Nantahala River – 8/27/05

We camped at Gee Creek on Friday night and headed for the Nanny bright and early Saturday morning. Jody, Amy and Steve drove there in Steve’s SUV. To carry his boat in the truck instead of on the roof, he had removed a couple seats, so the driver and two passengers had to ride in a row instead of like normal people. Jody drove, Steve took the passenger seat and Amy napped in the back hatch. We met Rich and Sarah as well as Daniel Boone’s son Matt at the put-in. Mac had said she may or may not join us and not to wait on her, so we didn’t. Matt had already run shuttle, so we hit the river. The Nanny was definitely a step up for me in the canoe, so I was a bit nervous.

Patton’s Run and I continue to have an interesting history together. I have never had an issue there in my kayak. Actually, in my kayak, it’s one of my all-time favorite rapids. In a canoe is another story. Many moons ago, Hugh Bullock and I had plans to go mountain biking at Tsali during my first GAF. The night before, he called me up and asked me if I’d like to try tandem canoe instead. I asked him if he could tell me what to do and he said no problem. A hundred yards from the put-in, we broached on a small rock just above Patton’s and it was no small feat to remove the boat from that rock. We continued down to Ferabee, patted ourselves on the backs and called it a day. Lucas and I never really had any problems with Pattons in the tandem canoe. Maybe some bobbling and awkwardness, but nothing more severe than that. Running it in my solo canoe had my nerves up for sure.

Lucas explained the “canoe” line to me. He said to start farther right than normal because one of the top waves would kick me to the left, too far into the big curling wave in the center. Unfortunately, I did exactly what he told me not to do and the big curling wave corkscrewed me before I knew what hit me. I did well staying with my boat through most of the waves. I bounced across a few rocks as Rich and Sarah helped we find my way into an eddy. Steve retrieved my boat in what must have been a satisfying change of pace for him. Less than a year before, I had discouraged him from getting on the Nanny before the summer and here he was hauling my butt out of the drink. I felt pretty proud of him, too.

Swimming Patton’s Run didn’t do a whole lot for my confidence being on the river. I felt like I was in over my head for quite a while longer. The water was moving faster. Ferries were harder. I felt gunshy with the eddies. It wasn’t until I forced myself to start catching eddies that I relaxed enough to enjoy myself. I didn’t have any difficulties with the stuff between Patton’s Run and Ferabee Park, but I needed more than just a successful run at Pyramid Rock to feel like I wasn’t in over my head. With no offense intended toward Rich or Lucas, I found myself missing Mama Di and Woody. I had a loose sense of where everybody else was on the river, but the day was very much a “me” day.

We picked up Rich’s friend Vicki at Ferabee Park. She paddles a Probe 12, too, but not a Probe 12 II like mine. Delabar’s Rock was the next rapid on the run. I hit the left line without any difficulty, caught the big left eddy and then said hello to Vicki. After running the left sneak at Quarry Rapid – a small tongue between two wave holes – I started to get comfortable in my boat. I caught eddies, big friendly eddies of course, and worked on my ferries some. The secret to the river was eddy hopping, just like any other river. Break it down, run each piece before worrying about the next piece. I felt much more relaxed, but I also wore myself out pretty easily.

I was nervous about Root Canal and Whirlpool Rapids because they were back-to-back and because Lucas and I have flipped coming into the bottom eddy avoiding the whirlpool. I had no difficulty with Root Canal. Maintaining a right angle at the entrance helped me work across the pushy water and stay away from the left bank. I was set up perfectly for Whirlpool but I was too busy staring at the whirlpool to avoid it. My Probe just slid across it without any problems, nothing like being in a kayak. I caught the eddy above Steve and caught my breath, too.

By the time we reached Surf City, a break was most welcome. My knees were especially cantankerous. Aside from standing up on the beach at Patton’s, I hadn’t come out of my foot pegs or thigh strap since the put-in. They had good reason to be cranky. Mac caught up with us during our break. She had put in at Ferabee and paddled hard to catch up with us. Rich and Vicki surfed for a little while, but Sarah evicted Vicki before we continued down the river.

My memory of the remaining rapids before my favorite concrete slab takeout is pretty hazy. They sort of run together. I was definitely getting tired. I still caught eddies and ferried occasionally. The water didn’t really feel as pushy. I had already made up my mind that I wasn’t going to run the Bump or the Falls. The right sneak at the Bump was easy to hit and for the first time, I got a good look at the hole. Not something I wanted to run straight on in my canoe. Probably not in the kayak, either.

The concrete slab was a welcome sight. I set up below the Falls to take pictures and, if necessary, do a little fishing. Lucas ran it twice, first with Jody in the Caption and then in my Probe. Rich ran it without Sarah. She hung out with me, ready for some fishing if need be. Amy and Steve had great lines in their kayaks. Mac followed Lucas on his second run and hit it clean, too. A first for her and her Viper.

We paddled down to the big pool above Worser Wesser to take out. There were some pretty gnarly waves and holes there. I just barely missed more than one of them. Something got Mac, and she nearly had to hike to the base of the big falls to get her boat. I was more worried about her running it than her boat running it. Thankfully, she got to the bank ok and thankfully one of the safety boaters from the racing club helped her retrieve her boat before the big falls. I dragged my boat on the beach beside the two spectators who were helpful enough to point at Mac swimming but not helpful enough to stand up, step forward and help me out of my boat to go help her. I scrambled down to help her with her boat, which consisted of me carrying her paddle while she carried the canoe overhead. I swam at the beginning (albeit before she was on our trip) and she swam at the very end, sort of like bookends.

I’d do the Nanny again in my solo canoe. Even Patton’s Run. I’d do it tomorrow, too, except in this case, tomorrow was going to be our last Southeast river trip for a while, and for that I wanted to paddle tandem with Lucas.