Lost Paddle

Lost Paddle and Tumblehome begin at the end of the Carnifex Ferry pool, which is also the confluence with the Lower Meadow. Historically this was a strategic location on the river, particularly during the Civil War, as one of the few places the river could be safely crossed. Check to see how much water is coming out of the Meadow. If you are paddling a regularly scheduled release, you probably won't have a lot of inflow from the Meadow, but if it's been raining this major tributary can pump up the flows considerably (at times, more than double).

This very long series of rapids consists of the 3 drops of Lost Paddle (4 at low levels) and the boiling, twisting drops of Tumblehome at the bottom. Of all the major rapids, Lost Paddle is the most difficult to portage. The undercuts are legendary and the drops are big, boiling, and shallow all at the same time. Swims here are very long and serious with a risk of flush drowning or being swept into one of the dozens of undercuts lining the banks. Help swimmers as quickly as can safely be done. While this is a complex and demanding rapid, if you've made it this far without significant problems, Lost Paddle probably won't give you too much trouble. Most people get really worked up about Lost Paddle, and end up doing just fine. Just follow your guide and grab eddies as they become available. The descriptions below of each section are not the only way to run these rapids, and as with all the rapids on this run it is more important to be prepared with solid river-reading skills than to remember all the details.

1st Drop:
You will start 1st drop from the center of the river. Directly downstream you will see: Lots and lots of rocks, so forget that. The river sort of splits here, going around an island of sorts. Left is the creek line (Do not run the creek line blind!), and right is 1st and 2nd drop. Heading right, you will work your way from the flatwater through a series of tiny holes and waves, looking for a wave train of sorts. There is a hole on the left side of the wave train that is usually avoided, and ultimately a hole on the river right as you start to bend back to the left. When you pass the hole on the right, you'll want to start moving to the right to catch the eddy above Second Drop, which will appear to you, at this point, as a horizon line.

2nd Drop:
Now, you are sitting in the eddy on river right, about 25 feet above 2nd Drop. As always, during Gauley season, you will have to wait for umpteen million freakin' rafts before you get your chance to go. From the eddy, you can see: A curling wave sticking out from the river left shore, a horizon line just right of the curler wave, and as usual, lots of big boulders everywhere. You'll want to go just barely to the right of the curling wave. You should be able to brace on it if you want to. This will put you just to the right of a big hole that the curler hides, and just left of another hole on the bottom right. Hold on tight, be flexible and be prepared to brace hard as you get shot down the middle. It's awesome, white foamy water everywhere as you descend the tongue and ramp up and over the next few breaking waves. Be extremely careful here. 2nd Drop is very shallow at release level. If you flip at the top, you're gonna hit something. Do not flip at the top and you're golden. If you flip at the bottom of the initial tongue, you'll be OK, just roll fast, cause you've got work to do. The wave train you are now on slams into a big undercut boulder called 6-pack. Go left or right, but make up your mind and do it. Right is a good option, as the entire left shore here is undercut, plus it is easier to go right.

3rd Drop:
Third drop is best run in conjunction with 2nd Drop. There are no really good eddies between them, and both shores are lined with undercuts anyway. After 6-pack, you'll be in a short stretch of fast-moving, surging funny water, but generally flat. You'll want to move just left of center to run 3rd drop. This drop consists of one big hole in the middle and a tiny hole above it on the left. The top left hole is your friend. Look for it, and clip it on the right side. You can use the eddy behind it to move you left to avoid the big hole (which is also very shallow). Caution: Do not eddy up in front of the first large rock on the left shore, as it is undercut. Eddy below it. Eddy out in the big eddy just downstream on the left, after a few waves and a slide type hole (good play here, but beware).