Running Kibler Valley as a kid in a tandem
canoe was my first taste of whitewater. To this day it's still one of my favorite
place to play. This is Section 1 of the Dan River, beginning with
the hydrostation at the foot of the mountain. The Kibler Valley River Run
covers the top three miles of the river. The old picnic table take-out is
now off-limits, making the Danube Church parking lot the most used access point.
I often limit my runs to the top mile and a quarter, taking out at my
brother-in-law's house at 7 Stitches, but there a few good spots on the bottom
half of the run too. The best three rapids are all
in the top quarter-mile. The first is the
PowerHouse
rapid, located just around the corner from the hydrostation. The rapid
can be ran to either the left or the right of the entrance rock in the middle of
the river. Personally, I've always ran the river-right line. Just
watch for the flipper rock at the bottom and make sure you're either on the
right or the left, avoid the middle. Next up
is a rapid called
Public Enemy #2 by Forrest Altman in Adventures In The Dan River Basin.
The fun line on this rapid is
to take the far river-left chute around the cluster of rocks. Again, just
make sure you're committed to going all the way to the left, otherwise stay
right and avoid the middle. Nice spot for stern squirts below it. From there, you cross under the bridge
and paddle through some small rock jumble to the
boof rock
at Basketball Falls. You can eddy out on the river right bank just before
the boof rock to help line it up. Hitting the boof will allow you to
easily eddy out on the right before curling around the big rock sticking out of
the mountain. This is a fun spot to
surf
and a nice place to practice stern squirts as the eddy line is very defined. The rapid is named Basketball Falls because of
the old basketball court between the rapid and the road. Many paddlers not
comfortable with the creek feel in the upper section will put in here for the
fun run to the take-out. On busy river days, spectators will often sit
here as well to watch for carnage. It's a continuous Class II run from
here to the takeout, mostly shallow, rocky and narrow.
The hydrostation allows you to pull into
their property to unload your boat and even have a public bathroom outside on
the property. Just don't park on the grass. Seriously, you really
don't want to drive on their grass, just trust me on that one. After unloading, you can
either park just outside the gate or at the old basketball courts, just a short
walk down the road. I typically park at the courts.
Kibler Valley River Run
visit the official site at
http://www.kiblervalley.zoomshare.com
Growing up only a mile from the Dan River and a few miles from the Valley, I spent a lot of time floating and paddling from the Hydro Station to the other side of Claudville. I started paddling canoes down the valley with my dad at an early age and was there for the first annual Kibler Valley River Run in 1982. I competed in it many times. In 1985, at sixteen, I paddled a Boy Scout canoe with Neil Marion and placed first in the Junior tandem division. For many years after that, I would simply show up with a friend and borrow the first available canoe. I remember Mike Joyce and I trying to get a white-water canoe down the river when we didn't have a clue how to handle it. We probably spent more time out of the boat than we did in it. Mike and I also carved a path down the river in a big aluminum flat water canoe. I imagined that you could see sparks as it scraped its way through the rocks. Mike Wimbush and I also competed once in a borrowed boat. I then took a break from paddling for a few years and when I returned it was in a kayak. And now the last weekend in July is once again penciled in on my calendar as a weekend for paddling in Kibler Valley. The River Run is sponsored by the Red Bank Ruritans, with proceeds funding their charitable causes in the Claudville Community.
July 26, 2008
details and photos from the 26th Annual Kibler
Valley River Run can be found
here.
July 28, 2007
details, photos and a video from the 25th Annual Kibler
Valley River Run can be found
here
July 29, 2006Many details from the 24th Annual Kibler Valley River Run can be found here, along with many more photos.
July 30, 2005
more photos and details from the 23rd Annual Kibler Valley River Run can be found here.
July 31, 2004
22nd Annual Kibler Valley River Run
I stopped by Dan River Company's tent on the way out and
picked up a brochure. Jeff and I would rent kayaks for the first time the
following month.
July 26, 2003
21st Annual Kibler Valley River Run
July 24, 1993
11th Annual River Run
It looks like Don and dad might have crashed out at Basketball Falls in 93. Another year they completely folded a fiberglass canoe in the same falls. It was completely folded in half when it went in sideways.
1985
3rd Annual River Run
Neil Marion and I won the Junior Two Person Canoe division.