Middle Fork from Finnegan's Ford to Audra
January 18, 1999
Boaters: Susan Klimas, Kim Clancy, Dan Fowler
Level: 4 feet at the Audra gauge

Driving to the put-in with hail pelting the car and piling up on the road, with wind sending broken branches off the trees, with thunder and lightning, then with the hail turning to driving sleet, we decided that: (1) we were insane, (2) boaters are insane, (3) anyone can paddle on nice warm days, but only truly special people would paddle under those conditions. That was when Dan casually mentioned that the Weather Channel was showing yellow over the Middle Fork that morning. When the driving sleet turned to plain old sleet, we decided that was a sign from the river gods to paddle, and we proceeded to put on drysuits and wetsuits. hen we put-in, the sleet turned to snow, and that was even better. Later the sun came out, the temperature hit the mid-30s, and we began shedding layers to avoid overheating. We made sure we had plenty of fluids so we wouldn't dehydrate from the heat. Kim wanted to paddle in her sports bra, but we made her keep her wetsuit on. We had a heated (no pun intended) argument about the temperature of the water--Dan insisted that it was 33 degrees, but Kim and I thought it was closer to a balmy 34.

Dan's Micro had been stolen that weekend in Elkins from on top of his car. (It was one of the first times he had locked his boat.) [Note--the police got Dan's boat back a week later.] When I called him to paddle on Monday, he said he was too depressed to paddle. A half-hour later he called back after changing his mind. His words on the call back were: "I'm a weak man.". When I called Kim, she was initially reluctant to paddle since she didn't want to leave her daughters on their school holiday, but then they told her to "go play, Mommy", so she did. We all missed the really good day to paddle, Sunday, but Monday was a government holiday, and the thought of us paddling while everyone else was at work was too appealing to pass up.

Dan kept muttering about the river gods not liking him, and maybe we should think twice about paddling with him, as his bad karma might rub off on us. Kim and I assured Dan that we would risk his bad river karma. (Kim may have regretted that after the final drop at Resort Rapid.) Once Dan stopped whining about wanting his own boat, we had a really delightful trip. The Middle Fork makes a nice winter run since it is fairly easy, it is a small river, and the run is only about five miles. The disadvantage is that it is somewhat isolated, although halfway down is the Middle Fork Resort and Campground with a road leading into it. This time of the year there is no one around, however. The Middle Fork is a series of boulder garden type rapids with most of the lines on river left. About halfway down is a rapid with the main line on river left but a drop of about one foot at center. Dan mentioned that the drop is a good play spot with ender possibilities. We tried to get Dan to demonstrate but he didn't think 35 degree enders were a very good idea. Just over halfway down is Resort Rapid, a straightforward Class III- with a long lead-in, followed by a staircase-like series of drops with the last one being the most vigorous. The last drop is followed by some uneven waves and currents. Our line was left of center.

We hit Resort Rapid during the sunshine phase of the trip. Kim must have been really overheated -- I know that because otherwise why would she have decided to go swimming at the final drop? I think that solved her overheating problem. Come to think of it, it may have solved the dehydration problem as well. After Resort Rapid, we finished the run paddling vigorously in order to get some wind in our faces to cool us down.

At the take-out, Kim and I were astounded when Dan pulled out a folding chair from his vehicle in order to more easily change his clothes! This is not appropriate macho boater behavior, and we dressed on the opposite side of the car so that no one would realize that Dan was with us. Real men don't dress using chairs. Of course, the opposite side of the car was next to the road, but then Kim is used to flashing other boaters and passing motorists, so it didn't matter. We had bare feet on cold pavement, as is required on winter paddling trips.