No Portage Green laps and a bunch of ducks who surf better than me!

So this week was a fairly solid week of boating for me. I got off work because of the rain on Wednesday and we took off to the West fork of the Big Pigeon. We got there and it was a bit low, but it was great to get on a new creek. We all had a lot of fun, and I am looking forward to more rain so I can go back.

West Fork of the Big Pigeon

Friday night Scott and I went out to the Ledges with our creekboats. The French Broad was at like 2800 cfs and we were able to attain all the way up. It was a workout to say the least. Catching micro eddies and subtle currents, moving back and forth across the river all the way up to the top of the ledges. A full days worth of kayaking in 45 minutes. At the top, I witnessed something that was truly remarkable. In the very top hydrolic (definatly side-surfable in a creekboat), there were two ducks, and three of their chicks. The chicks were learning to surf. If one would climb out of the hole, the mom would kick it back in. For as long as I sat there this went on. If one drifted too far downstream one of the parents would jump in after it. They always made it back up the eddy and back into the hole. It was an amazing experience. Watching the parents teach the little ones to surf. What a joy they must now know!

One of my favorite Boofs on the river.

Nut Cracker, Green River Narrows

Saturday was a milestone for me. We set off down the river as usual, but when we got to Go Left, I went left. Then when we got to Gorilla, I ran it. I manked through nutcracker, got down to Sunshine, and in the eddy at the bottom, I completed my first no portage Green run. I'm so Stoked.

Gorilla, Green River Narrows

Sunshine 

Green River Narrows

 

West Carolina Creekn'

Georgia Canoeing

Another good week of boating! I was fortunate enough to sneak out on a couple after work Green missions. On Saturday I did a quick lap too before I drove down into Georgia for the annual Tallulah River Festival. There were bands, vendors, reps, foods, drinks, a video contest, a big bonfire, girls, and a ton of people tryin to party. Everyone had a great time, and I don't really think there were any problems. Everything was pretty smooth. I'm glad it is only once a year though... For my own health! The river was awesome too. A big slide called Oceana, and some fun drops. The gorge itself is incredibly aesthetic and beautiful, cascading water and steep sheer walls all over the place. The color of the water is a clean clear dark green. Really cool!

The newest squirt boating concept.

Tallulah Fest, Before the booze.

Taste the rainbow.

Video Contest, Tallulah Fest.

Late night fireworks, Tallulah Fest.

Tallulah Fest, 8am.

500 something steps to the river. As I type now, I can still feel it in my calves.

Oceana, Tallulah River.

So running the Tallulah requires a bit of extra effort to get to and from the river. Beginning with the waivers, and emergency contact information, and then the 500 something steps you walk down to wait in line to put in 2 people at a time, and then you get to boat awesome whitewater for about a mile or so, and then since you are still jonesin for more boating, you get to paddle a mile and a half across a lake to get to your vehicles, and then negotiate the parking lot/road out to the highway.

Well, halfway into our paddle across the lake, we ran into these folks adrift out in the middle. Kind of like a floating snack bar. Only instead of snacks, they had coolers of pbr and mason jars of moonshine.

Georgia Canoeing.

What kind of hotel is this?

To recap just a bit. Last friday, Good Friday, the Green was freaking HUGE! We ran Big Hungry down to the confluence, and then continued on downstream. It was so so good. A surreal perspective for sure.

Here is the Notch at 100% release, about 8 inches. Green River Narrows

Here's the Notch again. 28+ inches, 4/6/12. Green River Narrows

Ok, enough about the Green. The annual Watauga paddle was on Saturday. No registration, no money, no jerseys, first one across gets bragging rights for a year. But since I missed Friday at work, I got called in for an hour Saturday morning. It just so happened to be the make or break hour as far as me leaving and getting to the paddle on time. It was 20 minutes after I was supposed to be clocked in, that I realized I was 30 minutes in the wrong direction. Not a good start to me trying to get out of town in a hurry. Long story short, I got my work done, got on the road without a map and rolled up to the put in just in time for the pre paddle photo. I paddled my Jefe as fast as it would go, but it was little match for the longer faster boats of the day. I had a great time, and we were so fortunate to have optimal flows for the paddle.

Put In Pre Paddle. Watauga River. 450cfs

Here's a shot of Arlyn.

Finish Line Eddy, Watauga

Finish Line, Stateline Falls, Watauga Paddle 4/7/12

On Sunday we went up to the Nolichucky for some play boating. We met up with a whole slew of rafters and kayakers, and shredders, and locals, and people from Georgia. It was a lot of fun cruising down the river, hangin in the sun and around good company.

Playboats for the first time in awhile.

Mr. Mark Miller surfing Jaws, Nolichucky River, 2500? cfs

Monday I got off work and the Green was running, so I did my first after work lap. I was fortunate to get a ride to the top from some out of towners just finishing up. I had a great run down. It was therapeutic after all the excitement a few days prior. It did get a little dark though.

Here's me at the lip of Hammer Factor. Green River Narrows.

The last truck in the lot.

Stoked. Green River Narrows

Green River Expressway

I awoke to more rain. I knew I wasn't going to work and I didn't want to drive far, so I set off for the old Green river. A hazmat truck blew up on the Green River Gorge bridge a couple days ago, so I had to take a detour through Saluda. When I passed GRA I figured it was a good time to buy my very first Green Key. While doing so, I met this dude headed to the river. We got to the Green and it was pumping. We heard a rumor of 22 inches... We decided not to run it, but figured Big Hungry was going. So we hiked through the poison ivy fields to the put in. Ran the drops down to the Green and had a great time. Once at the Green we decided that we weren't quite finished boating and decided to give in to the temptation downstream. This is some of what we saw.

Eastbound I26 Green River Bridge. Exit 54 + Closed. Detour through Saluda.

Westbound is good to go.

First drop below second Dam on Big Hungry Creek.

Green River Narrows, Gateway to Gnarnia.

Frankenstein, Green River Narrows.

I don't even know what this is, maybe that's go left at the top? Green River Narrows, Pumping.

Here's a shot of the Notch.

This is normal Gorilla.

This is full on mach 10 express, water cannon Gorrilla. Notice the dry rock on river left at the bottom of the frame.

The Groove Tube was like a full on stand up barrell.

Here's a shot from the other day of normal Sunshine. Sorry about the water drop.

And here's Sunshine today! AHHHHHH!

We had such an awesome day today. We walked Gorilla and put back in at Powerslide, but we ran everything else. And it was freaking awesome. We passed the gauge at 28 inches around noon, the tributaries were pouring in, I don't know if it was going up or down, but it was just about as much fun as you can have in a kayak. It was my first time running Sunshine. So, So Good! I came around a corner through one drop, and the waves were so big, and so frequent and there were holes, it instantly made me think of the NF Payette. Just tons of water going so fast. Running a new creek and then full on big water Green was such an incredible experience. I don't think I got fired for missing work either!