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Post by Wes Barthwick on May 22, 2016 22:43:12 GMT -5
www.wvrivers.org/ProtectingHeadwaters/elkspeditionFree Picnic Celebrating the Elkspedition Memorial Day, May 30 in Charleston The Elkspedition is underway! Adventurers Matt Kearns and Adam Swisher started the Elkspedition trek at the headwaters of the Elk River and are now deep in the heart of the Birthplace of Rivers. Join WV Rivers on Memorial Day, May 30, at Coonskin Park to welcome Matt and Adam as they complete the Elkspedition with a free picnic! Prior to the picnic, paddle a section of the final leg of the Elkspedition with Matt and Adam! WV Rivers has teamed up with ACE Adventure to offer a limited number FREE seats on ACE rafts as part of an Elkspedition Homecoming flotilla. Reserve your raft seat here. Be sure to reserve your space soon – they will fill up fast! Or BYOB - bring your own boat! ACE will provide shuttle service for private boaters. RSVP here. The trip is 3.5 miles and is expected to take 1.5 hours. At the end of the trip, plan to join us for the FREE Elkspedition Homecoming Picnic featuring food, games and live music! No preregistration is needed for the picnic portion of the event. ============================================================================================================================= My thought is it would be nice to support WV Rivers (since we do donate to them) by joining in on this paddle. The free Ace shuttle is a plus, not to mention a picnic afterwards. Actually I was thinking of going farther upstream and meet these guys before the hordes join in. After all...3-1/2 miles? A little more would be nice. Any interest?
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Post by The Stehman Family on May 23, 2016 20:36:49 GMT -5
We had the same thought about paddling ,picnicking etc. Would be cool to join in. Keep us updated on your ideas.
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Post by Tony Daniel on May 24, 2016 7:19:28 GMT -5
Hey Wes, I'm in for paddling and picnic-ing. I agree, let's set our own shuttle and do a bit more paddling..
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Post by Angie Rosser on May 24, 2016 14:02:39 GMT -5
Excellent! It means a lot for the boating community to come out and support this. We're hoping for a colorful flotilla of boats to accompany the guys on their last leg of their 173-mile journey.
Free Rollin' Smoke BBQ and all the fixins at Coonskin's Riverside Pavilion. Picnic starts at 4pm. Check in for ACE's short shuttle at 2pm.
See you on the Elk!
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Alan Leedy
WVWA FORUM GUEST
Former WVWA Member 2015-2018
Posts: 273
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Post by Alan Leedy on May 24, 2016 16:21:02 GMT -5
We plan on bringing the kids
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Matt Dameron
WVWA FORUM GUEST
Former WVWA Member 2015-2019
Posts: 196
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Post by Matt Dameron on May 24, 2016 16:26:07 GMT -5
Definitely interested in paddling... Tony, what is your thoughts on put in? Time and place....
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Post by Wes Barthwick on May 24, 2016 20:27:09 GMT -5
From the map, it appears there is a put in in Elkview. It would add some miles. How many, I don't know.
I would suggest a party at Angies place in Clay the night before (Ha Ha) but I think it would be a bit much.
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Matt Dameron
WVWA FORUM GUEST
Former WVWA Member 2015-2019
Posts: 196
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Post by Matt Dameron on May 25, 2016 7:13:58 GMT -5
From the map, it appears there is a put in in Elkview. It would add some miles. How many, I don't know. I would suggest a party at Angies place in Clay the night before (Ha Ha) but I think it would be a bit much. I know that King Shoals to Queen Shoals is around 10... QS to Clendenin is like 3.5... By looking at the map, I'd bet that is going to be 16-20 miles. Break out the long boats!
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Post by Angie Rosser on May 26, 2016 9:41:25 GMT -5
Another idea to lengthen the paddle is make Coonskin a mid-point stop. The guys will be paddling on to Magic Island after stopping in at the picnic...it would be neat to have some folks accompany them all the way to the finish line.
They're camping at Big Chimney Sunday night. The Big Chimney put-in we're planning to use is Rene Mae Drive, river left before the Big Chimney bridge. There is not much parking there. Plenty of parking at Coonskin and Magic Island. Push off from Big Chimney at 3pm.
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Post by The Stehman Family on May 26, 2016 21:00:04 GMT -5
what and where is magic island? what is Sundays' agenda as far as river paddling. how far is magic from coonskin? Sorry for so many questions, we're trying to come up with a plan. Thanks
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Post by Wes Barthwick on May 26, 2016 21:50:20 GMT -5
Jerry- Magic Island is where The Elk and Kanawha meet. Probably no more than 2 to 3 miles. The actual date is Monday 5-30.
We could set shuttle from Magic and follow (bum a ride) from Coonskin to the put in. We would be more than happy to paddle the rest of the way down the river with Matt and Adam.
Does that sound good Angie? Any idea what the status is with the Ace shuttle? Do you know Matt T?
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Post by Angie Rosser on May 27, 2016 11:28:27 GMT -5
Jerry- Magic Island is where The Elk and Kanawha meet. Probably no more than 2 to 3 miles. The actual date is Monday 5-30. We could set shuttle from Magic and follow (bum a ride) from Coonskin to the put in. We would be more than happy to paddle the rest of the way down the river with Matt and Adam. Does that sound good Angie? Any idea what the status is with the Ace shuttle? Do you know Matt T? Sounds good. Check-in for the ACE shuttle is 2pm at Coonskin Riverside Pavilion. The plan is to take the their rafts and rafters up first, then do another shuttle for private boats and boaters. Dave Bassage is driving the bus. The shuttle from Coonskin to the Big Chimney (Rene Mae Drive) put in is only about 10 min. I wouldn't recommend leaving cars at the put-in. Don't count on ACE shuttling from Magic Island, but there will be folks around (like me) who could shuttle drivers from Magic Island to Coonskin. Magic Island is basically right where I-64 crosses the Kanawha in Charleston, river right on the Kanawha - along Kanawha Blvd. I believe it's just under 5 mi from Coonskin. Matt T - Matt Tucker?
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Post by Harry Netzer on May 27, 2016 12:22:06 GMT -5
If youre looking for a longer trip and taking out at coonskin, you can put in where Blue creek enters the Elk river. There is a small gravel parking area on New Hope road at the intersection of pinnell point. That would be a 10 mile float that takes 2.5-3hrs, and can be done easily in a whitewater boat. You can also put in at the bridge in elkview, and park at Elkview community center, but the bank is steep there.
Angie, is there an easy put in behind the domestic violence place?
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Post by Angie Rosser on May 27, 2016 12:35:19 GMT -5
Angie, is there an easy put in behind the domestic violence place? No, not easy. Pretty steep and overgrown.
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Post by Tony Daniel on May 27, 2016 13:49:36 GMT -5
we could do a 15 miler from clendenin to coonskin (at least that's the approximate road mileage (road runs next to river) and end up at coonskin- www.wvdnr.gov/fishing/public_access.asp?county=Kanawha&type=Public+Access+Sites&point=P107 I'll bring a long boat if we go that route bluecreek looks about 1/2 way (7 miles or so to coonskin) I'm out of my element here- just looking at google maps and state river access website, I'm new to this rec boater stuff!
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Post by The Stehman Family on May 27, 2016 13:53:10 GMT -5
We're kinda leaning towards Harry's idea. Set a vehicle at Coonskin in the A.M.,shuttle ourselves to Bluecreek. Float to the Put in, and join the crowd to Coonskin. We might have a couple of newbie floaters with us and don't W want to scare them off with a confusing three part shuttle. We will probably make a final decision by Sunday and post it. I'm assuming this is all flatwater and beginner friendly, as we've never floated this section of the river. We probably won't be going all the way to Magic Island after stopping at Coonskin. Anyone else leaning this way,let us know.
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Post by Tony Daniel on May 27, 2016 14:12:35 GMT -5
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Post by The Stehman Family on May 27, 2016 14:44:50 GMT -5
Seven to ten miles can take awhile if the flow isn't there. Elk river below Sutton dam is very dependant on the release level. When we do Frame to Duck, we like about3.5 to about 5 ft. on the Frametown gauge. That's 9 miles and it takes us about 3+ hours at that level. At1.75, it takes a out 6 hrs. We've never done this particular section, so I guess we'll have to guess based on Sutton. The dam is ramping back as we speak. Check out levels on USGS and compare. We definitely don't want to bite off 15 miles from Clendenin.
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Post by Wes Barthwick on May 27, 2016 18:05:56 GMT -5
The BlueCreek launch (Elkview) looks like the best bet. www.braxtonwv.org/SharedFiles/Download.aspx?pageid=119&mid=138&fileid=8We just need to make sure we have ample time to meet at Big Chimney. They are estimating 1-1/2 hrs from Big Chimney to Coonskin (3-1/2 miles) I can't find a mileage for Blue Creek launch to Big Chimney. Road miles from the town of Blue Creek to Big Chimney is 6 miles. From Elkview it's 4-1/2. No guess here on the time involved. Anyone?
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Post by The Stehman Family on May 27, 2016 18:29:20 GMT -5
.We're going to road. trip it Sat. At this point, I'm thinking 2 m.p.h. without having to push too hard.Plus screw around time. If the masses are leaving Big Chim Nye at 3, we probably should be on water by 11. We're gonna have newbies so don't wanna push too hard. If more than 6 miles, maybe a little earlier.
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Post by Harry Netzer on May 28, 2016 8:42:29 GMT -5
I put in at blue creek and paddled to rolling smoke in 2hrs. I have paddled from big chimney to coonskin in 45 minutes. Even though the elk is flat water, it still has good current.
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Post by The Stehman Family on May 28, 2016 9:16:21 GMT -5
Cool, thanks Harry. Do you remember what level , what gauge?
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Post by Wes Barthwick on May 28, 2016 22:17:58 GMT -5
How about Coonskin at 10 or 10:30. I don't know diddley about the park, like where the picnic would be or best place closest to the river is. It looks like the golf course runs along the river. Does anyone know if the picnic is above or below the course? I have only been there once or twice. I don't know how to time this one out. mapcarta.com/21951502There are also a bunch of shelters. Any clue which one it is in? We could leave vehicles closest to that shelter. I can bring my truck for transport. www.kcprc.com/Parks/Coonskin-Park.aspxIf anyone has a better idea of timing, please chime in.
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Post by Dustin Johnson on May 28, 2016 22:57:30 GMT -5
Wes, it is at the Riverside pavilion. There will be signs up directing you when you enter the park.
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Post by Wes Barthwick on May 29, 2016 0:04:00 GMT -5
Thanks Dustin. Linda thinks 10 is too early. 10:30? 11? I just don't know. I think 11 would make us have to push. If it's 4-1/2 half miles it would be fine, 6 miles could be a problem.
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Post by The Stehman Family on May 29, 2016 8:02:21 GMT -5
We took a drive there Sat.It's right at 6 miles from Blue creek to big chimney. It's flat,but seems to have good Current. We would rather arrive at big chimney a little early and take a break, than have to push too hard. We will be in a canoe, two duckies, and 3 hardboats. Blue creek had some parking spots but not a large amount. I'm thinking about 6 or 8. so earlier might be better than later. 10 a.m. at riverside pavilion seems right to us. No hurrying, no worrying.
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Post by Tony Daniel on May 29, 2016 9:48:15 GMT -5
meet you at 10:00 at riverside pavillion
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Post by Angie Rosser on May 29, 2016 16:08:59 GMT -5
Signs won't be up by 10am but just drive past the golf course, past the pond, bear right to the Riverside Pavilion. Big parking lot there. The river is moving really nice, should be a good float for all... see you in Big Chimney.
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Post by Wes Barthwick on May 29, 2016 16:45:21 GMT -5
10 am it is. See everyone at the pavilion. We will be in our double duck in the truck.
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Post by The Stehman Family on May 29, 2016 17:54:21 GMT -5
Looking forward to it. Hoping for a nice trip for the newbies who are coming along.See you at Ten.
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