Just curious here. Has anyone ever been white water rafting? I am going back down to West Virgina on the Gauley river with my b/f and family. I been on the Upper a few times , but this time were going on the lower because not everyone is 16. I been wanting to try some new rivers next year. I think there is a river in Tenn that is good for it. I also been in Pa and Maryland and Wyoming.

I go rafting at Ohiopyle every year! Usually the spring is better, as the water level is higher and the rapids are more intense.

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I have been on the upper and lower yauch. I fell out at double hydraulics a few times and even hit dimple ... Have to becarefull there with the undercut rock. If you want to have a good extreem time, got to try the upper gauley.

White Water Rafting is so much fun. I've been rafting down two rivers, the Nantahala and Ocoee, on five different occasions(Nantahala-4, Ocoee-1). It's fun, even though the Nantahala is freezing cold AND the first time I went down it, I was thrown out of the raft and it started hailing.

Probably the Ocoee. It's a fast paced river with some good rapids. I don't remember if there is an age requirement, but if there is, I think it's 14(I would check it out beforehand). Prepare to get soaked. They wouldn't let us ride down the dam, though. You'll see why we wanted to if you decide to raft down that river.

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I went White water rafting last year, It was a lot of fun! I want to go to Iceland though. I hear they have some of the world's best rafting there!! (it would be a little cold though )

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1st ride on Renegade for the 2009 season.

What kind of Roller coaster are you?

Ocoee yeah thats it. I was checking stuff out on youtube on it. I want to head out to colorado and check out t he Colorado river.

The Ocoee is actually divided into two parts. The upper portion was the site of the whitewater competition for the 1996 Olympics and is wilder. The lower portion is pretty wild but I don't think it is as wild as the upper portion. The upper portion the minimum age is 13 and the lower portion the minimum age is 12. I have always wanted to do the Ocoee but have never had the chance.

I have though been on the Nantahala several times. It is not nearly as wild as the Ocoee (you don't even need helmets) but it is a lot of fun. By the way the Nantahala's water is a nice and comfortable 48 degrees. Last time I went rafting on the Nantahala I went camping and the guy who was in my tent pretty much kept the entire group awake. The next day I became a little more popular after he "fell" out of the boat. The limit on the Nantahala is 60 lbs.

By the way here is a couple of pictures of the previously mentioned Ocoee Dam I took back in 2007.

The pavement at the bottom is the way rafts and Kayaks get in the river

Also if you do go to the Ocoee then at some point head toward the National Forest on Highway 64/74 and turn at the Ranger Station and take the drive up Chilhowee Mountain for some spectacular views. The final picture is one such view of Lake Ocoee/Parksville Lake.

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I've been twice. Honestly, I envisioned it being a little more life threatening. We went over some class 3 and 4 rapids, but the thing is, with the way you lock your feet down in the raft, it's pretty much nearly impossible to fall out. It was a blast, but it wasn't nearly as I guess, adrenaline pumping as I thought it would be.

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What river did you go on? When i first went, i was only 16 and we had gone on the Upper Gauley . The first time i was a bit nervous esp when i fell in at sweets falls. After that, it was a blast.

The Nantahala was fun, and yes it is pretty tame compared to the Ocoee. The first time I went down it was when I was 11 and I fell out at Pyramid Rock, then we got stuck on it after I was pulled back into the raft. I have also gone down the Falls sideways, and miraculously, didn't flip the raft. My first time down the Ocoee was when I was 16. I guess now you see why we wanted to ride down the dam. It looked like fun.

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You can actually ride down the dam if you have a kayak and $500. By the way I don't have a picture of the dam without water but I did find one here:

http://static.panoramio.com/photos/o...l/20613874.jpg

also this looks like it was taken on the side opposite to the rafting putin:

The way the dam works is that TVA has two ways they can send water down the Ocoee. The first one is along a wooden flume. When this happens the water stays as high as the dam and it goes through a powerhouse a few miles down river and it has the same effect as if the dam was 225 feet above the powerhouse. This causes the Ocoee or NOcoee as some call it to be dry between the dam and powerhouse.

The second option is to not send water down the flume but to send it over the dam and down the river. TVA does not make electricity but it does allow the Ocoee to be filled with water for rafting. During the Spring and fall it is on weekends and in the summmer it is Thursday through Monday. Also if they have flooding and need to get the water out of there in a hurry or if they are workng on the powerhouse or flume they will send water down the river as well. Also during the winter they will once in a while send water down to clean the debris out of the riverbed but this is usually done at night.

The upper Ocoee works the same way but it is only open on weekends from May-September and it uses a tunnel instead of a wooden flume.

The Nantahala uses the same system but it is reversed. If the water goes over the dam it would not be enough to allow rafting but when water goes through the power plant it does allow rafting. Also the water goes from the dam to the powerhouse by a large pipe. The pipe is at the bottom of Nantahala Lake which is why the Nantahala is so cold. Since it uses water for both recreation and electricity it usually goes full time during the summer. Also a few miles away from the Ocoee is the Hiwassee River and it works like the Nantahala.

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Typing of this message was sped up so I could attend a seance to talk to a dead fly and no my avatar is not moving.

I was looking at videos of the Upper Gauley river in wv. Some places will run the gauley in the summer, but its when the fall comes , thats when they release the dam. So you can see a major difference in rapids. I will be going back on the Upper next year. I will get to see how the lower works out this year. Here are some videos of a difference i saw from one of the rapids.

Iron ring 300cfs
Fall Release Iron Ring

I have. I was a little underwhelmed, but it was still fun. Mostly, the water was freezing cold (around 40*). Also, I could have been at Dollywood that day, but the other trip participants wanted to go biking instead (WTF).

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Well we leave for wv today so i will let you know how things went when we get back on saturday.