Wilson Creek – 12.19.2009
December 19, 2009 | Category: Kayaking, Photography, Trip Reports | 2 Comments
Here at Channel 9 they were forecasting blizzard conditions. I had the day off and I wasn’t about to sit around. With Tommy back from school and John up in Hickory, we figured Wilson Creek was a perfect run for a snowy day. In my neighborhood it just rained and sleeted- no snow. Tommy got to my place and we headed up 321 toward John’s. There was a car wreck every few miles and while the roads were icy, I drove all the way up in 2WD taking my time. It took us a little over an hour to get to John’s.
The boats through my icy sunroof.
Typical 321 scene.
Hickory was a nightmare. No plowed roads, people walking, cars stuck off the road. Tommy and I meandered our way through the carnage, arriving at John’s to you guessed it- home made biscuits.
We ate, packed up and headed up toward Wilson. Carnage from other vehicles were all over the place. We saw everything from stuck 18 wheelers to Mustangs that won’t be moving until the snow melts.
The chaos of the snow. One of the back roads on the way to the putin.
The most alarming thing was the downed trees. They were everywhere once we got off the “main” roads. Many of them had been sort of cut with a chainsaw, but we touched up a lot of them with our own saws.
A tree down across the road.
What can I say? It's a Jeep. This was the scene from Hickory to the putin. Trees everywhere.
We arrived at the put in, happy and very excited to get on the water. Jenna would be our shuttle and photographer for the day.
Very happy to be here!
John and I ready to get in the water.
Beautiful scenery.
Some roadside carnage.
John grabbing some style points.
We all had great lines all day, and made it to the takeout, nice and warm. We made a unanimous decision to take a different route home- toward Morganton. The roads were much better and actually taken care of.
2 Comments | PermalinkWilson Creek – 12.16.2009
December 16, 2009 | Category: Kayaking, Photography | 2 Comments
I headed up after work to meet up with John for some boating at Wilson. After some signature biscuts, a cut lock and front door we forgot to close, we headed out to hit the river. We decided we’d take our time, do one long run and try and take some pictures at some of the drops. We got some good ones.
John at the rail slide.
Having fun!
Getting air at Maytag.
John at the rail slide having a good time!
After a great day on the river, we cooked some soup and “cous cous” at the takeout and grabbed some Wendy’s on the way home. A beautiful day on the river!
2 Comments | PermalinkNorth Harper Creek Hike – 12.12.2009
December 12, 2009 | Category: Articles, General, Photography | 1 Comment
Sean, Steve and I decided that a good old fashion hike was in order. I thought it would be a cool idea to show them Wilson Creek and hike into North Harper Creek to check out the falls.
We left their place around 10am and headed up toward Lenoir. We realized that it was going to be a perfect day for a hike, despite Steve’s sneaking suspiscion that we were in for bad weather.
Driving toward Wilson Creek.
Steve fiddled with his iPhone on the trip up, giving us up-to-date minute by minute updates on humidity, cloud cover, temperature, heat index, chances of perciptation and an assortment of other weather related things.
We arrived at Wilson Creek. I pointed out a few of my favorite rapids, we watched some people run them and then we headed toward the trail head.
On the way to the trailhead we came across some dog sledders. This was one of the highlights of my trip.
Dog Sledders!!
We pulled into the parking lot for the trailhead and departed on our trip for Harper Falls. I’m not going to lie. The thought that my source telling me about these falls was pranking me DID come into mind.
Cool ice that sticks out of the ground.
Steve already falling behind.
Sean walking on the trail.
A cool rock wall we climbed up.
After we got a little more than half way we found a cool island in the middle of Harper Creek. We found a fire pit and decided to make some cous cous there. Steve wandered off while Sean and I began cooking on my new home made stove.
Sean and I cooking cous cous on my stove. Steve had wandered off.
The water boiled in about five minutes!! (Two cups of water)
The finished Cous Cous.
Stomachs full, we headed off to the falls. The trail got a little steeper and slicker, but nothing unmanageable. Finally, we arrived at the falls. I wanted to see them up close so we climbed down through thick forrest to reach the side of the river.
First site of the waterfall!
The first drop.
The second drop. (40ish ft) and the third slide in the distance.
Ice
Wider view of the drop. (Third drop not pictured)
The verdict: this drop is clean, runnable and next time we get a decent amount of rain, you can bet John and I will be there running it. We had an awesome hike and we are planning our next hike. My thoughts: hike into the Green Narrows to show Sean and Steve Gorilla.
1 Comment | PermalinkGragg Prong – 12.09.2009
December 9, 2009 | Category: Kayaking, Photography, Trip Reports | 1 Comment
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
Wilson / Watauga Adventure
December 5, 2009 | Category: Kayaking, Trip Reports | Leave a Comment
My weekend started on Thursday with a run down Wilson Creek with Angela. We left at around 10, and did two runs. For our second run we ran into Doug and Isaiah. Both runs were a blast. The level was around +3 inches.
On Friday I went to the Watauga with Jim M, Russ L, Dave L and Kira T. The level was about 400CFS and this run is hands down one of my favorite creeks to date. This is a playground for paddlers. There are at least two big boofs at every rapid! The rapids are big without being paralyzingly scary. There is a lot of boogie water interspersed with some sweet class 4/5 rapids.
Cabin, the first rapid that has a name, is a nice little boogie water drop and is followed quickly by Bump and Grind followed by Shit Kicker. Those rapids really fly by and the first time we got out of our boat to take a look was at Hydro. Jim went first to show us how it’s done and nailed the line. Basically, you drive up on a big flat rock in the middle to catch an eddy behind it. You do this to avoid a pretty nasty eddy line that feeds into a sieve. Once in the eddy you head to the right and scoot down the corner of a pretty nasty hole. It’s a fun move! After two more rapids minor rapids, you’ve got Edge of the World.
This rapid is sweet. It felt like it goes on forever, plus it’s called Edge of the world. It’s a series of slots, ferries and some sweet boofs. Russ went for the around the world move… I’ll do that… next time. At 400CFS the hole is pretty bad and unforgiving.
Blow Job is next and it’s a tight little slot on the left. It’s a cool move. The hole at the bottom was very big but easily avoidable. Heavy Water, Knuckles and some boogie water were all a blast, and we all aced them. Next up, Stateline.
Stateline is kind of a blur. I caught the eddy on the top river right side and I was the last one to go over. I’m not really sure what happened but there was some confusion on where to go. I hit the slot with my bow pointing to the right, and took a big left boof stroke. I landed, and it felt good, but faster than I can react, I was suddenly upside down. I rolled up and caught the eddy. We found a lost paddle and Jim paddled out with it. According to Kira, I over boofed, landed sideways in the curl and that’s where I flipped.
Jim and Russ insisted I run Boof Falls backwards, which I did with a little hesitation, but it was totally a fun ride. Rewind I also ran the boof line, backwards, just because of a slight miss-communication with Jim. The takeout came too soon.
Next time, I’m going to try to get some good photos!
But for now:
Here's a photo of Vaugh nailing Stateline. Not sure who took it.
Tags: Stateline Falls, Watauga, Wilson Creek
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