Science Camper 2007 – Another Success

Once again, the WVWA hosted about 65 smiling, excited students down the Upper New River as part of their “Science Camper” experience. The weekend began Friday night, July 6, with a dozen or so guides arriving early for the event and camping out at Dun Glen. The action began in earnest at 9:00 am Saturday as guides and helpers began arriving with boats and gear galore. By the time the campers arrived on the Pocahontas County School bus at 10:15, nearly 60 boats of all shapes, sizes, and colors (kayaks, sit-on-tops, duckies, canoes, a raft, and a shredder) were lined up along the bank awaiting the onslaught.

When the campers unloaded from the bus, Susan Klimas gave them a safety orientation. They were then divided up into “pods” of 5-7 campers and 4-6 guides. At that point, most of the guides helped the campers get fitted into boats and gear while other guides ran shuttle. Once fitted, the campers were taught – and then demonstrated – the “wet exit”.

After a quick PB&J lunch, the campers got back in their boats, grouped into their assigned pods, and received some basic paddling instruction from their guides. The shuttle drivers finally returned, geared up, and the real excitement began.

The river was on the low side (about 2000 CFS) but was perfect for the trip. As usual, there were several swims through the day with a few campers taking multiple dips. A stop at Jump Rock allowed many of the campers a break from paddling for a little different adrenaline rush. The major rush of the day came with “Surprise” rapid. By the time we reached this rapid, all of the campers had been “warned” about it and were looking forward to it with apprehension. Many campers and guides alike took the rapid and the hole full on – some on purpose with the cry “Go Big or Go Home”, and some decidedly NOT on purpose.

After picking up the pieces (not too many actually) we finished the run. The shuttle went extremely well with 3 trailers, a large shuttle van (the “Sin Bin”), and several other vehicles to manage all the gear. Scot Meadows went away with honors for his truck/trailer combo that hauled 22 boats and gear - far overshadowing my own personal best of 14 boats.

Saturday evening after the run, we re-organized all the boats and gear in preparation for Sunday’s repeat performance and then filled up on pizza and pop. The Science Campers were thrilled to get pizza as they had been living on and had been expecting soup or stew. Later in the evening, S’Mores were prepared for dessert at the campfire. Then, Amy Thornton, “Yukon” John Duke, and Andy Reese entertained many of us with guitars and singing. One of the campers joined in later with a beautiful voice and some more great singing.

Sunday was very much a repeat of Saturday. We were a couple of guides short compared with Saturday but still had enough to take the 30+ excited campers down river. I had a touch of “motion sickness” all day (from the cup-to-mouth curling motion the evening before). The bus ride and the rapids brought out (up) the best (worst) of me but I did make it through the day. A particularly fun and memorable part of Sunday’s trip was Ted Thornton’s epic duckie side-surf in Surprise. He probably watched a dozen or more campers go by from his unique vantage point. Note that he did this without his paddle and came out (finally) right side up!

Overall, this was one more in a long line of excellent Science Camper trips. I would like to thank EVERYONE that helped out with guiding, gear loans, gear hauling, shuttling, paperwork, food/water pickup, etc. This event takes everyone’s effort to make it happen – and it happened well this year. So, thanks to: Guides: Allen Lilly, Chuck Brabec, Nancy Brabec, Ron Bucholtz, David King, Andy Reese, Debbie Moore, Jeff Hilbert, Scot Meadows, John Tingley, Mike McClanahan, Susan Klimas, Turner Sharp, Barney Lilly, Rick Lilly, John Lilly, Bill Young, Judy Young, Ted Duncan, Tom Eisenschmidt, Amy Thornton, Ted Thornton, Tom Connelly, Bridget Tincher, Judy Peascoe, Mike Gilzow, Kathleen Simpson, John Duke, Jeff Redding, and Robbie Griffith. Gear Loaners: Marilynn Polan, Joe Carney, Dan Nolte. I know I missed a few and I’m sorry for that – but thanks to you also.

John Duke graciously served as the videographer for the recently completed Science Camper. He posted a few messages on the WVWA Message Board with links to the videos on YouTube. Here is a complete list of the links: