I remember someone telling me about the south river having some aqua blazing oppurtunity (sp)near waynesborough. would welcome any info out there thank you
hillbilly
Aqua blazing - Appalachian Trail
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#2
We looked into it in '01 and it was stupid expensive, several hundred for the six of us. Innertoobs? Or your Thermarest.
Bushwhack
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#3
Some people aqua blaze along the South fork of the Shenandoah River from Waynesboro to Harpers Ferry. Takes about a week.
I guess you could float using inner tubes. When I was in Waynesboro in June 2002, Pot Tart and his crowd was building rafts. I believe the river is rated as class 2 water (quickwater) with occassional white water.
Peaks
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#4
Yeah, I remember in 02 doggie bag and some others had made rafts from styrofoam panels.They were only worried about where to store beer. I think all that made it to HarpersFerry were the pieces of styrofoam.
Virginian
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#5
It takes longer to “float” under normal conditions from Luray to Front Royal than it does to hike from Thornton Gap to US522. And I really don’t think a week from Waynesboro to Harpers Ferry is within the realm of reality–even if it could be done which it can’t.
In past years, I’ve shuttled a number of hikers from the A.T. to one of the Luray area canoe outfitters, who thought they could aqua-blaze all the way to HF. They were amazed at the time it would take to go not even that far, and at the co$t. Some went for it anyway.
The farthest our local outfitters can legally let you go is the VA/WV border due to WV outfitter licensing issues. That means getting out of the water near VA Rt. 7 to meet a shuttler who will pick up the canoe/kayak, etc. and bring it back to its owners. From there, you have to get back to the A.T. to get to HF (or hell, go ahead and yellow blaze if you’ve already blown off that much of the Trail).
In the Front Royal area, due to dams and other hazards, you have to portage (walk with canoe and gear) and then put back in north of town.
Check out the two most popular outfitters at:
Aqua-blazing could be fun but know what you’re getting into. It ain’t a walk in the, um, park.
“Skyline”
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#6
www.downriver.com
1800-338-1963 (ask for John, he’s the AT trip coordinator)
The trip runs Monday-Friday and covers somewhere between 60-100 miles, depending on river conditions.
A canoe for two people is $79 per person
a kayak is $99
and a solo canoe is $129
Xena
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#7
The prices quoted by DownRiver.com aren’t all that bad. I recall that prices for a single day’s rental are typically in the range $30 to $40 per boat. So, $129 or $79 per person for 5 days sounds reasonable to me.
Peaks
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#8
Xena’s right, John Gibson at Downriver Canoe offers aqua-blazing (every Monday starting May 17, 2004).
However, you don’t get put in at the South River in Waynesboro. You put in on the South Fork of the Shenandoah near the town of Shenandoah well north of there, and get out near the town of Berryville (Rt. 7) near the VA/WV state line. (BTW, the Shenandoah flows NORTH.)
That includes the three-dam portage (walk-around) in the Front Royal area. It’s sort of parallel/equivalent to the A.T. from about Lewis Mt. in SNP to Snickers Gap in Northern VA if you want to compare trail mileage and time to aqua-blazing. Depending on river conditions, this aqua-blaze takes at least five days and could take longer.
John WILL meet hikers in Waynesboro on Mondays at the Comfort Inn if there are at least five canoe rentals involved, and ride them to the Town of Shenandoah to start their river journeys. When river conditions are right, you can potentially start your river trip south of the Town of Shenandoah near Port Republic–where the South River meets the Shenandoah; that of course adds day(s) to the journey. Downriver does not offer river trips on the South River.
The prices quoted above, assuming a minimum five-day river journey, are significantly discounted compared to regular rates listed in Downriver’s brochure.
“Skyline”
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#9
i did the aqua blaze in 02 thru the outfitter with poptart, macgyver and geek. we each paid about $80 for the 2 canoes and had a BLAST ~ i would do it again in a second!
girl next door