Smokehole Canyon, WV

The weather, getting your period  and other shit you can’t control on an adventure.

A recap of my most recent smokehole canyon overnighter, for all you jealous fuckers looking to spot 20 bald eagles in 24 hours. I started paddling this 16 mile section of river when I was about 6 or 7. Since then, I’ve paddled it with a four and six year old AND know some friends who rafted with their eight month old. As long as you have the gear and know what you’re doing, this is a great float for kids and adults alike. Easy and accessible with breathtaking views. 

General info about the south branch of the potomac river

Put in at the large parking lot before you enter Big Bend campground

Take out in Petersburg (there is a large parking area and boat ramp on river left,
just downstream of the main street bridge. Turn onto S Grove st and take a right down
to the river)

If you have the time, I would suggest running shuttle and camping near the put-in the night
before. Big Bend is very convenient but if you’re not into paying, there’s dispersed camping
all through the national forest that surrounds the road to the put in.

I have paddled this as high as 6’ and as low as 2’ something. High water is nice because you
don’t have to paddle to get downstream, but the water is muddy and I would definitely take an
inflatable or be very comfortable in a kayak. A canoe, especially a weighted down canoe, is
probably not the best idea at high water. At very low levels the water is extremely clear and
beautiful. However, there are definitely some shallow spots, making a raft less than ideal. 3-4’
is perfect for anyone in any craft.  

I'm just going to put this out there.. Do a stoner check. Before you leave your house, leave
your car for shuttle, leave the put in, leave camp, FUCKING CHECK TO MAKE SURE YOU
DIDN’T LEAVE ANYTHING. Shuttle takes an hour one way and if you happened to leave
your sleeping bag and coffee set up in the car at the take out and not realize until you’re at
the put in, that would suck. Hypothetically of course. 

Tip for low water: Follow the geese, they always take the line of least resistance with the deepest water. 

Packing 

Due to very low levels (2.4’ when we put on) we decided to take a canoe and drag an RMR
inner tube (definitely clutch for lifestyling. Tip: make your adventure partner tow you in the flat
water)

I always bring my down jacket, even in June. No other gear packs up as light and keeps you
warm.

Tip: most down jackets can be stuffed within their own pocket. If you have extra room, you can stick leggings, a dress or other light layers in with your jacket to create a makeshift packing cube. 

Ladies who might get your period while adventuring, don’t postpone your fun! My period
showed up on the first night and while I definitely had a moment laying in my hammock,
mother fucking myself because I could have been eating ben and jerry’s in the bathtub, the
adventure was totally worth it! Knowing that it would probably start while we were camping, I
packed Knix leak proof undies and a silicon cup. I rinsed my cup out with filtered water and
brought a reused grocery bag to pack the undies. This zero waste approach works best for
me no matter what I’m doing. Also, shout out to Knix for being dope. I would 10/10
recommend.   

Kitchen set up… again, due to low water levels, we went ultra light. Jet boil, spork, hyroflask
cup, coffee pour over set up, clean up kit (sponge, scrapper & dr. bronner soap.

 Camping set up… double hammock, sleeping pad, two rain tarps (one over the hammock,
one over the kitchen, gear, hang spot) 

Tip for sleeping in a hammock: make sure the strap lengths are even as this affects the weight distribution. Make sure your hammock is taut as fuck to avoid your butt dipping down and creating a jackknife like sleeping situation. Most importantly, add a sleeping pad. This spreads out the hammock and gives you a little wiggle room. 

While there are 100’s of beautiful spots to stop, I have a couple favorites

The sandy beach on river left with a big ass rock on river right, about 4 miles downstream from
the put-in. The beach is great for lunch, swimming and chilling. If you look close, you’ll see
boulted routes for rock climbing (check out “Reed’s creek rock climbing guide book” & “Long
branch & guide walls climbing guidebook”) 

Downstream of the sandy beach, you’ll see a rock outcropping to your left with a great field for
camping on your right. This spot is dope for tent, hammock or cowboy camping. Complete with
a bench, multiple fire pits and a short walk to Blue Rock. 

Another great spot is just down stream, under blue rock. River left has a great field for tent
camping and is hit by the sun early on. River right has nice hammock trees and easy access
to blue rock. However, the rock prevents the sun from hitting camp until mid day, which sucks
for drying gear.

Tip: Hike up blue rock. Just do it, it’s awesome! Scramble up the right side of the fin to multiple view spots. While I made this a crockable mission because I was too lazy to put on wet river shoes, I would not recommend crocs or flip flop. The ground is basically vertical with loose dirt and flaky rocks. 

The food set up (obviously the most important part)

Once again, we went ultralight because of low water. This was our cooler free food list. 

We packed pasta & potatoes for a road/ put-in snack and this (and half of the pastries that
couldn’t wait until breakfast) kept us fairly full until dinner. 

Dinner: Trader Joe’s Indian Fare (this shit is dope, it’s basically a bag of veggies in really good
sauce. If you don’t have a TJ, most grocery stores cary something pretty similar, just look in
your ethnic food section) & Uncle Ben’s Ready Rice (make sure you get original flavor or you’ll
blow through a days worth of sodium in on meal). I love this meal! It’s very filling, cooks in
about 5 minutes and feeds two for about $4 

Breakfast: fresh pastries from our local bakery and coffee with turmeric ginger coconut
beverage (we wanted a creamer that didn’t need refrigeration and that’s what I had in the
house. It was actually surprisingly delicious and paired very nicely with our raspberry zinger
bars from TipTop)

Lunch: tuna in a bag (sun dried tomato basil for adam and spicy thia chili for me) and crackers,
smokehouse almonds, dried mangos and baby food (apple, pear, spinach in a squeezable &
resealable container. Don’t knock it till you try it!) 

*I feel like I should point out that this was a very spur of the moment trip that we threw together
with zero shopping or preparing, hence the weird lunch*

That’s all the notes I have from this last trip. I hope this encourages you to check out a little
slice of heaven and do some lifestylin’ of your own!

Lots of love,

The Wild Child Yogi

thewildchildyogi.com