On a recent trip to Tennessee and North Carolina with a Team River Runner crew we did some whitewater kayaking on two rivers: the Nolichucky and the French Broad. River levels were low but immense fun. Cohen (from the Minneapolis TRR chapter) and I traveled to Johnson City, TN where we met up with local boater and TRR regional coordinator Bill Finger.
From American Whitewater: “The Nolichucky is in an incredibly beautiful, deep, mountain gorge that offers lots of great play, especially within the first few miles. The Noli’s punch is at the beginning, then it mellows out to a mostly class III run allowing ample opportunity to enjoy the scenery. The gorge is remote with the only opportunity to walk out by a railroad track that parallels the river.”
Description of section 9 of the French Broad River from boaterbeta.com: “This is a great run for intermediate paddlers. Its greatest challenge for those beginning to build their skills is its width. It is only slightly harder than the Nantahala if one sneaks the two most difficult drops, Kayaker’s Ledge (III at all but high levels) and Frank Bell’s (IV- at all but high levels). Both are easily sneaked: they occur in the channels on the river right sides of large islands. Run the left sides of the islands and you’ll miss them entirely.”
Huge props to Bill and his wife Kerry for their friendship and hospitality.
