Hmmm we is all getting old … Reminiscing the good times! I feel like my grandmother,
I never went to Raystown being 11 hours away during peak fall foliage here at home but did attend WP several times… Correct in that the vibe was different… Taking a 22 foot boat onto Coopers Lake at night ( all 10 acres ) of it was not a high priority… Non drinkers seemed to prevail. Or moderates: as there was sometimes the Slip Clinic nearby which some did during the day.Better attended sans fuzzy head.
I’m always thankful that I made the effort to go to Raystown as many time s as I did. Putting names to faces was a highlight, as well as meeting so many like minded people from so many backgrounds. The variety of boats was amazing as was the sheer number of them. Many brought more than 1 boat, and having builders bring truckloads of them was a bonus. Meeting some of the luminaries from the paddling world was also a thrill, and I fear a venue like this won’t be repeated soon. At the time P.net was a relatively small community of paddlers and we got to know each other as best we could over the internet. But again, putting those names to faces was the icing on the cake.
I think c2g is right. There were a bunch of people who got together at Alegheny Reservoir many times and did a river trip on the Alegheny River. Wes had his Shearwatwer( I copied his bungies on his thworts on all my stuff after that. But I think that happened at Lake Aurthur… All I know is that many of us got together at Alegehny Res. before Raystown happened. I remember that on our first get-togher, Pyker dove into the water in early May and the water had to be about 55 degrees…A few of us were like wtf…he had his skin framed kayak. I know that the first time I went to Raystown, I shared the house with ScottB and the 2nd time , ed,norb and me had a waterfront site. I recall going into that Airstream Bambie and marveling how well they did the restorsation
… I met DougD that time…and I vaugely remember the den of Iniquity as there were many
I had the good fortune to attend once. I was visiting my son in MD and we drove over. I had wanted to meet Ness since we had talked on here many times. I also remember meeting Andy.
We were only able to stay for a couple of hours, but it was worth the trip.
I remember reading about the Allegheny and Pymo gatherings that coronaboy mentioned. I made one Allegheny get-together but never managed to talk myself into going to Pymo. I remember hoping that the folks who had been going to those two spots would make time to come to Raystown as well. It was a real treat when they showed up.
McCrea played a good prank on me one night. It was after dark when I got back from a day-long paddle. I think I had a Magic at the time. I wandered over to where everyone was hanging out and McCrea told me I ought to sit down and talk to this other Dave that was there. He neglected to mention that it was Dave Yost. It took me a little bit to figure out who he was. I think the light finally came on when I mentioned that the Magic was one of my favorite boats and the other Dave responded that he had based the design on one of his race boat designs… I tried to pretend that I had known all along who I was talking to, but silently cursed Mike for setting me up to look like an idiot, although it probably wasn’t all that difficult.
I’m sure there are a million stories that could be told, all of them good. It was great to be able to get together with some folks who shared a love of paddling and I have always been happy to read the accounts of other events.
Hi, pblanc and everyone. I checked out this thread because sissy103 gave me a heads-up. Haven’t been on these boards in many years. I recall that Topher’s Den of Iniquity was nicknamed “The Sin Bin”. Great clouds of aromatic smoke would escape whenever the flaps were lifted. Boy, do I have lots of great stories about Raystown… now don’t get me started. Hopsing and I attended our first Raystown in 2006. The high attendance number in the upper 60’s was in 2008. I had an actual list of names of attendees at the time, but that is long gone, as is the website I created for NT. Strangely enough, Hopsing and I were just reminiscing about Raystown, and the fun we had. No, it certainly wasn’t the best place to pitch a tent (gravel pads were meant for RVs), it was always crowded, and the paddling wasn’t the most interesting. But, the people we met there made up for all that. For me and Hopsing, Raystown was about connecting with like-minded people, and anything to do with canoes. At that time, we were both beginning canoeists, so we soaked up any canoeing information like sponges. A lot has changed since then, but we both still enjoy canoeing and canoe camping. I think we can attribute a good part of our canoeing successes to the people we met and connected with through Raystown and the p.net community. We met many good people who helped us grow as canoeists, who shared their knowledge, answered our questions, and showed us new skills. That was invaluable to us. Not to mention that it was fun, fun, fun!
ya know, gthere was a gathering going on before Raystown and I was just reminded of it this week as I was in W. Virginia… Anybody go to Summersville Lake? I think it happened for a couple years at least. I know N.T. did…
Are you talking about Gauley Fest? That is a huge whitewater gathering of open boaters, kayakers, C1 boaters, and rafters that has been going on for many years and is still alive and well. It is held in Summersville, always on the third weekend of September during the Fall drawdown of Summersville Lake.
No…NT had a couple trips to Summersville Lake before I really got to hang with him on a regular thing. I just spent 5 days at Stonewall Resort. As a flatlander in Cleveland, Ohio, the terrain of W. Virginia was incredible. I had some of the toughest mounton bike trails I’ve ever peddled…and who would think that an hour a day in a heated outdoor pool at the end of September could give one a hell of a sunburn on a bald head. If I’m not wrong, the Gaulyfest is somewhat more south …
Watching Topher and (Ed?) stacking 4 or 5 canoes criss cross on the lake was memorable as well.
I was able to attend one afternoon when we were visiting our son in Maryland. I remember meeting McWood, Andy S. , and Ness. There were 2 local (NC) guys that I had paddled with before.
Time really gets away.