i attended gualey fest in summersville, wv for the first time a few weekends ago. it was all i had anticipated and more, a 3 day weekend of paddling bliss, interrupted only by eating, drinking, live music, hammocking and more drinking. i met my brother and a bunch of other folks late thursday night at the festival grounds - which is a large park on the edge of town. we were early enough that we found some premium ground at the very edge of the park that included some trees worthy of hanging the hammock. i was under the impression that we would be in the middle of field and tenting it, so i was super stoked to find a good place to hang.
the parking lot on the eve of the fest - so many boats.....
if you are looking for a used boat, this is the place to shop
my cozy bunk for the 3 night stay
dish glove dave's subaru on a foggy night - the festival is raging beyond the barn under the stadium lights
we paddled the lower section of the gualey river all 3 days in our play boats. this is the less intense section of the water with a few class IV+ rapids, but it is still has some killer undercuts, huge wave trains, sticky holes and awesome surf waves. next year we should be ready to be led down the upper section in our creek boats.
jimmy getting on the wave at diagonal ledges. this wave is amazing, and you can surf it eternally.
dish glove dave at ledges
eric surfing 5 boat hole
nate surfing 5 boat hole
koontz flume - the first class IV+ rapid on the lower - 5 boat hole is at the far left. trust me, this rapid is huge when you are paddling a 5 foot kayak into it.
dave surfing 5 boat hole
gear strewn about during lunch
nate appeasing the river gods with a booty beer, after a few swims - he had a much better second day.
jimmy's (orange boat) go pro footage of him and me surfing the wave at diagonal ledges