Umpteenth Annual June Nolichucky Trip
The weather forecast undoubtedly suppressed turnout, but on game day the elements cooperated and 5 paddlers had an excellent run down to Stackhouse at 2000 cfs, with only a few minutes of light drizzle. Kathy Simes styled her personal first descent, and everyone had a good time at an excellent level. we coulda/shoulda gone down to run Frank Bell's (Plan A), but the forecast was for increasing rain and dropping temperatures so we opted to get off sooner.
We had a small group show up for our trip from Barnard to Hot Springs on March 30th. Most people were at the CCC Easter camp, but 3 (Marty Vaughan, Wes Dodson, and Jim Behr) came to help Merridee and I celebrate our 11th wedding anniversary in style. We had a playful, uneventful run with only one swim and a few combat rolls.
We postponed the trip from its scheduled date because of cold weather. The following week was forecast to be warmer and sunny, so, why not?
During the week, the predicted temperature kept declining, and heavy rains on Wednesday sent the level of the Chattooga near 4 feet. By saturday the level was 2.44, and the forecast was low 40s in the morning dropping into the 30s by afternoon, with 30% chance of rain then snow later in the afternoon.
we just returned from 6 days of paddling and camping in the Fla Everglades. It was especially memorable as we did a loop thru the area highlighted in the great book "Shadow Country" by Peter Mattheissen, which 4 of us had read or listened to on DVD.
This was the 13th iteration of a trip that began in January 2000. That year the forecast early in the week was fantastic, but it deteriorated to the point that we were ready to cancel the trip the day before it was scheduled. When 14 people said they wanted to go, off we went. By the end of the day, we had icicles hanging from our helmets, and had to brave slick, icy roads to get home. The Hypothermia Challenge was born!
this trip was run jointly with the Foothills Paddling Club in Greenville SC…The level was 700 cfs, which may have depressed the turnout for the trip. The weather was hot and sunny, the water clear and a perfect temperature for swimming and cooling off.
Nine paddlers made the run, including 3 1/2 first timers. Participants included David Blumberg, Merridee Harper, Steve Getz, David Williams, Joe Owensby, Steve Yost, John MacDonald, Rick Steeves, and Cat Thrash.
