c ewing photography

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2006 10-14 West Virginia

When I first met Szymon 3 years ago he mentioned that one of the main things he wanted to do in America was go White Water Rafting. I've never really thought much of rafting one way or another, but it sounded like it could be a lot of fun. In 2005 Szymon and I went rafting on the James River in Richmond. It was a neat experience but we were both pretty dissapointed in the lack of intensity. They basically made it sound like it was really dangerous, but the rapids ended up being pretty small and somewhat boring. Definitely not as dangerous as we were hoping it would be :-)

As soon as Szymon found out he was able to come back to the US again this year, the only thing he talked about all summer was rafting in West Virginia. After doing some research we found that West Virginia had some great rafting experiences during the fall season. There's a dam along the Gauley river in the southern part of the state that is released from September through October. This controlled release from the dam makes the Gauley river run wild, and for 6 weeks it's some of the best white water on the East Coast. On October 14 we loaded up the Jeep and headed down 64 into West Virginia to go rafting on Sunday.

I was hoping the leaves would be in full color in the mountains, but unfortunately it was still too early. I can't complain because the scenery was spectacular either way. We stopped in several random places during the drive that looked interesting and we got some decent pictures. We stayed in Fayetteville WV Saturday night, and woke up to 29 degree temperatures, scraped ice of the windows, then went rafting for the afternoon. I didn't bring my camera on the boat for obvious reasons, so we didn't get any rafting pictures but the scenery along the river was beautiful and the rapids were huge. They had a camera crew filming us and taking pictures, but $18 was too much for 1 photo of us getting thrown around in a plastic boat with 7 other people we didn't know. So for that part of the trip we only have memories. But here are the photos from the rest...
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  • Along the way we pulled off on a side road in Lexington, VA basically because the scenery looked nice.  One side road led to another side road and to another side road and right before we were completely lost we found a cool farm in the mountains that made for some good picrures so we stopped along someone's driveway and set up shop

    Along the way we pulled off on a side road in Lexington, VA basically because the scenery looked nice. One side road led to another side road and to another side road and right before we were completely lost we found a cool farm in the mountains that made for some good picrures so we stopped along someone's driveway and set up shop

  • Leaves were not fully changed but getting close.

    Leaves were not fully changed but getting close.

  • Szymon trying out the new tripod

    Szymon trying out the new tripod

  • Prime real estate

    Prime real estate

  • Not much of a mountain in this shot

    Not much of a mountain in this shot

  • Never even had to use the 4 wheel drive.

    Never even had to use the 4 wheel drive.

  • Through the trees

    Through the trees

  • The weather was perfect on Saturday.  Completely clear and about 60 degrees

    The weather was perfect on Saturday. Completely clear and about 60 degrees

  • Hills and branches

    Hills and branches

  • I think this shot turned out pretty nice, I got some light in the foreground to work

    I think this shot turned out pretty nice, I got some light in the foreground to work

  • I believe we were facing east in this picture looking back at the Blue Ridge Mountains

    I believe we were facing east in this picture looking back at the Blue Ridge Mountains

  • The hills look so much bigger in person, but I still like the pictures

    The hills look so much bigger in person, but I still like the pictures

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    Hills and branches
    I think this shot turned out pretty nice, I got some light in the foreground to work
    I believe we were facing east in this picture looking back at the Blue Ridge Mountains