Cheat Canyon First Descent

Matt, AKA "River Ninja," John "El Presidente," Hull's Angel Jason and DBP admin Jivin' Javan.

Blazing sun cut across the crisp, cold morning air. Sharp blue skies were punctuated by the undulating mountains of West Virginia. The put-in for the Cheat River Canyon was as deserted as the bare branches of the winter trees. But there was no snow; only four boaters and enough water for a low-runnable paddle down the Cheat Canyon on a cold Sunday morning in October.

For three of us, it was our first descent of the canyon. Our group leader was the unshakeable Jason R. A founding member of Hull’s Angels, the initiation for joining his paddling group is to beat up a member of the Keelhaulers. Fortunately, we had him outnumbered at three-to-one. So he agreed to guide us down the canyon after having spent countless days on the Cheat (including the two days before our trip).

Jason has been paddling big water for a few seasons. Just weeks before our trip, he’d already had numerous marathon runs on the Gauley River (upper, middle and lower runs). The Tygart Gorge, Lower Big Sandy and New River Gorge were all old news to Jason. So it shouldn’t have come as a surprise when he started calling specific named rapids on the Cheat Canyon “no-name” or “choose your own adventure.” Maybe because we had him outnumbered as Keelhaulers that was how he took a shot at the club-boater rivalry. Of course, we were grateful when he would rally us before the big ones – Teardrop, Coliseum and Pete Morgan – to show us the lines gracefully and flawlessly.

We had fewer than four combat rolls and no swims. Our paddling group consisted of just John Banach, Javan Robinson, Jason and myself. We made it a day-trip, so counting the long shuttle we spent at least eight hours in a car for maybe three hours on the water. It was beyond worth it. The Cheat Canyon is a special place where green water meets red rock, purple mountains, blue skies and of course seemingly endless frothy whitewater. The picture of the Class II approach into the Canyon from the put-in at Albright, where ghostly pillars stretch across the river without a bridge deck to give them purpose, is forever burned into my memory.

For three of us, it was another notch on our rescue belt. For me, the Cheat was my second personal first descent for 2016, and it was by far the biggest. Another epic trip that I will never forget. I can’t wait to go back for Cheat Fest in 2017 and get more days on the water in this beautiful piece of Americana. 

The view from the take out bridge at the Cheat River Canyon.