whitewater canoe/kayak appalchian trail adventures

[adamwilson64]

I was going to be in Arkansas the week of August 11th, hoping to take advantage of arkansas ww, but to my dismay lupe told me that my choices are lacking for that part of the season. I am willing to travel east to find some ww, but I don't know where to go. Where would someone recommend I go if I'm looking for class II-III rapids, especially if I was trying to combine a 2-3 day trip with a hike on the appalachian trail. thanks.

[Cowper]

I don't have a good recommendation for a 2-3 day trip; but if you can settle for good "day" trips, then the Nantahala and the Ocoee become obvious choices. The Nanty is loved by many, but COLD, so take some appropriate gear; even dry tops or a dry suit are worn by some in the middle of summer, although you can get by with less. The Ocoee is more than just Class II-III, but if you have a solid combat roll and hook up with other boaters, it is a great place to be in the summer.
With hurricanes blowing in now, there may be other options as well...

[Lupe]

This is really just me having a random thought/musing, but I was thinking after responding to Adam and thinking of a few other requests for paddling recommendations that have been posted to this board over the past couple months, how odd it might seem to some who visit our message board infrequently! I mean, here is this VERY active message board and clearly a very active paddling community and then someone perhaps new to paddling or from out of state comes along and says "hey, where can I paddle?" and all of a sudden we're all like, "What? Paddle? Why, there's no place to paddle here! What ever gave you the impression that we PADDLE here?!" Some might even wonder if we are all just keeping all the good spots a secret or something!

But, alas, no - it's just that Arkansas whitewater paddlers are very much NOT a FAIR WEATHER bunch...because there really is (almost never) whitewater in Arkansas in the summer. Probably 90% or more of Arkansas whitewater is paddled in late fall, winter and early spring. Anyway, just musing out loud how we are an awfully active club of paddlers even though this time of year we ain't got no water!

(Of course, thanks be for Rockport, and an occasional float on the Lil Mo when they release from Narrows Dam. And we can always hope for the occasional freak rainstorm, but those are way few and far between from July through September)

Oh - and I second Cowper's Nantahala/Ocoee recommendation. In fact, I believe the Appalachian Trail crosses right over the Nantahala on the footbridge at NOC. Nanty is great fun and can be made "harder" if you really like to work a river by catching eddies, trying hard ferries, etc.

If you've got the right cold weather gear...try Arkansas in the "off" season and we'll have all kinds of whitewater to show you (well, if it's been raining we will...)

[RomanLA]

I contacted the Carolina Mountain Club for my trip and they emailed me the suggestions below for AT day hikes near NOC. I ended up doing Newfound Gap to Charlie's Bunion. They said that one and Fontana Dam to Shuckstack Tower were the most scenic. They are also supposed to be the most difficult sections. The one I did was 8 miles with a total elevation change of 4000ft. It only took me 3.5 hours with snow and ice on the trail. I also did the Waterfall Loop in the Deep Creek Recreation Area (part of SMNP) near Bryson City. If you like to mountain bike, don't forget to check out Tsali. Here's a link to my photo albums...
http://community.webshots.com/user/RomanRyder" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Here are some AT specific hikes:

11.5 mile loop hike including about 4 miles on the AT near Fontana Dam. (34 mile drive each way from Bryson City.)
http://www.carolinamtnclub.org/hikedeta ... number=495" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This hikes the same part of the AT but is a simple in and out of 7 miles:
http://www.carolinamtnclub.org/hikedeta ... number=302" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (use the map from hike 495).

Newfound gap to Mt Kephart and back - 6 mile easy hike:
http://www.carolinamtnclub.org/hikedeta ... number=119" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Newfound Gap to Charlie's Bunyon and back 9 miles; 34 mile drive each way from Bryson City.
Use map for hike 120 but return back the way you came on the AT from Charlie's Bunion:
http://www.carolinamtnclub.org/hikedeta ... number=120" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Newfound Gap to AT to Boulevard trail to Mt Leconte to Alum Cave Trail 13 miles
http://www.carolinamtnclub.org/hikedeta ... number=165" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (black line on map)
requires an additional 4 miles walk or hitchhike to get back to Newfound Gap

Newfound Gap southwest to Mt. Collins via AT; in/out hike of 9 miles
use Smokies map: http://www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/u ... ls2005.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (the hikes above are on this map but not as detailed).

You could also drive another 7 miles from Newfound gap on Clingman's Dome Rd to the Clingman's Dome parking lot and then hike up to the AT at the lookout tower and from there hike either east or west.

[David Mac]

When I went to the NOC a couple of years ago I had the luck of having a borrowed truck with my motorcycle in the back end and had a good time hiking the ten miles of the AT between Wesser Bald fire tower and the NOC. I left the bike at NOC and used it to recover the truck after the hike.

Another idea for a "self-shuttle" is to take a mountain bike to the Wesser Bald trailhead and chain it to a tree then go back to the NOC and hike up to the Bald. It's be a few miles of mountain biking down roads to get back, but it's be 99% down hill.