April 7, 2018 Saturday at the Watagua

 Take-out Dave offered to hold onto the camera. Thanks for the shots Dave!

March 30, 2018 Good Friday morning on the Watagua at a Perfect level!

I knocked on Take-Out Dave's door pretty early and got lucky that he was home and interested in paddling. We were the first ones on the river and took our time with one fun casual run. The Mullet served me well again! A great start to my long Birthday Weekend.

 Dennis and his crew

D down in the foam

March 24, 2018 Soul-O Day Trip to the Ocoee then March 25 two runs on Wilson Creek, Paddling Day by Day

At work today we had a very sobering incident that puts some things into perspective. It was an major life event that makes me feel good about pursuing my passions as strongly as I am physically able and to continue to do this as long as I can. 

My good friend and colleague had a major heart attack in the cube we share this morning at about 6:30 am. Complete with the chest pain and left arm numbness we have all heard of as the tell tale signs of a heart attack. I drove him to the hospital in Morganton and then they transferred him to a hospital in Hickory to give him the treatment he needed. He had a stint in before 9 am. It reminds me a lot of the day my father had an aneurysm and how close we came to losing him all those years ago. 

We need to make the most of every day and try to enjoy the time we have, life is too short.

On the 24th day of March, I left the house at about 6 am and got to the Ocoee around 10. I had set my shuttle and was on the river by 10:30. I dropped my kayak at the put-in, drove to Hell Hole, then hitch hiked back to the put-in, thanks to the paddler who gave me a ride back up to the top. It was early in the season, overcast and 100% chance of precipitation making it the perfect day for me to paddle the Ocoee: almost no raft traffic and not many kayaks out.

Post Ocoee run I hiked 2 miles up Goforth Creek then 2 miles back down. It is a beautiful creek and well maintained trail up to a point then I could not find where it went. It literally rained the majority of the time I was in the car but not at all while I paddled or hiked, just a little drizzle.

Wilson Creek, the following day I caught up with Steven and Russ for my first run and their 3rd and 2nd respectively. Robbie Whisnant caught up to me for my 2nd and his first run. Great times and great lines!

Artsy creek shot  

March 17, 2018 Starla and I went exploring and ended up at the Big East Fork of the Pigeon Creek via Trail number 357 in The Shining Rock Wilderness

Time to catch up on some blog posts and this one reminds me to make the best of whatever is thrown at us. The reason I mention this is that the catalyst to doing a hike along the Big East Fork of the Pigeon was brewed up during my bout with the flu several weeks ago. I spent a few days at home feeling half dead and to pass time I studied maps and guide books, dreaming about getting out and exploring some special places I had not visited up to that point. I've had the Shining Rock & Middle Prong Wilderness - PISGAH NATIONAL FOREST USDA map for years but never had an occasion to use it any more than to day dream potential adventures. The creek is featured on that map as well as in Whitewater of the Southern Appalachians, Volume 2: The Mountains. 

 To start our adventure we jumped on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Asheville.

 Views from the Parkway. I had planned to hit the trails just off the parkway and we did explore one short parkway trail but the parkway was closed past the intersection with 276 so logically we jumped on 276 going towards Canton.

 We stopped at the first trailhead off of 276 and started hiking the Big East Fork from there. It is an incredible hike and I cant wait to connect it to the Graveyard Fields area next time. It looks like an amazing place to do some backpacking.