"The river is about the cleanest it's ever been," Currey said. "Somebody's paying attention. I can't take credit for all of it, but people are paying attention and keeping the river clean."

This year, the Coal River Group made arrangements to allow some participants to camp at Meadowood Park the night before the float. Before heading to the river, paddlers paid a $15 donation to the organization, received their commemorative T-shirt and swapped stories about their boats.

"It's an experience of wild and wonderful West Virginia. There are all these people you get to do it with, you have some time to look at everyone's gear and it's something that gets you off the couch," said Randy Snyder of Huntington, who kayaked with his wife Danielle.

The Tour de Coal isn't a race, though many participants planned to speed along to make good time on the river trail, which takes between three and six hours to complete.

Paddlers plunged into the Coal River for the fourth annual Tour de Coal river float yesterday, leaving a cleaner environment in their wake.

Participants floated under sunny skies again this year, on the 11 1/2 mile course from Meadowood Park in Tornado to the Gateway Shopping Center in St. Albans.

Close to 200 participants carried everything from vintage aluminum canoes to sleek kayaks down the park's new earthen ramp to the river. The launch was finished on Friday, just in time for the Tour de Coal.

Only about 40 paddlers attended the first Tour de Coal in 2004.

"It shows you how popular paddling is. For us, it's all about getting people on the river. Once you get people on the river, they begin to take better care of it," said Bill Currey, president of the Coal River Group.

The group organized the Tour de Coal to promote recreation on the Coal River and efforts to clean up the environment. Paddlers are encouraged to scoop up litter as they float down the river. It seems to be working.  

"The river is about the cleanest it's ever been," Currey said. "Somebody's paying attention. I can't take credit for all of it, but people are paying attention and keeping the river clean."

This year, the Coal River Group made arrangements to allow some participants to camp at Meadowood Park the night before the float. Before heading to the river, paddlers paid a $15 donation to the organization, received their commemorative T-shirt and swapped stories about their boats.

"It's an experience of wild and wonderful West Virginia. There are all these people you get to do it with, you have some time to look at everyone's gear and it's something that gets you off the couch," said Randy Snyder of Huntington, who kayaked with his wife Danielle.

The Tour de Coal isn't a race, though many participants planned to speed along to make good time on the river trail, which takes between three and six hours to complete.

"There are lots of hardnosed paddlers who have been all over the world and you've got families who have never been on the river before," Currey said.

Father and son, Charlie and Eric McDaniel are a little bit of both. The two are avid paddlers and fishermen, but this was their first Tour de Coal experience. They hoped for a "Lewis and Clark adventure" in addition to some family fun.

"This is who we are - on a boat," Eric McDaniel said, as they prepared to take their canoe down to the water.

The Coal River Group also organized a celebration at the end of the float in St. Albans. Food and sporting goods venders were on hand to welcome the paddlers back to dry land.

The Department of Environmental Protection also displayed their ongoing work with the river. They are building 100 mini-dams to move silt in the Coal River and provide better fish habitats and speed up the water's flow.

Five local volunteer fire departments joined the Coal River Group to make sure all the paddlers were safe during the float, and organized a command center at the lower falls. Volunteers also were stationed at the lower falls to direct paddlers through the small rapid.

Volunteer Tripp Edwards, Currey's son-in-law, came from North Carolina to help with the Tour de Coal. He and fellow volunteer Jim Martin, from Kansas City, Mo., paddled at the back of the group, making sure everyone finished the course safely.

"It's all about the rivers," Edwards said.

Reach Kellen Henry at khe...@wvgazette.com or 348-5179.