Greenbrier Valley

[Uncle_Skwid]

If you happen upon southeastern West Virginia and there happens to be water in the Greenbrier River and you happen to be toting your canoe and you’ve got a few days to check out some West Virginia history and paddle through some long green sycamore and river birch tunnels on some delightfully clear and easy going water flowing over some delightful Appalachian sand and limestone--the people of the Greenbrier Valley care deeply for their river and, while they are winning fantastic battles, they are still fighting industrial pollution like a boss--you might check out the Greenbrier Valley. From the Monongahela National Forest down through the old logging towns of Durbin and Cass the river flows 150 unimpeded miles to dump into the New River just below Bluestone Dam. (You can take a right and run the New River Gorge if you'd like.)

We’ve had decent rains this spring and a friend from Richmond drove over and we spent three days on a lower section of the Greenbrier, warm weather and all... And despite that he’d forgotten his hammock and had to sleep on a bed of lined up dry bags and the electrical system in his truck went wonk at the takeout, or the fact that while poking around town for a holiday mechanic we stumbled upon a delicious little saloon and fell in with the locals; we managed to have an okay time enchanted under the spell of another glorious West Virginia daydream...

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[Odyssey]

I love the looks of that verdant green daydream, getting away from concrete greys and city blues. Pity about the truck breakdown, but without it you'd never have discovered the town oasis. Silver lining. Thanks for this Uncle. Once upon a time I drove through Monongahela and have always wondered what a waterside view must be like.

 

[Alan Gage]

Sounds like a great place. Very lush. Is that section of river naturally that straight or was it channelized at some point in time?

Alan

 

[Uncle_Skwid]

West Virginia has been nothing if not exploited for her resources. Back in the days of heavy logging in the Greenbrier Valley loggers would--as they did in many locales--float the white pine logs down the river in spring runoff, riding the logs in their caulked boots wielding their peaveys. I'm sure the river suffered its share of well-meaning industrial channelizing and boulder blasting. But unlike the Tye River over here in Virginia (which was destroyed in 1969 by hurricane Camille), I don't know of any one catastrophic event that required the rebuilding of the riverbed. Neither would I rule it out.

It's sort of ironic that over on the Gauley River below Summersville Dam one of the most dangerous spots on the river (at certain water levels), is a rock that the US Army Corps attempted to blast out of the way for loggers. Unfortunately, it didn't work and instead of removing the troublesome boulder they left the business half sitting left of the main channel such that now the rock acts like a spaghetti sieve pointed upstream, with water going under it, over it, around it, through it. Then they left it there for future unsuspecting boaters. Forward thinking at its best.

 

[Nodrama43]

Uncle Skwid a couple of weeks ago I spent a few days on the Greenbriar floating and fishing...Ronceverte to Talcott. Lots of fish....lots of water and real nice time. I plan on going back in July again. Where are you in the picture you posted?

 

[Uncle_Skwid]

Hey Nod Rama,

My thoughts on the Greenbrier are the higher you go the better. (They stock trout above Marlington.) But what a scenic river. This shot (the whole trip, actually) was taken down lower, I would guess between Caldwell and Ronceverte? We had some great fishing as well. Hope you've still got some water in July!

 

[Nodrama43]

My plans are to float from Alderson all the way to Bellpointe if there isn't enough water up higher. I have been told that some of the very best fishing is between Caldwell and Fort Springs as well. I have been fishing the Greenbrier for almost 50 years now and love spending time there. I have been watching the gauges and will probably run it when the buckeye gauge is around 2.5 feet. Over Memorial Day holiday it was at 3.5 and was moving pretty good.