Nantahala Surfing Safari
| River: | Nantahala |
| Skill: | Novice+ |
| Trip Date: | 04/13/2024 |
Participants: Tom Womble (Bryson City), Nate and Karen Taylor (Durham), Trish Hipgrave (Bryson City), Dave McClure (Murphy), Brian and Felicia Friesen (Charlotte), Rich Ruhlen (Johnson City, TN), Mark Holmberg (Andrews).
Weather: Sunny, Blue Sky, Breezy, high 60s low 70s.
Water Level: Hewitt Gauge 830 cfs + some inflow downstream from recent rains
Putin: 11:30 am Wayah Road, Takeout: 3:45 pm NOC
The Nantahala River offers a variety of good surfing spots for paddlers of all experience levels and tastes. The top section (above Ferebee) hosts over a half dozen spots to surf on. Part of the challenge is catching them and being comfortable with the downstream maneuvering after the surf. Most noteable is the Mystic Lands wave that has good eddy service on river left and Landslide 1 wave with service on the right. A number of our group were able to catch those larger waves. The small spinning wave at Pyramid Rock on river left was not really suitable for spinning, but provided some decent bow rides.
The lower section provides an abundance of options, large and small. Ferebee has a gem of a smaller wave on river left below the large eddy at Delabar’s Rock. Quarry rapid, although not nearly what it was years ago, still offers a couple of waves in the section before the confluence of the river splitting around the island. Root Canal wave was perfect at this flow. The breaker at Whirlpool was decent as well. The Friesen’s pulled off a couples’ surf on the small wave above the island after Blue Hole Rapid.
Next up was Rope Wave, one of the largest and fastest of the day. Nate scored a great ride in a demo Pyranha Firecracker there. The Three Humps waves gave everyone a good time. Several paddlers “Rode The Lightning” at The Ledges, a right to left side surf from hole to hole in the middle of the rapid. It was hard to choose between catching all the eddies and making fun moves and searching out and riding the surf waves. Had we done both, we may still be out there. Surfers Rapid lived up to its name. Although a little high, it was still surfable and the warm up wave on river right just above the bottom of the island was a nice diversion. We took a much needed break at Surfers to stretch, snack, relax and take in the abundant sunshine. Chamber of Waves above PBR was sweet and PBR Wave was a nice change of pace in the shadow of the very large new building, still under construction. By now, folks were starting to get tired so we transitioned into more of a river run, enjoying Walk the Dog and Skin The Cat. The Bump was lively, but well done by all. Part of the group portaged Nantahala Falls and the rest ran it, with Brian executing an amazing saving brace in Bottom Hole, much to the delight of the spectators.
We casually worked our way down to NOC and the takeout, with a couple of rides on the Bridge Wave, although there was a slalom gate hanging right in the middle of it. No worries, though.
Overall, an amazing day. Unless you really love the surfing in the upper half, I recommend Ferebee down to optimize your wave time. For fantastic Park and Play, there is Surfers Rapid and the NOC Freestyle Wave, if that is your thing.