recently gave me a CD with one of their good ones. These guys are good and I'll get an album after the performance. I wanted to stick around, but the massive storm of people gathering for MGMT at the nearby stage detracted. How many songs could I hear before racing over to MGMT? Would I find my friends....

MGMT. Not a chance in hell to find my friends. These guys had one of the biggest crowds at ACL. They were huge! They had the crowd of a headliner and because I checked out Electric Touch, I was left pretty far back. I fought up to the middle area, but then decided I was comfortable in the crowd with a good view, nice sound and with time to make an autograph move for a friend/crazed fan at the conclusion of their set. They put on a good show. Solid, but probably a little under my expectation. They had sooo many people, and I really think they could have taken and owned the stage better. They started off with a lower energy song. Sounded good, but never rocked it as hard as they could. They were probably stoned and chilling cause they certainly looked the part. Nonethless, they did a great job, had a nice cover and have a great sound. Shawn was stoked to check them out and I was happy not to have missed it. The debut album is great and the new one is being produced by the Chemical Brothers, so these guys are going to just keep getting better!! They are going to soon blow up out of control is my prediction.

John Fogerty. I thought this guy was from California?! He sounds like a good 'ol boy from Arkansas or something. To that point: he plays good 'ol Rock n Roll and added some good CCR covers.

The Black Keys. The Ohio band played just as expected. They play some hard rock blues. I have the most recent album. It was a strong performance.

Iron & Wine. Played the same time as Black Keys. I have some of their songs, but no full album. They are in the vein of Gonzalez in terms of style. They are the group you want to hear in a more intimate setting than the festival allowed. Great performance, but someone you really want to check out in a smaller venue. Or at an outdoor venue that they headline, such as White River State Park . Nice and easy. Great lyrics.

Robert Plant & Alison Krauss. The former Led Zep frontman is old. Real old. Still, he can kick out some easy tunes. Alison has a beautiful voice and plays violin wonderfully. They put on a good performance with some fun takes on old Zep songs, but time was running out... I had to run to the other side to catch and get close for Beck!

Beck. Amazing. Great stage presence. Interesting songs. Started out rocking it and then put a nice lull to the crowd before rocking it out again. Great stage show. The guy is a musical genius and it shows!

Other Notables:

CSS. Missed them. Heard a lot of good things about the performance. An interesting group, but we didn't make it. We soaked up the atmosphere a little and grabbed some food and drink instead.

Fleet Foxes. See above.

Back Door Slam punched out some killer guitar driven rock ala Stevie Ray Vaughn style solos. I didn't really truly catch them other than listening in from a resting area nearby.

Lastly:

Check here for Saturday's set list of all the performing bands. It was a good time. Austin is such a fun town and so musically focused. We met some cool and fun people throughout the weekend and had a great time in Austin. It's a comfortable town. Not real multicultural and not a true city feel, but man what a wonderful vibe!! Looking forward to visiting again next year and doing the entire festival. There were so many bands that we missed on Friday (Vampire Weekend) and Sunday (Silversun Pickups).

We may even do a summer music festival tour in 2009!

Austin

ACL was pretty incredible. I will give a brief update of the bands that I saw shortly.

Austin is a cool town and we met some interesting and fun people along the way. It's warm and active. I love the West nearly as much as I love true metropolitan cities.