Kayaking the Tygart Valley River, Arden Section WV (no moats falls)

3/27/24
Level: 1550 CFS on Tygart Valley River @ Phillipi
Paddlers: James Malek, Levi Richman

The Arden section of the Tygart is a nice relaxing run, with a lot of flat water, many class 2 riffles, a few class 3 rapids, a big class 4 rapid (Wells Falls), and a waterfall with 3 different lines (Moats Falls). Unfortunately, the levels weren't good for the right line (1200cfs or less) or center line (2,000 cfs or more), and the left line I wanted more than one person on safety, and a bigger boat for it. The issue with the Tygart River is that most of the boulders are severely undercut, so if for some reason you swam, there's a high likelihood of you and your gear going straight into an undercut, which was my biggest concern with the left line at Moats. We decided to portage the feature, but that just means I will have to go back! I definitely want to make a video of me running all 3 lines someday.

We ended. up taking out at Cove Run. In the summer, this takeout is a problem sometimes, as Tygart Lake fills up and backs up into the river. As it does so, it actually causes some rapids to disappear or shrink, which causes a few miles of flatwater to paddle out. To avoid this issue, there is another takeout at a bridge. However, you can look at lake levels to see if the rapids are in or not. When we ran it, the lake level was at 1063 ft, and according to trip reports on American Whitewater, this is a perfect level to takeout at Cove Run. at levels around 1100, Wells Falls shrinks and is the start of the multi-mile flat water paddle out. I would say any level under 1105 is good to go past the bridge!

The lake level can be checked here
https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring...