I'm some kind of tired after three straight days on the upper Gauley River in West Virginia. I'm spending tonight at a motel in Grayson, Kentucky, my wet gear hung up to dry all over the place.
My friends Curtis and Ruthie, an Atlanta couple I met at the Gauley two years ago, joined me for the weekend. I'd say I paddled reasonably well even though I felt rusty and wasn't very aggressive with any difficult moves or lines. My back held up okay, though I could definitely feel that knot that I've had for so long. I can't wait for my massage therapist to get his hands back on it this week.
My best day paddling was today: Ruthie decided to stay on the bank, and Curtis and I did a speedy run down the river so we could all get an early start toward home. I think this is the best way to run a difficult river that you've run many times before: you know the lines through the rapids, and you just keep on moving without giving yourself a chance to think too much about it and get nervous. Insignificant, Pillow Rock Rapid, Lost Paddle, Iron Ring, Sweet's Falls... we breezed through them all, and it reminded me of slalom racing, in which once you've started a run there's no longer any time to think about the moves; you just do them.
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