214 
FOREST AND STREAM 
IMakch 12, 1904. 
A. C A. National Meet^ Sugar Island, Thousand Islands, St Lawrence River, August 549, 1904 
The Shenandoahs Cruise the 
Greenbrier. 
BY F. E. WEBB ("cOMMODORE"), OF STAUNTON, VIRGINIA. 
The Story "Which "Won the Fourth Prize of $10 in 
**Fofest and Stream" Cruising Competition, 
n.— The Log. 
■ (Continued from i>ase 19S ) 
Thursday, July 2, 1903. 
We remained here quietly and lazily in camp all day, 
reading, loafing, dozing, etc., and in the course of the day 
at least six or eight inches of water ran off ahead of us. 
After breakfast I took the tent off my canoe and all the 
camp plunder out of her, and launched her, and paddled 
back up the river half a mile and across, where I landed 
and walked back up the railroad another half mile to a 
farmhouse, high up on the hillside, where I procured 
some much needed supplies, returning laden with fresh 
eggs, butter, lard, and a loaf of "salt risin' " bread. We 
did a little fishing, this, afternoon and evening close 
around camp, but with only fair success ; making enough 
of a catch, however, to provide ourselves with an ample 
fish supper, as well as a supply for the morrow's break- 
fast. We have been troubled more or less with a perfect 
pest of black gnats at night at our various camps. The 
first night out, at Durbin, they were specially obnoxious, 
and George produced a couple of boxes of some sort of 
villainous compound labeled "Lollicapop," with which we 
anointed our hands, wrists, and faces. It proved a toler- 
ably efficient protection, as none but the hardiest veteran 
of a gnat or mosquito had the nerve to face it ; but after 
some two or three nights of it I preferred to take my 
chances with the bugs. Merely leaving the box open in 
the tent had the effect of driving out hundreds of the 
younger and more callow gnats, who were quite unable 
to stand the "sad green smell,""as George termed it. They 
had my sympathy. 
Friday, July 3, 1903. , - 
We had- a five o'clock call this morning, and were 
packed and afloat by 7 :30, with nearly a foot less water 
under us; which, while it still gave us a sufficiency of 
water for cruising purposes, greatly improved the fishing ; 
and we went into camp at one o'clock with quite a cargo 
of fish in the hold . of George's sm.ack. . He fished all 
through the moriling's cruise, as usual, while I, as usual, 
contented myself with loafing along beside him, or astern, 
and enjoyed to the utmost the cruise and the exquisi.t'ely 
beautiful "scenery. Although we got down, to the bottphi' 
on more than^ one shallow rapid, we found the cruising 
preferable on this lower stage of water, as the river is m 
a more normal condition, and we see it as it really is. 
Our morning's cruise of fifteen miles was a most interest- 
mg one, and took us through the noted. Droop Mountain 
gorge, considered to be the worst place on the river,' and 
one much "dreaded by the old-time loggers and rafters. 
At this , place, twenty-five miles below Marlinton, the 
river breaks through the mountain chain, and continues 
its course down the next valley to the west, and we had 
been hearing of this Droop Mountain gorge pretty much 
all the way down the river, with warnings plentiful as 
tc its dangers; and we approached it with considerable 
interest, albeit we did not anticipate any particular trouble 
in getting through. We found the place all right enough, 
and the rapids followed each other thick and fast, the , 
Spice Run rapid coming first, followed by the Copper- 
head Rocks, Davy's Run, Glen Rocks, and McClure 
Rocks, with perhaps one or two others of lesser note. 
We found them but little different from the constant 
succession of rapids we had been running all the way 
down the river, and none of them gave as much trouble 
as the frequent sharp pitches to be found on the upper 
river between Cass and Durbin. The Spice Run rapid 
afforded us rare sport as its big waves smashed and 
rolled over our decks and closed hatches in true Shenan- 
doah fashion, although the channel was perfectly clear of 
rocks — plenty of the latter, however, being strewn in pro- 
miscuous confusion up along under the railroad embank- 
ment in the concavity of the bend. After running the 
rapid I landed and climbed the railroad embankment and 
took a snap at George with the kodak as he came pitching_ 
and tossing down the tobaggan slide. The Copperhead 
Rocks we found much longer than usual, and quite rocky, 
particularly around the bend to the left, and much care 
was required to thread our way in and out among them, 
but the run was successfully made, and we reached the 
bottom without striking anything, or anywhere. In fact, 
the entire gorge W'as run with perfect ease by the exercise 
of a little skill and care, and we found nothing to dread 
in this passage at all. The run is interesting and ex- 
citing, but presents no difficulties that the practiced 
canoeist cannot surmount by the exercise of ordinary 
<^re. It is but fair to state, however, that our informa- 
tion was entirely from the standpoint of the loggers and 
raftsmen, and not from that of the canoeist. It is one 
thing to run a light, easily managed canoe down one of 
these rapids at low water, and quite another to come 
down over them aboard of a heavy, unwieldy looft. log 
raft on top of a head of water* from 4ft. to 8ft. higher, 
or even more; a stage, in fact, on which the entire run of 
seventy miles from Marlinton to Ronceyerte was made in 
one day, when the water rushes down these steep inclines 
with irresistible power and violence. The perils are much 
enhanced by the fact — indeed the entire risk is due to this 
fact — that the river is exceedingly tortuous in this gorge, 
and the water piles down the rapids and up against the 
rocks on the bank with such force, the river being, as a 
rule, quite narrow through here, that it is only with the 
utmost labor and skill that a raft can be swung around 
the bends without jamming the bow end into the. bank or 
on to the rocks at the bottom of the concave shoots. 
Lives have been lost in here, and more than one of these 
rifts owes its name to some unfortunate who was ship-', 
wrecked and drowned, notably the Davy's Run rapids 
and the Glen Rocks rapid. In the latter a man named 
Glenn is said to have lost his life while taking down, a 
raft of hewn timbers with which to build the bridge at 
Caldwell which was bunied nearly forty years later dur- 
ing the . war. .This raft is supposed to have been one of 
the earliest rafts ever run down the river. It has been, 
some years since any rafting has been done on the river, 
and now that , the railroad parallels, the fiver,, it is. not 
likely that any more rafting will be done, to say nothing 
of the numerous sawmill plants located in the vallej' 
along the line of the road, some of them of immense" 
capacity, although while at Marlinton I heard rumors of 
one more rafting expedition to be fitted out in the spring";" 
probably owing quite as much to the desire of the old 
raftsmen to once more run the river, with its attendant 
excitement, as to anything else. 
We passed Droop station presently, which we knew to 
be below all of the worst water, immediately below which" 
the river made a sharp turn to the left and wound its 
sinuous way around a long projecting spur of the moun- 
tain, which the railroad cut off by the simple expedient 
of a tunnel, and for several miles the scenery was of the 
wildest, albeit the water w^as not worse than usual. This 
loop is known as the "big bend," although there is a- 
much larger "big bend" further down the river, some 
miles below Alderson, on the main line of the Chesapeake 
and Ohio road, where the railroad cuts off 15 miles of 
river by a tunnel ij^ miles in length. The mountains 
hemmed the river closely in on either side and towered , 
aloft so high that the head became dizzy in trying to 
locate the summits. Great masses of broken, stratified 
cliffs cropped out among the trees high up on the moun- 
tainsides, or towered high above the treetops and clear 
to the summits in fantastic, castle-like formations which 
were picturesque and interesting. We were in the densely 
shaded windings of this gorge for an hour or more, be- 
fore, with a sharp twist to the left, the river emerged 
trom the fastnesses of the mountains and the country be- 
came more open, while at the same time the railroad 
sprang out from the mountain wall through the end of 
the tunnel, and again ran high up along the bank of the 
river on our right. We began to look for an eligible 
camp-site, and in the course of an hour a beautiful turfy 
bank, well shaded by large trees, appeared on our right, 
the railroad obligingly retiring a quarter of a mile inland 
along the foot of the mountain range, and on landing to 
prospect for a camp-site I poked the investigating nose 
of my canoe into a fine cold spring at the water's edge. 
We were not long in getting our plunder ashore and our 
camp in shape, after which a plenteous repast, consisting 
of a can of hot soup and succotash, with a pot of hot 
coffee, was stowed away, and the afternoon devoted to 
the interesting and pleasant occupation of loafing. A 
brisk little shower drove us to the shelter of our tents, 
but it did not last long, and was not severe enough to 
promise any effect on the river. We had a visit late in 
the afternoon from an ancient fisherman, who was pursu- 
ing his avocation on the opposite side of the river as we 
came down, and who poled across in his primitive boat 
after our tents became in evidence. I offered him a toddy, 
which he accepted with the remark that he took his 
liquor different from most men, which statement he pro- 
ceeded to verify by putting a teaspoonful of sugar in the 
bottom of the glass I gave him, after which he filled the 
glass with five fingers of straight whiskey — no water— 
and after stirring the sugar well in, he proceeded to par- 
take of the result, teaspoonful at a time, much as an old 
lady' would sip her cup of tea. He expressed his appre- 
ciation of the brand of "licker" with which we were pro- 
vided, and declined a second help, and shortly after got 
in his big wooden boat and poled himself back across the 
river, well laden with most of George's morning's catch, 
there being more than we could possibly use ourselves. 
We had a royal fish supper off a big three-pound bass 
taken by George in the course of the morning, and after 
a few trials with our fly tackle in the twilight, with no 
results, we passed the evening pleasantly around our little 
camp-fire, over our pipes. As the sun dropped behind the 
towering wall in the west, the full moon appeared over 
the crest. of the ridge to the east, and flooded the narrow 
valley ' with her silvery radiance, and 'the night was a 
beautiful one. 
Saturday, July 4, 1903. 
We got an ' early start this morning, and were afloat 
and, under way by 7,;30. I rigged up my fly-tackle and 
fished during this morning's cruise, with very "good suc- 
cess, Avhile George with his diabolical "sardirie" had his" 
usual luck, and his fish-bag was soon quite Weir loaded.' 
He got rid of his morning catch later by giving the entire 
lot to a fisherman in the river a short distance' bel'ow'" 
Falling Spring. Our run for the first few hours — until 
it got too blazing hot for comfort, for this was a hot 
day, and the first taste of real hot weather we had on the 
cruise--was an exquisitely lovely one. The beautiful-, 
river is nowhere more beautiful than in, this section. 
After passing out of the Droop Mountain gorge the val- 
ley opens -out considerably, and our morning's cruise was 
through country . that,, while it lost nothing in picturesque- 
ness and beauty, was not so depressingly wild and primi- 
tive. The riyervalso became broaden and , more open, and 
the water began to lose its trout-stream amber tint, and 
to take , on more of the slaty blue tint so familiar to 
travelers on the main,- line of the Chesapeake and Ohio 
road "who are accustomed, to admire its beauties from the 
car windows as^the. trains speed, along its banks between 
Ronceverte and Hintoni: ,, A , few miles , below, our camp 
we skirted along under,, a frowning cliff with the railroad 
clinging to its face in -a, narrow little notch , a few feet 
. above the water. At this place there was formerly a 
most picturesque line of castle and' chimney-like forma- 
tions juttingyoLit from the . wall, but unfortunately the 
railroad right of way had destroyed every" vestige of 
them. _ The scars on the face of the cliff where these 
- formations had clung to the rocky wall behind were 
plainly apparent as we drifted smoothly and swiftly by. 
, The w^ater is still and deep along here, and the images of 
the cliffs, trees, etc., were faithfully reproduced m an 
inverted position, broken and distorted into wavy lines as 
the water rippled and swirled from our paddles and the 
bows of the gently moving canoes. We found the water 
getting down on us a little on this morning's run, and we 
had to get out and wade down two or three rapids that 
were broader and shallower than usual, "with our light- 
ened canoes drifting, easily ahead of us at the length of 
the stern painters ;; but as a rule we found a sufficiency 
of water, and didn't mind these few exceptions. We 
reached the village of Falling Spring, nestled high up. on 
the hill tops a little ways back from the river, and hung 
up here for' an hour and more while I went up into the 
village for mail and supplies. There' are two towns here 
— Renick, a product of the railroad, down on the river 
bank at the station, and Falling Spring, half a mile up the 
hill, and almost straight up, at that. Knowing nothing 
in advance of Renick, I had had our mail addressed to 
Falling Spring, and a hot, tedious climb up the long hill 
was the result. However, I was rewarded by a goodly 
package of mail for both myself and George. 
To-day being the Glorious Fourth, the whole country 
seemed to be out in gala attire, and all work, or business 
seemed to be suspended for the day. It was 10:30 when 
Y'tt got under way again, and turned our bows down 
stream. The river turns sharply to the left just below 
the picturesque old covered bridge at this place, and 
shoots swiftly along under the railroad embankment, 
v/hich lies up along the bluff in the concavity of the 
bend. About half a mile below the village we had a 
rattling lively plunge down a steep, rocky, and very- 
rough little fall of about 50 yards in length, where, al- 
though our decks and closed hatches were liberally 
dashed with the spray from the big wave crests, we made 
the run without touching a rock. Not far below this fall 
the river turns sharply to the right again, and just below 
the elbow we passed the remains of an old dam, built as 
an aid to raft navigation, as the rapid above, in the angle 
of the bend, had proved peculiarly disastrous to many a 
raft, owing to the difficulty in swinging around the sharp 
corner without poking the nose of the raft into the bank 
or among the rocks which plentifully line the shores on 
either side. The dam has long been out of commission, 
and is broken out so that it presents no obstacle to canoe 
navigation, while the old sluiceway through which the rafts 
made the passage is still quite in evidence, but now per- 
fectly dry. Just below and across from the old dam we 
landed on a beautiful, rocky, well shaded bank for a 
drink of water from a cold spring that rippled brightly 
down over the rocks and among the huge boulders into 
the river. It was such a beautiful spot that we loafed 
here quite a httle while, .enjoying the charmingly beauti- 
ful surroundings, and taking a rest from the heat of the 
sun. If it had heen an hour later we would have made 
camp here, and we afterward regretted very much that 
we did not do so anyhow, for our next two or three days* 
cruises developed the fact that there is a singular scarcity 
of eligible camp-sites between Falling Spring and Ronce- ' 
verte, and we had several hot, tedious hours to pass 
through on this morning's run before we finally went into 
camp. However, we did not know this, and we finally 
re-embarked and pushed on down, and about r,ooti be- 
