Gragg Prong – 12.09.2009
December 9, 2009 | Category: Kayaking, Photography, Trip Reports
Two-thirds of the US were getting some kind of precipitation. What else was I going to do? Work?
I woke up for work in the morning to look outside and see pouring rain. My boat and gear were already in the car so I headed off to work. The forecast looked promising- rain until 11 or 12 and then beautiful blue skies and high temps. I left work and headed right towards Hickory to meet up with John W. On my way Sam F called me to meet up. “Head toward Wilson- I’m not sure what we’re paddling but it’ll be good.” With the Watauga at 2,000 CFS and rising 250 CFS/hr we knew it’d be a good day.
I arrived at John’s place with the scent of beautifully baked home-made biscuits in his house. We eat, check some gauges, get some lunch ready to go and set off toward Wilson- still with no clue of what we were paddling.
We headed toward Wilson, stopping by the gauge quickly to check the level- 1.5 feet. John was pulling for North Harper Creek, because of a drop that he had hiked into and seen. I was pulling for Gragg Prong, simply because I had run that before and knew it’d be awesome. We catch up with Sam at 11:30 and throw the boats on my car.
We left it up to Sam to decide where to go – Gragg or Harper. Both John and I stated our cases and Sam chose Gragg. Sweet. We set shuttle and after a minor mishap (John’s boat somehow fell of the car and almost down a cliff into a creek.) It still baffles me how the boat made it ALL the way up to Wilson without so much as moving. No damage to the boat or the car and then we were off on our way to the put in.
We arrived at the putin, dressed, put my camera in the drybag and head down. The whole start of the run is seemingly always scratchy and no different on this one. It did quickly become clear though that there was a little more water than the last time I ran it.
The first drop of note is absolutely beautiful. I do not know the name of any of the rapids except Drag Strip, but the pictures will have to do. The river constricts into just a few feet wide. You have a boof where you stop dead, turn right 90 degrees move all the way to the other side of the current and go off a 20ish foot slide.
John on the first part of the first drop.
Sam on the second part of the first drop.
Me on the first part of the first drop.
John going deep!
After this drop, the river picks up speed, gradient and flow. The next drop is very sketchy and I will be walking it next time. The river constricts into practically less than a boat width wide and slams against a rock. We all ran this, and we all got bumped against the rock. It’s not a difficult move and it’s not overly painful, but, it’s not very much fun.
The next drop is a really cool steep slide. It starts off with a 5 foot boof at the top. You have a small pool of slow moving water and you drive HARD right to avoid a piton/pin rock at the bottom.
Boof into a slide!
John boofing into a slide.
After some more boogie water and sweet slides we were at Drag Strip. Both John and Sam were impressed and surprised with how steep this drop actually is. Sam went first while I took some photos. He took a line more left of where I run it, but he absolutely cleaned it. I went next while John took pics and then John went. We all had great clean lines and hung out at the bottom for bit admiring the size of the drop.
Sam getting ready to fire it up.
Sam running the top of Drag Strip
Me at the first part of Drag Strip.
Me dropping in.
John taking one last look.
If you look closely you can see John. Good scale shot.
John dropping in with style.
John dropping in with style.
John making the moves.
John, kayaks are not supposed to fly.
Welcome to Drag Strip.
After some scrappy boogie water, we were at the takeout. It was getting late so we passed on a run of Wilson, which had dropped considerably from the 1.5 feet that it was at in the morning. John made us soup in his tough to light Jet Boil and we headed home.
Lighting the Jet Boil.
Tags: Drag Strip, Gragg Prong
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Mark
on February 22nd, 2010Now THAT’S a cool boat!