Foster Falls on The New River

August 8, 2009
1460cfs  - Ivanhoe gauge

This was a farewell paddle for John, who is moving to Georgia, and Crystal, who is moving to Florida.  I will miss getting to paddle with John and Crystal, but this was a super fun afternoon. 

Weather was hot, so the water felt great.  Brandon, Laurie, Joanne, John, Crystal, Will and I were the first ones to the river and quickly worked our way over to the wave behind the far left rock.  We played there forever.  Really fun little spot.  Lots of good surfing in it and some stern squirt action below it.  We were still at that same wave when we saw Connie and Bob headed our way.  Since the temps were so high, Laurie went to get her poodle and let him ride the rest of the trip in her Pyranha.  They made a good run of it, hitting some big lines considering their arrangement and at the bottom of it all, Connie helped her get the little guy over to the take-out.  Before we started to the second set of ledges, we saw Sammy, Cat, Trish and Dwayne zipping over our way and decided to wait on them.  They had already set up the tent and food at the picnic tables.  From there we headed back toward the bottom river left hole and not long after arriving, while I was out taking a few pictures, John and Natalie came paddling through.  The rest of the time was spent with the whole group surfing across the bottom ledge and in the hole on the end of it.  The fun thing about a get-together at Foster Falls is that you can look out and see eight or nine people lined up in a row surfing, bumping each other out of the way, laughing. Good times with good friends.  I got in a fun wrestling match with the hole at the bottom that ended my hopes of making it a year without swimming.  I knew that it was a good one by how hard Sammy was laughing when I made it to the surface.  What a nice day to take a swim though.  So good that Cat, John and Natalie all climbed out of their boats to swim on purpose.     
The post-paddle grub was great, thanks to everyone that brought all the cool food.  I went straight from that cookout to another one at Belews Creek and was so full that I couldn't eat a bite. 

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