“We were just being goofballs as much as anything, and then it started to take on some seriousness.”

Come On In, the Water’s Weird is to press and Memorial Day, 2011, marks the 50th anniversary of the first descent of the Gauley River.

Early feedback from The History Press for Come On In, the Water’s Weird seems encouraging: “I’ve just been able to dive into this, and I’m blown away. This is just exactly what I was hoping for! The style is just dead on. Perfect. On the money. Wow.”

In 1966 the Army Corp of Engineers completed work on the Summersville Dam and Summersville Lake began to fill, forever submerging some of the best whitewater on the river. Here are unpublished and largely unseen photos from the first descent of the Gauley River.

If you like whitewater, history, politics or any combination thereof, have a listen to Rep. Nick Rahall talk about WV whitewater pioneer, Jon Dragan.