The Nolichucky is located north of Asheville. It runs from North Carolina into Tennessee. The section we did was very beautiful where the river runs through the gorge. Many of us, including myself, were new to the river. We ran into rapids right at the start, and from there to a rapid called Roostertail they were pretty intense, with still pools here and there. After Roostertail it calmed down a little and the wind blew me around as we paddled through smaller rapids. There were a few more relatively intense rapids toward the end and some big hydraulics I didn't want to get in.

The Tellico is a small, beautiful, creeky river in Tennessee. We drove about a hundred miles from our campgroud to get to it, but it was worth it. Some of us put in at a rapid called Jerrod's Knee and the rest at Turkey Creek. I'm pretty sure I heard the level was 1.35 feet, but I'm not sure. The rapids were very technical, and almost all of the were blind (i.e. you couldn't see your lines until you were in the rapid). We got through, but with some swims. P.S. -- If you are running a slot make sure its big enough that you can get through it.

Yesterday we ran the section of the Dan above Jessup's Mill, called Joyce's Mill. This section has some nice rapids at the top including the Coiled Cobra with a relatively flat section below that. There is also a dam you have to port around right at the end of the run (in sight of the takeout). We met at the takeout at Jessup's Mill, and after waiting a while for two people who were supposed to come we drove to somewhere down Joyce's Mill Road and put in (private property).

Today's run was on a stretch of river with an awesome, five foot ledge and other nice rapids, or maybe I should say potential rapids. There was one problem - no water. The stretch of river that runs by the old town of Avalon, next to Mayodan, is dammed up in two places. The water is diverted into channels along the side of the river and into pipes that feed it into turbines which, in turn, genenerate electricity. What remains in the river alongside these channels is only enough for a large creek at the most.

For Troublesome Creek's New Years paddle (on New Years Eve) they ran the Sandy River near Danville, VA. However, don't be fooled by the name; it was very rocky with many ledges. The run was scenic but very low and draggy at the level they ran it. According to the gauge the Sandy was at about 1.5 feet during the run. They plan to run it again with more water.

This was a fairly nice run on the Mayo from a put-in on the north fork to Anglin's Mill. The level was 1.7 which was a little low but good enough. Some of us had a good time surfing in the Boiling Hole.