This week on Inside Appalachia, rock climbers with disabilities have found a home in Kentucky’s Red River Gorge, which offers some pumpy crags… Climbers have also been working to make West Virginia’s New River Gorge more inclusive. And a master craftsman, who makes one of a kind whitewater paddles remembers some advice.
This week, rock climbers with disabilities have found a home in Kentucky’s Red River Gorge, which offers some pumpy crags…
Climbers have also been working to make West Virginia’s New River Gorge more inclusive.
And a master craftsman, who makes one of a kind whitewater paddles remembers some advice.
You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.
The mountains of Appalachia are home to some killer rock climbing, but they’re also accessible for some groups who’ve felt excluded in the past.
Adaptive sports reporter Emily Chen-Newton covers athletes with disabilities. She brings us this story, exploring why climbing festivals are making a home in Appalachia.
Removing Racist Language From Rock Climbing
In West Virginia, one of the most popular climbing destinations is the New River Gorge. Advanced rock climbers continue to pioneer new climbing routes there. The first people to climb these new routes are called “first ascensionists.” And they get the privilege of naming the routes. But what happens when dozens of those route names are plainly and clearly offensive?
In 2020 and 2021, Zack Harold followed the story of a climber at the New River Gorge who wanted to make the sport he loved more inclusive for his son.
Crafting A Classic Paddle
Jon Rugh with his wooden paddle at the New River near Blacksburg, VA.
Credit: Clara Haizlett/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Appalachia has several huge rivers — the New River, the Youghigheny, the Pigeon — so, it’s no surprise whitewater paddling is popular across the region, but it wasn’t all that long ago that modern paddlers first started exploring these rivers, designing their own gear and even building their own paddles. Some of those DIY paddle makers became master crafters.
Folkways Reporter Clara Haizlett followed one.
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Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Sturgeon Creek, Anthony Vega, Oakfield, the Delorian, Biba Dupont, Marissa Anderson, Tyler Childers, Jerry Douglas and John Blissard.
Bill Lynch is our producer. Zander Aloi is our associate producer. Our executive producer is Eric Douglas. Kelley Libby is our editor. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens.
You can send us an email: InsideAppalachia@wvpublic.org.
This week, we’re airing an encore episode of Inside Appalachia. We’ll meet a man who makes wooden turkey calls. We’ll also meet people who make wooden paddles by hand and custom-decorate each one, and a man who repairs cuckoo clocks. Finally, we’ll travel to some of the most beautiful spots in Appalachia to find wildflowers, like Dolly Sods and the Canaan Valley of West Virginia.
This week, we’re airing an encore episode of Inside Appalachia.
We’ll meet a man who makes wooden turkey calls, but these aren’t just any turkey calls. Painter Brian Aliff doesn’t call himself an artist, but he intricately paints his turkey calls, which are now collectors’ items.
We’ll also meet people who make wooden paddles by hand and custom-decorate each one, and a man who repairs cuckoo clocks.
Finally, we’ll travel to some of the most beautiful spots in Appalachia to find wildflowers, like Dolly Sods and the Canaan Valley of West Virginia. And we wonder — are these areas becoming too popular?
These stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.
When you need to check the time, where do you look? Most people turn to their phones or digital watches. These days, it seems like every electronic device has a clock function in addition to whatever it’s supposed to do, but it hasn’t always been this way. Not all that long ago, marking the passage of time was the job of one device — a clock.
Folkways Reporter Zack Harold spent some time with Carl Witt, a man in Fairview, West Virginia, who learned how to repair clocks after crossing paths with the late Charles Decker. Witt, a welder at the time, decided to retire and went on to start his own clock repair business — Curiosity Clockworks.
Dolly Sods Hosts Wildflower Pilgrimage
Dolly Sods is federally protected public land — full of rocky ridges, soggy bogs and beautiful views. It’s also the site of an annual nature walk called the West Virginia Wildflower Pilgrimage. The event attracts wildflower and birding experts from around the country and was most recently held in May of this year.
Inside Appalachia Host Mason Adams made the pilgrimage in 2021 from his home in Floyd County, Virginia to Dolly Sods in West Virginia’s Canaan Valley.
Paddlers Design Their Own Gear
Appalachia has several huge rivers: the Gauley, the Youghiogheny and the New River, just to name a few. Whitewater paddling is popular in the region, but it wasn’t that long ago modern paddlers first started exploring these rivers, designing their own gear and even building their own paddles. Some of those DIY paddle makers are now master crafters and their work is in high demand.
Like many Appalachian traditions, turkey calls go way back. Historically, they’ve been used as a hunting tool, but one West Virginia artist has taken it to the next level. Brian Aliff makes hand-crafted, prize-winning decorative turkey calls. These pieces are functional and they’re becoming collector’s items, but it took a while for Aliff to think of himself as an artist.
Folkways Reporter Connie Kitts talks with Aliff on this week’s episode.
Increase In Tourism Puts Strain On Local Infrastructure
Tucker County, West Virginia, has seen a surge of new visitors from Washington, D.C. in the years since US Route 48, also known as Corridor H, opened. The growing number of visitors is good for business, but it’s also straining the resources of a county with just one stoplight and 7,000 year-round residents.
Mason Adams visited the towns of Thomas and Davis in Tucker County, West Virginia and has this story about managing growth and resources against the backdrop of expansive natural beauty.
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Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Dinosaur Burps, The Chamber Brothers, and Wes Swing. Bill Lynch is our producer, but Roxy Todd originally produced this episode.
Our executive producer is Eric Douglas. Kelley Libby is our editor. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens. Zander Aloi also helped produce this episode.
You can send us an email: InsideAppalachia@wvpublic.org.
The chance of ending up in the water is higher in those rapids, McQueen said. He believes in the river mantra that a boater is always just in between swims.
As summer winds down, tens of thousands of whitewater rafters and kayakers from all over the country begin their migration to West Virginia. They are here for the Gauley River — which normally only has navigable flows during the fall.
The fall recreational flows are part of a planned effort of water releases in the fall to draw down Summersville Lake and support whitewater rafting and kayaking.
Companies offer guided trips down the river for customers without expert whitewater skills. However, most of the boats on the river are private boaters or individuals who own their own equipment and have the professional knowledge and abilities to navigate the river.
The bright red cataraft and kayak increase the visibility of the crafts.
Credit: Briana Heaney/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
The National Park Service said this year they have seen more private boaters than ever.
Matt McQueen is a park ranger. The Gauley has recreational releases two to four days a week during its six week season. On those days he is paddling down the river in his red kayak alongside a red cataraft operated by another park ranger — Kathy Zerkle.
Chromatic Currents
The colors on the hills change from a bright green in the beginning of the season to vibrant yellows, reds and oranges in the late season. The landscape is interrupted by the bright primary-colored boats, tutus, sequined shirts and glittered faces, all headed downstream from where the river begins at Summersville Dam.
“A lot of different colors, a lot of plastic on the water, a lot of smiling faces, a lot of glitter, a lot of lipstick,” McQueen said. “There’s definitely a whole culture involved in the whitewater industry that is kind of unique, for sure.”
Headed East To West Virginia
The colorful and glittery private boaters gather on this river from all over the country.
Melissa Clivio-Wentrup is one of those sparkling travelers. She started guiding on the river this summer in her home state of Montana.
“A lot of our senior guides had spoken a big game about the Gauley. I had heard this name kind of floating around in the parking lot since I had gotten there,” Clivio-Wentrup said.
Melissa Clivio-Wentrup (middle) is wearing glitter makeup at the put-in for the Gauley River. She is with her friends from Montana, Bair Osgood (left) and Charlie Moseley (right).
Credit: Briana Heaney/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Kevin Fitch agreed. He has been guiding for nine years in Colorado and has come to West Virginia for the past few falls to work and play on the river.
The parking lot for the put-in is like a big family reunion. It’s dotted with hugs, and “hey, how you been?” Every once in a while, someone will run across the lot towards an embrace from someone they haven’t seen in weeks, months or years.
Credit: Briana Heaney/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
The Big Pushy Water Of The Gauley
The rafters said they come here because of how massive the whitewater is. The “White Water Guide Book” said the Gauley is the best river for a single day trip. The river has many of the qualities that create big whitewater: a steep descent, lots of water and lots of obstacles.
During the release, it runs at a minimum of 2,800 cubic feet per second, or CFS. A cubic foot of water is about the size of a basketball. If there was a line going across the river, every second 2,800 basketballs worth of water would cross it during the recreational release.
The Gauley is a pool drop style of river. This means that the rapids are separated by calm pools of water. Credit: Briana Heaney/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
“Because of the style of the Gauley, 2,800 ends up being a large amount of water for a relatively small river,” Fitch said.
Fitch said the combination of those features make the waves reminiscent of a big ocean swell.
“You’re looking ten feet above you, at the crest of the wave. Your only perspective, your only visual at that point, is the water around you and the trees that poke about above them,” Fitch said.
Rating The River
Those waves, rocks and water all factor into a whitewater classification system that rates rapids from 1-6 on level of difficulty. Park Ranger McQueen said that you can think of class one as a choppy day on a lake, and class six as a nearly impossible run.
McQueen kayaks around the bottom of rapids looking upstream in case any rafters or kayakers need his help. Credit: Briana Heaney/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
“Class five is more of an expert level where significant hazards are present,” he said. “Navigation and the route are not always easily apparent. There are some solid navigational skills that need to be required to get through and strengthen, strength for sure.”
The Gauley has five class five rapids: Iron Curtain, Pillow, Lost Paddle, Iron Ring and Sweets Falls.
The Sounds Of White Water
The chance of ending up in the water is higher in those rapids, McQueen said. He believes in the river mantra that a boater is always just in between swims.
“No matter how good, or skilled, or experienced you are as a whitewater paddler, eventually something is going to happen where you’re gonna find yourself in the water, taking a swim,” he said.
That’s why the park service is out there kayaking below rapids, or standing on rocks with throw bags.
Boaters perched on rocks below some of the rapids, boats tied to trees, watching other rafters and kayakers paddle the rapid. When a raft or kayak has made a few mistakes and flipping or swimming look likely, cheers erupt from bystanders.
“Cheers generally mean that you have messed up your line. Cheers generally mean that somebody is going in the water,” Fitch said.
Throw bags are used to assist swimmers in getting to land. They are always thrown from land to a swimmer who then grabs the rope and is swung into the bank of the river. Rope is often a last option in helping a swimmer because of hazards associated with using it.
Credit: Briana Heaney/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
However, he said that if the swimmers are in a dangerous position then the rock-perched boaters immediately take action.
“What is absolutely epic about those times is everyone will cheer as things are going wrong,” Fitch said. “But if things end up going weird, the cheers immediately stop. And the concern for the individual and getting them out of the scenario that they’re in becomes paramount. And that is one of the aspects of a phenomenal community here.”
The Gauley River usually gets 20,000 to 30,000 visitors each season. Rangers are predicting that the numbers this year could be their highest yet.
The 2023 Gauley season started Sept. 8 and will end on Oct. 22.
On this West Virginia Morning, a film called Impossible Town, based in Minden, West Virginia, features Dr. Ayne Amjad’s efforts to relocate the town’s residents after decades of exposure to chemical contamination during her tenure as the state’s health officer. Appalachia Health News Reporter Emily Rice spoke with the co-directors of the film ahead of free screenings of the film across the Mountain State.
On this West Virginia Morning, a film called Impossible Town, based in Minden, West Virginia, features Dr. Ayne Amjad’s efforts to relocate the town’s residents after decades of exposure to chemical contamination during her tenure as the state’s health officer.
Appalachia Health News Reporter Emily Rice spoke with the co-directors of the film ahead of free screenings of the film across the Mountain State.
Also, in this show, the fall whitewater rafting and kayaking season is in full swing on the Gauley River. Briana Heaney has the story.
West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content.
Support for our news bureaus comes from Concord University and Shepherd University.
Caroline MacGregor produced this episode.
Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning
In 2022, state tourism revenue set an all time record with $5 billion in traveler spending. “Almost Heaven” was on full display as Tourism Day filled the State Capitol rotunda halls on Monday.
In 2022, state tourism revenue set an all time record with $5 billion in traveler spending. “Almost Heaven” was on full display as Tourism Day filled the State Capitol rotunda halls on Monday.
Thousands of people from throughout the state, country and world experience the thrill of whitewater rafting on West Virginia rivers every year. Some are whitewater veterans, but many first-timers come to West Virginia to experience the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve and raft through the heart of one of the state’s most beautiful areas.
Chelsea Bricker is marketing leader with Adventures on the Gorge, one of several whitewater rafting outfits. Chelsea explained that these days, Fayette County tourist destinations offer much more than rafting.
“We do ziplining; we do rock climbing. We do rappelling; we do mountain biking. We have an aerial obstacle course as well,” Bricker said. “You can do a hiking trip in the New River Gorge. You really can come and spend an entire week there, or just come for a couple days. We also have a pool right on the edge of the New River Gorge National Park so you can relax if that’s your idea of an adventure.”
A hidden tourism gem in Mason County, the West Virginia State Farm Museum offers snapshots in history, representing the industry of the farm as well as the state’s farm heritage. Museum Executive Director Tim Kidwell said following a COVID-19 downtime, 2023 museum events will be back in full harvest.
“We’ll start off with a spring steam and engine shed. Hopefully weather permitting, we usually have 50 to 60 antique engines and tractors on display and in operation,” Kidwell said, “Then each month we actually hold an antique tractor show during the summer and we’ll be wrapping up the year this year with our fall festival.”
One tourism day display, presented by Jay Fryman with Backroads of Appalachia, showcases his popular regional motorsports trail ride organization, now getting legislative approval for people to ride into West Virginia.
“Backroads of Appalachia is a nonprofit organization who does economic development to motor sports tourism for the poorest regions of Appalachia,” Fryman said. “We work in Eastern Kentucky, southwest Virginia, eastern Tennessee, and now West Virginia. We’re working with the West Virginia state Legislature to develop a trail system here and promote it to bring that tourism into the small towns. We haven’t had anything since coal died. So that’s what we did.”
The state currently employs more than 44,000 people working in direct tourism jobs. With expected growth, there’s an estimated 24,000 annual job openings, and many of those in the hospitality industry, someone needs to house and feed all those tourists.
The past few years, southern West Virginia Hatfield McCoy ATV trails have rivaled whitewater rafting and winter skiing in bringing in thousands of out of state tourists. John Fekete, deputy executive director for the Hatfield McCoy Trails, said last year they sold 95,000 trail passes and 80 percent of those were non-resident, out of state people. Fekete said the challenge is finding places in the coalfields for those trail riders to lodge and eat.
”We need more entrepreneurs. We need more development. We’re seeing some of that now. We saw a couple of big resorts come in in the last couple of years,” Fekete said. “Ashland Resort down in McDowell County, they’re growing. They’ve been around for about 10 years. We’ve got the Devil’s Backbone over in Red Jacket. They’ve got almost 50 cabins and are in the process of building 100 more. So the developments are coming but we need more.”
In Nicholas County meanwhile, high schoolers have started the Good Gauley Coffee Company, giving students a head start in one of many tourism hospitality trades. Katie Goette, the ProStart culinary teacher at Nicholas County Career and Technical Center said food tourism or food niches are really quite popular right now. And a barista job may offer more interest and advancement than your fast food endeavor.
“It’s great for these students. It’s an empowering first entry level job into the business instead of fast food,” Goette said. “As a barista or roasting coffee, you have to learn the flavor profiles, which is a great entry level culinary skill. You have to have customer service and get to know your customers and what kind of – how they want their coffee, how they like what they like, and how they take their coffee.”
West Virginia’s record setting 2022 tourism gains were experienced throughout the four corners and two panhandles of the state, with even stronger revenues expected in 2023.
Just about any search on Google for “best white water rafting” includes West Virginia. Around 150,000 people commercially raft a West Virginia river each year, mostly on the New River and Gauley River, which are near Fayetteville, West Virginia. At one point there were just less than 30 rafting companies in the area. Today, they have consolidated into six adventure businesses.
Taking many of the people down the river is a raft guide – someone who is professionally trained to know water, but also to know people. The concept of a river guide in West Virginia started to form in the late 1960s, creating an entire guiding community culture. It is one that has been passed down for decades and is developing more each year.
Every guided raft trip provides guests with a taste of the culture. Especially with experienced guides like Ray Ray, a senior river guide for Adventures on the Gorge – a river guiding outfit in Fayetteville.
It Is In Your Blood, Or It Is Not
On this day, Ray Ray guides eight guests down the lower New River. The water is warm. The canyon surrounding them is tall and covered in thick green trees. Birds are chirping, there is a slight rain drizzle. The arch of the New River Gorge Bridge glimmers in the distance.
Credit Caitlin Tan / West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Ray Ray paddles a raft down the lower New River. He has been guiding since 1992.
“It’s the best job in the world. I actually have two college degrees I’ve never used a day in my life,” Ray Ray says.
Roger Wilson, CEO of Adventures on the Gorge, says all the guides have a deep love for the outdoors.
“There’s something that happens when that first wave hits you. White Water rafting is either in your blood or it’s not. And when that first wave hit me, I was addicted,” Roger says.
He says guiding is not for everyone, as there is a large social aspect. One must be able to read people just as well as one reads the water.
Dave Bassage, who has been guiding since 1984, says there is a close, mutual respect between him and the customer.
“I really love the dynamic of having a crew of different people every day and introducing them to what I think of as the dance with moving water,” Dave says. “We’re just one of its partners, and we’ve got all these other partners in the raft.”
Credit Caitlin Tan / West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Roger Wilson (left) and Dave Bassage in front of the main Adventures on the Gorge building. Roger started guiding in 1975 and he took Dave on his first raft trip – Dave later started guiding in 1984.
Being a river guide can be a nomadic lifestyle, as the season goes from March until October. Jay Young, media manager for Adventures on the Gorge, says many of the river guides work at ski resorts in the winter or they continue guiding in South America.
“Those people everything they own fits in the back of their truck or car and they’re off to the next destination to whatever’s in season,” Jay says.
“Ya’ll Ready?”
The guide leading the boat on this day has made a career out of the industry. Ray Ray has guided in West Virginia since 1992, and he has worked on dozens of other rivers across the world.
On this trip, there are four other rafts with guides in the group, but Ray Ray is the trip leader. He consistently checks in with the other guides.
“Ya’ll ready? You ready Caveman?” he asks.
All the river guides have nicknames. One man with shoulder length blonde hair goes by ‘Caveman.’ He got the name because of where he lived for about eight months — the span of a full rafting season.
“I was looking around through the woods one day and found this cool little rock house overhang and just made it into a house,” Caveman says. “I actually had an endangered species of salamander living with me – it was pretty neat.”
And Ray Ray’s nickname is a bit of a mystery, but Jay has a theory.
“Ray Ray is Ray Ray, because he’s twice the fun,” Jay says.
Ray Ray gives the raft paddling commands.
“Forward and back, forward and back, don’t use your arms,” he says.
Credit Caitlin Tan / WVPB
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WVPB
Rafts floating down the lower New River. Today, guides are in almost every commercial raft; however, in the 60s, 70s and 80s that was not as common.
There are long stretches of calm, scenic floating. Ray Ray explains the history of the area, and he tells stories, like how different rapids and obstacles in the river got their names. There is Greyhound, Flea Flicker, Meat Grinder, Old Nasty and Miller’s Foley.
“A kayaker named Miller got stuffed up underneath that rock over there. He was trying to run a real gnarly line, but he swam out alive, which was a million to one shot,” Ray Ray says. “He needed to go buy himself a lottery ticket.”
Ray Ray’s skin seems to be permanently tan. The fine lines on his face are of a person who has worked outside all of their life. When he sits on the back of the raft, paddle in hand, he is in his element.
Mostly he jokes in a playful voice with the guests…
“Remember I told you if I don’t bring you back they’re gonna dock my pay. So, you better make your swim,” he says.
But in serious moments, Ray Ray exudes confidence. His voice booms, his commands are clear.
Danger Lurks
In the rapid sections of the river, the raft pushes itself through the raging white water. Everyone gets soaked, but Ray Ray guides the entire time.
“Forward go – go! Keep going guys,” he says.
Some of the guests scream from a mix of fear and excitement.
After the rapids, Ray Ray pauses to check on the other rafts in the group.
We’re approaching an obstacle called ‘Meat Grinder.’
“It’s a collection of undercut rocks where water goes under and through it,” Ray Ray says. “We say water goes through and bodies do not.”
Some people are thrown out of their raft in the rapid above Meat Grinder. They are not part of Ray Ray’s group, but he immediately springs into action. The possibility of something catastrophic happening is low, but ‘Meat Grinder’ is one of the more dangerous areas on the river.
The guides react quickly, and Ray Ray shouts to the people bobbing in the white water, trying to save their raft.
“Leave the boat. Swim – swim!”
Everybody is fine, but it is because Ray Ray and the other guides on the trip are experts on reading the water and reading each other. Something Jay Young, the media manager for Adventures on the Gorge, says is just part of being a professional guide.
“If you were to hang out at the guide camp or even a bar on a Saturday night, you wouldn’t think these guys are the professionals that they are,” Jay says. “But when the poo hits the fan on a river, there’s nobody else I’d want out with me, because they rush into action; they all know exactly what to do, and it gets done fast.”
Passing the Paddle Down
Guides have always had their own language, whether it is hand signals on the river, or talking about water depth or names of rapids. Ray Ray says it has evolved over time.
“We’re gonna be running one down here called ‘Flea Flicker’ that a lot of old timers used to call ‘Last Kick in the Pants,’” he says. “For the most part over time, it’s evolved and it’s just a way for us to communicate, it’s our language. It’s like speaking river guide or speaking hippy.”
Credit Caitlin Tan / West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Guests that were a part of Ray Ray’s group. There are typically eight people to a raft.
And it is the senior guides, like Ray Ray, that teach this new language to the up and coming guides. People who might not have prior rafting experience but are brought together through their love of the outdoors.
Claire Hemme, a former Inside Appalachia intern, is a first year river guide. She took the job, because she wanted to be paid to work outside.
“It’s just this wonderful eclectic mix of everyone from everywhere who just want to be outside,” she says.
The Glory Days
River guides have always been adventure seeking people, says Roger Wilson, the Adventures on the Gorge CEO. He started guiding in 1975, and he says the concept of the commercial rafting industry was still new.
“Every rock wasn’t named, every route wasn’t ran. There was still that point of discovery,” Roger says. “We were developing an industry – developing something new that no one had ever done before.”
Today, safety is a top priority. Before getting on the river, everyone signs a waiver, and guides ask each person about specific health issues.
But that was not always the case. Charlie Walbridge guided on the Cheat River in northern West Virginia from the late 1970s until the early 1980s. He says there was not a guide in every raft, people did not sign a waiver and guests were often treated like friends rather than a paying customer.
“If somebody fell out of the boat, we’d certainly go help them, but we’d laugh at them,” Charlie says. “There were all kinds of slang. When I first started the guests were turkeys, and then carp and then geeks.”
Credit Caitlin Tan / West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Charlie Walbridge with his kayak at his home in Bruecton Mills, WV. After trying out for the U.S. whitewater rafting team in 1975, Charlie started guiding on the Cheat River.
These days, guides are almost always in every raft, and there is more respect between the guide and customer. Roger says guiding has become a way to share the love of the sport.
“It evolves to watching these new guests hit these rapids for the first time and watching the smile on their face,” Roger says.
Don’t Watch Life Go By
Back on the New River, in the raft with Ray Ray, the trip is almost over.
For most of the guests in the boat, it is their first time down the rapids, but Ray Ray has done it thousands of times. He will be out again the next day, likely guiding more guests down the same rapids, but he still has a big grin and excitement for the river.
Credit Caitlin Tan / West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Guests on the bus after four hours of rafting. Buses transport guides and guests to and from the river.
“Thanks ya’ll very much,” he says. “Ya’ll played super hard today. I told you that was going to be a fun ride today – that was a rowdy ride.”
On shore, all the rafts are deflated and loaded on a trailer.
All 32 people in the group load up on a bus, where cold beer and soft drinks are waiting. Ray Ray has one last message.
“Guys, keep getting off your coach and living your life. Don’t watch this go by.”
This story is part of an Inside Appalachia episode exploring some of Appalachia’s most unique destinations, on the water and beneath the water. Click here to listen.
