creekfreak

Garden of the Gods!

2009-05-05T15:42:00.009-04:00

I was up in the mountains of Western North Carolina this past weekend for a wedding and decided to do some sightseeing on Sun. before coming home. The little lady and I drove over to the West Fork of the Pigeon River to have a look at the Garden of the Gods. WOW!!! That is some STEEP SHIZZLE!!! Here are some pics:

Everything you see up here:

Drops through here:

And then heads on down here:

And continues down to this:

Apparently it's been run before about a decade or so ago by a guy named Chip Collins. He ran it thinking that a couple other guys had been on it before. But they both said they hadn't. And no one has run it since. What you can see from the bridge upstream looks like a bunch of big slides and fairly clean drops. But below the bridge it turns into a full-on manky shitfest! Chip Collins said that attempting a run here is "playing with your life"! I believe it!

Some more pics:

I don't think I'll be running this one anytime soon!

Peace

Brentley

Are you prepared?

2009-04-19T13:49:00.002-04:00

As everyone knows, whitewater kayaking is a very dangerous sport. It takes us to some far away, beautiful destinations, many times with no one around to help should an emergency arise. Would you be able to help if one of your buddies was hurt on the river? Well, there's no time like the present to learn the skills that could potentially save a life!!! I am now offering CPR/First Aid classes that will teach you how to provide emergency care until specialized help arrives.

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The Green River Narrows - A Trip Report!!!

2009-01-07T03:14:00.002-05:00

This whole trip actually started out on the Fri. before my birthday (which was on Mon.). Clinton and I were at Ed’s Tavern with a few other folks and he casually asked if I wanted to go to the Green on Mon. Knowing that it would be my birthday, I thought that the Gnarrs would be a fantastic B-Day present to myself. And since I didn’t boat on New Years Day (which I really wanted to do) I started to really consider it. I didn’t dwell on it too much for the rest of the weekend until I got a text from Clinton Sun. afternoon asking again. After making a few calls to various boaters, we were able to find a third and it was GO TIME!!!

We got to the put-in around eleven and started the hike in. I have to say that it was a good feeling to be looking at the other side of those trees on the trail for the first time. I was nervous as hell on the drive up and the shuttle. But oddly enough, on the hike in I seemed to find a bit of inner-peace. I kept telling myself, “You belong here! It’s your time!”. I don’t know if I believed what I was telling myself, but I must have because I got in my boat and off I went.

There’s a little bit of Class II warmup, but looking back, I don’t think it was enough. Because when the river started to tighten up and the walls started closing in, my heart started to race! The beginning of the “Good Shit” comes right after a left hand turn in the river, and once rounding the bend, you’ve got Bride staring you in the face. Start right, go right of the rock, then turn left, point it downstream and punch the hole at the bottom. I got the first part of that right. I started right, went right of the rock, but didn’t get the left turn. Instead, my boat turned right, and I ran the last half of the rapid backwards, right into the hole and flipped. GREAT!!! Now I’m upside down on the first rapid of one of the sikkest runs in the southeast! First roll= NOPE. Second roll= NOT TODAY. Third= YEAH RIGHT. Bow rescue. AHHH AIR! I don’t see how fish do it. Now I’m FREAKING THE F*CK OUT!!!! WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING HERE?!?!?!?!?!?!? I’M NOT READY FOR THIS!!!!! MOMMY!!!!!!! Clinton later told me that I would not have flipped had I done the “Back Boof”. They got me calmed down (barely) and we continued on down.

Next up, Frankenstein! I ran the right-side line. Three foot wide chute with a six-foot boof into a “room” that’s maybe large enough to fit a small car into. Good boof stroke, decent landing, and eddy on the right. NICE!!! This “room” is one of the most memorable places on the whole river for me. It’s walled in on all sides, there’s a big jumble of wood that has choked up what, I’m guessing, was an opening at one time, and the water coming over the drop that I just ran has the whole place full of mist. Mystical is the only word I can think of to describe it. I’m in there by myself, can’t see anyone and I’m thinking to my self, “Holy Sh!t, I on the Green River Narrows! Ferry out under the traditional line and eddy out.

I don’t really remember Pincushion other than Clinton telling me, when I asked “What is this one?”, “I tell ya at the bottom.” Hmmmm, I don’t like the sound of that. No problems though.

WhaleTail was next. Start in a RL eddy, drive right and finish coming off the WhaleTail to the right. DO NOT go left on the Tail. There is a little slot over there that’s big enough to grab a boat, but not big enough to let it go!

Boof or Consequences. Alternate Line. Right side. It’s a narrow slot under a large boulder on your left. Eleven o’clock boat angle and you’ll catch the auto-boof. Then a little bit of mank and eddy on the right. No problem. I’m starting to get the hang of this!

On the agenda next was Go Left. I ran the sneak which is called the Squeeze. You drop through a tight little slot into a small pool, and then take a ten foot slide into the big pool below Go Left. From the pool looking back up at Go Left, you really get an appreciation for just how BIG that sucker is. I’ll stop here to say Good Job to Trent, who I don’t think had originally planned on running it. You know what I’m talking about Trent. But he came through it upright and smiling! Way to go!

From here I got out to walk Zwicks and Chief. And I think that by walking those I also walked Reverse Seven Footer because I don’t remember that one. Once back in my boat below Zwicks I ferried to the RL eddy just above Pencil Sharpener to walk Gorilla. It was awesome to watch Clinton and Andy run Gorilla. They both took different lines through Pencil Sharpener; Andy far left and Clinton far right. My heart rate was accelerated briefly as I watched Clinton get stern-squirted coming through The Notch and into the eddy above the Monkey. Both he and Andy had great lines off the launch pad and both stayed up-right through The Speed Trap.

Now it’s time for the infamous seal launch below Gorilla. For those of you thinking of running the Green, I’ll tell you something that no one told me. When doing the seal launch, don’t be afraid to build up some speed coming down the rock. I DIDN’T! I came off the rock and got enough of a boof stroke to turn my boat. But with no speed, I dropped like a rock, landed on the rock shelf below and STOPPED. F*CK! I JUST BROKE MY BRAND-NEW BOAT!!! At least that’s what I was thinking, but it seems to be alright. Not much I can do about it now though. The water coming off Gorilla has really picked up some speed, making the ferry to RR a challenge. But I made it and was on my way back down stream. It felt good to be back in my boat. I don’t like walking. I was really feeling good by now and was excited about the next few rapids.

The first of which is Scream Machine. After making the ferry below the seal launch you’re on RR and right on top of a ten footer. I knew that I wanted to be on RR at the bottom to go right of the huge rock in the middle of the river but finished kinda center. I was able to ferry back to the right and continue down to Nies’ Pieces. You can run right or left here. I chose right. After coming around the big rock, there’s a small hole below a three to four foot drop. Then about twenty feet down stream you need to be as far right as you can, driving right with a left boof stroke. You almost want to dry-out on the RR wall. With a good enough boof stroke and a little luck you will clear the nasty hole at the bottom of this twelve to fifteen footer. CLEANED IT!!! One of my best lines all day!

Next in line were PowerSlide and Rapid Transit. A couple of BIG slides that really get the heart racing. On PowerSlide you start in a RL eddy and work your way right, skirting a hole that’s center on the left and then punching through a curler that wants to send you left too early. Don’t remember much about Rapid Transit, but was kinda like PS. BIG AND FAST!!! Eddy on the left to portage Nutcracker and scout Groove Tube.

Groove Tube was another fave. I ran the middle which consists of ferrying out of a RL eddy to center. After that it’s basically point and shoot! You drop over a small two to three foot ledge, control your speed and line up for the big drop. Not sure how big, but I’d guess twelve to fifteen feet. Oh, and make sure you catch the eddy on RR because Sunshine is dead ahead.

Sunshine=Portage. Nuff said.

After Sunshine, there’s some smaller IV stuff, like Col. Dick’s and All American Boof, most of which I don’t remember due to not being told what it was. Then it flattens out for a little while til you come to Toilet Bowl and Hammer Factor. Toilet Bowl is a blur as is much of the lower section of the Gnarrs. The day was filled with so much adrenaline that I’m surprised that I can remember any of it. My memories of Hammer Factor, however, are quite vivid. From an eddy on RL you start down a tongue driving left. You want to keep lots of left boat angle and have some momentum to avoid squaring up on the hole that sits under the large undercut rock on the right at the bottom. I didn’t drive far enough left and got turned right and pitoned into the undercut rock and flipped in the hole. Luckily the undercut flushes and I ended up in the pool below, upside down and struggling to roll. Yet another bow rescue and all is well. After Hammer Factor, there’s another few hundred yards of Class II run-out and you’re at the take-out!!!

WOW!!! I DID IT!!! I JUST CAN’T BELIEVE IT!!! I FIRED THAT SHIT UP!!!

On the way there that morning, I told the guys that I had two goals for the day. One was to have fun. And there’s no doubt that I accomplished that. The other was that I wanted to leave there with the desire to come back. Well you can believe that I’m ready for more. That place is MAGICAL! I now see what everyone’s been talking about! It was bigger, steeper and harder than I expected it to be. But it was also way more fun than I expected it to be! It’s not just another river; IT’S THE GNARRS!!!

I have to admit that I shed a tear or two at the take-out. Not just because I felt lucky to be alive (and I felt more alive than I ever have!), but because of what I had just accomplished. This is a run that I’ve been wanting for a long time and I gotta say it felt DAMN GOOD! But it would not have been possible without the help of a few people. A HUGE thanks goes out to Clinton Koontz. He didn’t just “get me down”. With short but accurate descriptions of rapids and patience when it was needed, he provided a very comfortable, memorable and easy going experience. Thanks Clinton! Also in our group were Trent Thibodeaux, Andy from Spartanburg (I think, sorry I didn’t catch your last name), and Jeff Matonis. I owe you all a huge debt of gratitude!

Oh and BTW – When are we going back?

mobile blogging

2008-09-18T02:04:00.000-04:00

Wilson Creek @ 26" !!!!

2008-09-14T00:29:00.003-04:00

Thank you T.S. Fay!!!

After 3 people dropped out due to various reasons, it came down to just Will Berkeley and I. We got to the bridge around 11:30 and found 3 guys there deciding what to do. A few minutes later a few more showed and most of that crew decided they were going to have a look at the Gragg Prong. They all said 2ft. on WC was a little too high. Gragg was out for Will and I, as I had to be back in Charlotte for work that evening.

After standing around in the rain for about thirty mins., Will and I decided to do a little road scouting. Everything was HUGE!!! We got a decent look at most of the ledges on the bottom half of the gorge. There were river wide holes and ledges I had never seen before. The whole place looked unfamiliar. We walked down the trail to have a look at Boatbuster/Thunderhole. The boof at Boatbuster was gone, leaving only a wide tongue on the left and Thunderhole was washed out as well. All that was left of TH was a large diagonal reactionary wave. We continued on up and saw a few from the other group at the parking area at 10 Foot Falls, so we pulled over to have a look for ourselves. Ten Foot was crazy looking. Most of the river was slamming into the RR wall and then dropping into the nasty looking hole at the bottom. After brief discussion, we decided to head up to the bridge and paddle down to the put-in for the gorge, and then decide what to do . We had one of the other group (Keith) join us and the three of us ran the upper section in about 15 minutes. When we got to the regular put-in there was a group of three putting on. Keith, being in a playboat, decided he was through so Will and I joined up with the other guys and headed on down!

I expected to be scared shitless, knowing that I was paddling WC at a level that, not only had I never seen, but a level that was higher than just about anyone I knew had ever seen. But I was feeling confident and comfortable. This was good, because I was in for quite an undertaking.

For the most part everything was pretty smooth. I was told that I took a fairly sketchy line at Little Woodall (I was too far left) but things turned out fine. When we made it to 10 Ft, we got out on RL to scout. Unlike usual, the right side was the wrong side. Too far right would put you into the wall on the bottom right and and directly into the hole at the bottom. Instead there was a 5-6 foot boof in the middle that set you up to run the far left side, just skirting the hole. Everyone styled it. Some chose to try the boof at Broken Toilet with success for all. I ran the right-side creak/sneak with ease. Next up was Boatbuster/Thunderhole. Everyone took the leftside tongue except for Will, who ran to the right of the big square rock that sits just next to the boof. He later said that that was a mistake because he wasn't able to get set up properly for TH. All of the eddies that are usually between BB and TH were gone so I just charged on through with a little left angle and handled the diagonal reactionary with no problem. Just below TH were some of the biggest, stickiest holes on the whole creek at that level. They were all offset and dodging them was tricky. Once I got below them, I turned and looked upstream and saw that Will was stuck. Not in a hole, but rather in some weird wave thingy. Kinda hard to describe what it was, but he was stuck there for a minute or more. Then came Triple Drop. At that level, there is a whole channel that opens up on RR. We got out to scout on the island in the middle of the creek that is created at that level. The bottom hole at TD was SCARY!!! It was, by far, the BIGGEST, NASTIEST hole on the river that day. I think it would be safe to say that a VW Bug would disappear in it. Only one in our group chose to run it. He started out on RL at the regular entrance and worked hard to get right, JUST kissing the right side of the hole. He made it look easy. The rest of us walked it. Will and I both said later that we momentarily considered running it, but common sense quickly took over. More ledges and boofs and hole dodging followed. Ran to the left of the undercut rock that creates the hole at Maytag. Billboard and Razorback went smoothly. Billboard = RL. Razorback = standard line with no left turn at the bottom (didn't need it). Saw a different line at BitchSlap. Ran a RR line at Unrunnable Rock Jumble. When we made it to Huntley's Retreat I got flipped in some hole, rolled up, and ended up in an eddy on RL. Will, from downstream, was telling me that I HAD to get all the way RIGHT, due to the river-wide ledge hole at the bottom. Well, by now, I was pretty tired and I just couldn't make the ferry, so I had to punch the hole on the RL side. It was a little scary, but turned out OK. Next up was the take-out and the end of an incredible run. I couldn't believe that I had just run Wilson Creek at 2feet. It was an awesome experience!!!

PRAY FOR RAIN!!!

Sec IV., Wilson Creek Jan '08

2008-02-20T22:55:00.007-05:00

MRP Colorado Invasion - 2007

2007-07-12T22:04:00.000-04:00

It's hard to believe that it has come and gone already. Back in March and April it seemed so far away. Then the next thing I know I'm dropping my gear at Pat's house on Wed. night for a Fri. departure. A few of us camped at Pat's Thur. night and come Fri. morning we were off. I was dreading that drive sooo much. The thought of thirty hours in the car with five other people just didn't seem all that enticing. But I knew that it would be worth it in the end. Man, I couldn't have been righter (I know, I know). Even though, about halfway through Kansas, I was beginning to wonder.

Lots of this in Kansas. BORING!!!

(photo by Robbie Siegle - i think)

I think Pat said it best, "In Kansas, you can see tomorrow's weather today."

Colorado - Day 1

Well we finally started seeing some elevation change which meant Denver wasn't too much further. When we got to the Mile High City, we headed straight to Dan's (Pat's brother) house. It sure was nice to get out of that truck for a while, and have a little couch time. But we didn't chill for too long as we all headed to the local paddling shop, Confluence Kayaks, to get some beta and check out the deals. And by local I mean it was a ten minute walk from the house. Sweet!!! We got some info on the Clear Creek Whitewater Park in Golden, CO, loaded back up in the truck and headed out. Twenty minutes and we were there.

(photo by Jenni Miehle)

After playing for a few hours, we headed back to Dan's to meet up with Angie and Mary Jo. Once they arrived, we went for some grub then back to the house to chill and plan the next day's events.

Day 2 - Buena Vista Town Run

After a nice drive up into the hills, we arrived at camp. Once we got everything set up, and met up with the rest of the crew, some of us headed to the put-in. We played around at the wave at the put-in for a while to warm up then headed down.

The town section is a fun run with IIs and IIIs (mostly IIIs) with a runnable low head dam a few miles in. This had a few of us quite nervous considering there was no scout and no portage, due to private land. Except for someone getting separated from their boat for a while, then a rather nervous search for that person ( who was found safe a little while later) it was a great way to start the Ark experience!

Day 3 - The Numbers

I'll start here by saying thanks to Ken (Winslow - I think) for showing us down this section. He knew and described the lines very well, and was instrumental in me keeping my wits about me. And this was crucial considering that as soon as we put on, I quickly realized that I might just be in over my head. The level that day was around 1600-1700cfs and the water was as pushy as any I had ever seen (except maybe for the day Angela S., Scott B. and I ran the Upper Green at around 600-700%.). The first rapid right after the stealth put-in was pretty challenging and I flipped right at the entrance, and took a pretty good shot to the head. After switching into survival mode I rolled up and assessed the situation. Still conscious, not too dazed, no time to rest. Let's keep going! At Number One Ken said that the rapid was kinda like a golf course. It has around 18 holes. I'm thinking to myself, "Great! What have I gotten myself into?" It's been quite a while since I felt that out of control in my boat. I made it through and was able to recompose myself. I don't remember much of Numbers 2 and 3, but I do remember Number 4. I was following Andy and trying to catch every eddy he caught. So I eddied out on RR and suddenly realized that I was sitting at the entrance to the diversion channel. Not where I wanted to be! Josh P. and Angela S. eddied out there too. So I got to watch Josh ferry out into the main channel, only to get hung up on a rock about eight feet out. Luckily after a little persuasion he cleared it and moved on. Then Angela peeled out, executed a perfect ferry and headed down. "THAT"S my line!", I thought. Peeled out into the ferry, blew my angle and stalled about halfway to where I wanted to be. So I'm paddling like a mofo, regain my ferry angle and head downstream. Whew! Starting to feel a little better after that. Let's go. Next is Number 5 and what would turn out to be my near demise. After coming under the bridge, I'm a little too far left and have to make a rather long ferry back to RR, to catch the eddy on far RR right after the first drop. Clean the drop but I'm a little too close to center to catch the eddy at the top, so I try to sneak in at the bottom. Well that didn't work so good and I flushed out the bottom of the eddy and flipped on the eddy line heading backwards. Through the next hole on RR and over the pourover on RR upsidedown and backwards. I'm thinkning no biggie since I'm not really hitting anything underwater. Well, I guess the waves really start to pick up through here (I'm not real sure because I was upside down, remember) because I'm having a real hard time rolling up. After around 6-7 roll attempts and inhaling a few gallons of that cold Colorado water I knew it was time to come out. I couldn't get to the surface fast enough. Once I finally came up, I was gasping for air and took in some more water. Now I'm REALLY getting scared. Can't breathe, head is barely staying above water, the water is very cold, and I'm tired as hell. The current is so pushy through there, I was having a real hard time just getting to shore. That's when I remembered something they taught me in guide school. If you can't break the eddy line by swimming through it, then ROLL across it. Foreward stroke, backstroke, forward stroke, backstroke. It was that bit of knowledge that got me to the river bank. Thanks USNWC guide school. After my boat and I were collected, I took a few minutes to rest then got back in my boat. Big mistake. I was so stiff and tense, it only took about 200 more yard to realize that my day was done. So now I'm hiking down the road. I walked for about 2 1/2 miles with my boat before Ken came around the bend to pick me up. He got out at the take-out and everyone else in our group continued on down through Fractions/Frog Rock. I've never been as scared kayaking as I was below Number 5. I seriously considered having a few cold ones back at camp just to calm my nerves. But I made it through relatively unscathed and no worse for wear. What are we doing tomorrow?!?!?!?

Well it's late, I'm tired and have to work tomorrow, so Numbers pics, Brown's Canyon, Royal Gorge, and Fractions/Frog Rock will have to wait til later....

Peace Out

Brentley

Ocoee - PFD

2007-04-13T01:04:00.000-04:00

Well let me tell ya. It was a weekend I'll never forget. It started out with a beautiful day on Fri. I awoke early, excited about what was ahead. After finally gathering the last of my gear John and I were on the road around 1pm (only an hour later than we had planned. Sorry John, that's all on me.) The drive went pretty quickly, even with a stop off at Endless River Adventures where John picked up a sweeeet new Lendal 4-piece bent-shaft paddle, and NOC where I purchased a new Shred Ready Super Scrappy helmet. We arrived at the camp at dusk with just enough time to get our stuff set up before dark. Upon our arrival we were greeted by Sloshua, an already drunk Clinton and Curtis (didn't catch the last name). As we started to unload the firewood, that was so graciously donated by my sweetheart Angie Mattson (Thanks Babe), someone approached me with open hands and said,"Put some wood in here!" I decided to let that one slide. "Throw some wood on that fire!" quickly became the mantra for the evening , as Drunk Clinton (DC) apparently wasn't warmed enough by all the brown liquor he had consumed earlier in the evening. Eventually Mark Mckelvy showed then Matt Scruggs around midnight. Matt had said that it was snowing like a mofo in the Nantahala Gorge and I began to wonder what I had gotten myself into. Didn't matter. I was here and I was going to enjoy myself regardless of how cold it was. I ended up staying up until about 4am, too anxious and nervous about the following days activities to go to sleep. Big Day tomorrow!

Day 1 - Woke up and we all went to breakfast at some little hole in the wall restaurant in some little hole in the wall town. The biscuits and gravy were off the hook. After making it back to camp, we were joined by my new hero, Mr. Andy Travis. Just a little while later the boats and gear were loaded and we were off the the river. I have to note here that on Fri. as we were driving in, we got a good look at the river without any water in it. I remember thinking to myself that it didn't look all that intimidating (except for the river bottom itself, which was very jagged). The gradient was pretty consistant and I didn't see any major drops. This goes to show how little I know. It's amazing how benign the rocks that form rapids can look and how drastically different a river can be once it has water in it. I decided to walk Grumpy's the first day. Mainly because it sits directly below the put-in, and the ferry over to the sneak on river left seemed like a difficult venture. After watching the rest of the group make the ferry and run the rapid I put on and we were on our way. As we arrived at Staging Eddy I see Angela and Robbie Siegel and Jenni there waiting. Here I decide to get out of my boat and take some pics. There was a fun little wave in the center that everyone was playing on. I can't remember exactly what order the rapids came in so I'll list them as I remember them. I believe Broken Nose was next. Andy and I ran just left of the big rock and with a little left to right move and eddied out at the bottom. After working downstream a bit farther I turn to look back up and see Josh bracing like crazy in the hole on river right. I'll let him tell ya how that worked out. Next was Moonshoot which was run to the right of the split rock. Here comes Double Suck. There a fun little boof on RR, which I ran both days. I missed the boof on the first day but nailed it on the next. I was smiling. After the boof there is a great little eddy on RR in which to chill and watch the carnage at the bottom of Double Suck. Not much was provided though. Here comes on of my favorites on the whole river. Double Trouble! You start on RL in the large eddy and ferry towards center. Then point it downstream and let 'er rip. Three very large waves in quick succession come and go so fast that you don't realize how big they are until you eddy out just below them and look back at where you just came from. BIG GRIN! Next up was Flipper, which has that name for a reason. There is an angled wave that will turn you over if you don't hit it square. I think you see where this is going. No problems, just smiles. Now you're in the Doldrums, a long stretch of flat, calm water that ends with a Surprise if you're not careful. The surprise is a three foot drop that sneaks up on you. Smooth sailing. Up next is Tablesaw. Here I recieved some of the best advice I got all day. As you enter on RL you will encounter a series of waves. It is important to keep some left boat angle to offset the series of diagonal waves. I was also told that there is a pothole at the bottom of the rapid that I needed to be aware of. It was explained to me that while it MAY be possible to swim through the pothole, it IS NOT possible to do it with a PFD on. STAY AWAY FROM THE POTHOLE!!! Well sure enough I flip and while I'm upside down all I can think of is that big hole. There is NO FRIGGIN WAY I'm swimming here. I guess I should have concentrated on my roll more instead because it took FIVE roll attempts to finally come up. Whew! Now where is that pothole? It turns out that I flipped right at it and it was never a concern. Still grinnin!!! At Diamond Splitter I have a couple options. The first is to run left of the big rock and try to catch the eddy just behind the "Diamond". Well I blow that move and have to keep on truckin'. I peel out to the right and what do ya know? Witch's Hole. I busted right through and caught an eddy on RL. Just as I turn to look back upstream I see Angela caught in the hole. She's bracing and bracing and slides her way out just like she knew what she was doing. Great job A. A little further down Andy turns to me and asks, "Do ya wanna skin the cat?" At first I thought this was some backwards ass Tennessee river ritual that ended with me being initiated into the local taxidermy union. But what the hell, WHY NOT?!?!?! I figured since Andy had gotten me down this far unscathed, I might as well trust him. I was only mildly nervous about the SEG (shit-eating grin) on his face. This was so much fun. We started left of center and with an upstream ferry, worked over to the right to turn downstream and make a quick s-turn move to finish on RR. Hell hole is next. "Meat or sneak?" I wanted to finish strong so of course I said "Meat!" and here we go. This one was also Big fun. Mostly because of the BIG waves that lead in to the hole itself. I made it through and caught the first eddy I saw on RR. I didn't do any playing in Hell Hole, because, one, I was in a Mamba and two, there was a line of about 15-20 people waiting to get in. So I took out here and broke out the camera. Snapped lots of pics while drying on the rocks. There were some great boaters playing there. Never got around to getting back in the boat and running Powerhouse, so I couldn't tell ya what that one was like. That was the end of probably (for James, "prolley")the best day of paddling in my life. The Ocoee is unlike any river I have ever been on. It is continuous and fast and a lot of fun. After leaving the river, we headed back to camp and Angela whipped up a delicious batch of sketti. After that it was drunk fest for all (except me). I want to thank everyone that was with us, especially Andy, for a great day on the river. Our group on Day 1 was: Andy Travis, Josh Parker, Clinton Koontz, Mark McKelvy, Robbie Siegel, Angela Siegel, Matt Scruggs, John Bethune and myself.

Report from Day 2 coming soon....

Peace Out

Brentley

(all photos courtesy of Jenni Miehle)

Sup Peeps?

2007-02-26T20:40:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my new blog. I'm new to this whole bloggin thang so it will take me a while to smooth it all out.

My main goal here is to provide an account of my first full year of kayaking and to share with everyone my experiences in the sport that I love so much. I'm hoping to make it into the Over 50 Club this year ( that's boating at least once a week), and hopefully provide lots of good footy and pics along the way.

Stay Tuned. This should get interesting!!!

Later

Brentley