“Another day of paddling in West Virginia”
Overnight Lodging – Cabins on the Gorge
We spent the night at one of the deluxe cabins at Cabins on the Gorge; these cabins are the perfect base camp for your adventure while in the Summersville/New River Gorge area. The cabins are located directly across from the Adventures on the Gorge compound; Also various camping options are available at Adventures on the Gorge, they also have anything you might need from your adventures, from equipment to the adventure (whitewater rafting, canopy tours, ziplines, fly fishing, mountain biking, adventures on Summersville Lake) onsite great restaurant (Smokey’s on the Gorge) and pub (Chetty’s).
First stop – Summersville Lake
We headed out in a light rain to Summerville Lake, we decided to check out the whitewater launch site for the Gauley River, located just below the Summersville Dam, it was a busy day with all of the rafting companies conducting training trips for the upcoming busy Gauley season, we received some special info about our launch site last night at dinner which is located directly across from the lake office, this site is prefect for paddleboarding. We unloaded the boards and headed to the water, four mallards welcomed us as we paddled out, and they spent the rest of the morning in a nearby cove. The lake is very clear with 15+’ of visibility and the water was a warm 74 degrees. As we paddled towards to Battle Run area a light fog was coming off the water in a couple of the coves, the rain stopped and the sun came out, the day was looking up, we were on the water paddling and the sun was warning up the air temperature. Once we reached the Battle Run area, we headed across the lake to a couple of remote islands; we paddled around the islands close to shore exploring the waters edge. On our return trip to the launch site we paddled right in front of the Summersville Lake Dam. Once we returned to the launch site, Rasta and Bahama took a swim and short paddleboard ride; I really enjoyed paddling on Summersville Lake and plan to get back in a couple week to enjoy a fall foliage paddleboard session before the weather gets to cool. We loaded up and headed to Bluestone Lake our next stop on the tour. Summersville Lake is a US Army Corps of Engineers Lake.
