North Carolina Paddle Trip

[JBL1026]

Thought i would share a few pics of our trip out to North Carolina.... On the first day some locals directed us toward Big Laurel Creek which was one of the funnest creeks I've ever been on before dumping us into the last few miles the French Broad (Hot Springs Section). This set the pace for a great trip that ended up finishing the last couple days on the Nolichucky. I would have more pics but the guy's taking pictures ended up hiking out of Big Laurel after a nasty swim on stair step rapid. Hope you enjoy!

[Sir Kayakalot]

Great pics Josh, looks like y'all had good water.
Keep em' comin.


Tommy

[RomanLA]

When I was at NOC guide school, we rafted it. Great creek!

[JBL1026]

The water was great, we initially were going to try to find somewhere in Tennessee but the closer to time to leave we did not have many options so we met in Knoxville thinking the Pigeon might be fun. Some locals were telling us a lot of stuff got dumped into that river around Gatlinburg and we probably wouldn't want to get in it. From there we saw what there was the see in the Smokey Mountains since my military friend was able to get some good topos of that region. While looking for a park and play we ran into a Ranger who told us we should go over the mountain in NC to the Nantahala which would have been perfect for two less experienced guys but i was looking for something bigger than II-III stuff and ended up in Asheville since we saw the French Broad (section 9) was optimal according to the gauges. Big Laurel was a total accident because i was asking a local outfitter for a shuttle to the put in of the Broad and he told us it we would really like this creek and went on to tell us about it. He told us the first rapid was the "hardest one on the river", and once we got to it i was very let down since it was about a 3-4 foot drop max. About a mile or so later it picked up significantly which led to the others walking out. The last two miles of the Big Laurel were non-stop. The two rapids on the French Broad we encountered were also really cool. The last one right before hot Springs was a very long and intense considering we weren't expecting anything more after needle drop which was about a 8-10 foot drop. The rest of the trip was still a lot of fun but i would have liked to have gotten to run Big Laurel again before we went to the Nolichucky. Here are some pics of Nolichucky which my cousin and another guy had to walk the tracks after one of them smacked there face on a rock in Quarter Mile. In hind sight maybe Nantahala would have been good for these two guys but the trip was awesome and glad we got the opportunity to get on what we did. Ended with a brutal drive home considering I had to go back to work Monday morning at 7.30.

[JBL1026]

Almost left this one out! The reason they walked out of the Nolichucky. I think he's looking to buy a full faced helmet if anyone has one out there for sell.