40 Years of Wildwater

Celebrate with West Virginia's First Outfitter

As time goes on, we will be loading this page with all sorts of photos and videos of Wildwater's people and history. If you have any comments related to any of the materials you see here, please comment on our whitewater blog page under the 40 Years blog entry.

Check out this video from an early Wildwater Gauley trip with footage of Pillow Rock & Sweet's Falls (Box Canyon).

Nostalgia!

Posted by:Ed on 2008-01-25

Seems like just yesterday I was an eager 20yr old wanting to impress the h... out of J Dragan only to miss the forest for the trees. Can still hear him screaming at me to get the lead out and do something. Best summers (79-?) of my life taking other river junkies and their kids down the New. And in retrospect learning something about myself and life. The river and Wildwater was always cathartic in that way for me. Even it was just pounding Red dog slag at the take out or nails in one of the many building projects at the base camp or even weekend warrior status and missing many of the unique things of WW camplife. I can't remember a truly bad day other than when I had to realize I was not going to be that special employee of WW who stayed on year round and could make it career.

Posted by: Stephanie
As a transplanted Yankee living in Fayetteville WV and enjoying the benefits of the surrounding beauty and friendships forged over the years, I remember with the greatest pleasure my first rafting experience with Wildwater Expeditions so long ago! The stories shared by Jon and Tom Dragan were warm, funny and memorable. Our guides, Larry, Schroeder and Hilarie (to name a few) were funny and informative giving us a sense of the area with history lessons making the gorge and ghost towns come alive. Enough so to keep us coming back year after year for more. We watched Wildwater develop from a true base camp to a comfortable place to be with of all things - hot showers!! The rapids were thrilling even in the giant bucket boats (large rafts with bailers) as we ran rapids with new names (to us) that stand today - Surprise, Greyhound, the Keeneys, Sunset and Undercut - all with pre-rapid talks to put the fear of paddling into us!

One of my favorite memories is when we would hook all of the rafts together and become a giant floating barge type thing with the guides holding court and telling bad jokes (this continues today) while we floated through the pools on the upper New. Of course, there was no one else out there during those years so we had the luxury of just taking our time. We would return to base camp in Thurmond, cook our meals, sit at the picnic tables recounting our day with a tasty beverage and good food and friends (this still continues) and listen for the whistle as the Chesapeake came rolling through. What a time. And that is why I live here in West Virginia today and can say I'm proud to be part of the community.

Thanks! Stephanie