On Sunday Mike M, Sammy A and Kenneth M hiked into the Gorge to El Horendo instead of paddling. They had to hike over a railroad trestle and through a tunnel to get to it. Fortunatly, no trains came along. When they got there they had to wait a little while for the water to get there (as the river is dam controlled). They got some pictures of people coming through which I am putting here along with some pictures of the hike.

This part of Russel Fork is located in Virginia near the Kentucy border. It is a beautiful area with large cliffs along the river. The intensity of this section of river is class III or IV depending on who you ask. We put in below Flannagan Dam and took out at Garden Hole (before the Gorge). While we were there we stayed at the Breaks Interstate Park. We also paddled Sunday from Bartlick Dam to Garden Hole but my photographer didn't go.

The Nantahala River is a dam controled river near Cherokee, NC that can probably be considered Class III. Most of the rapids are pretty straight-forward and non-technical except for the Falls (we had a few swims there). It seems the Falls may have changed slightly...the top hole - which used to be very sticky - seems a little more blown out now. I easily punched through it twice (I got to run some other boats through). The traditional route of coming in left of the top hole and shooting across to the right to avoid the bottom hole also seems harder now...its hard to get across without being pushed into the bottom hole.

One of my favorite trips so far. We ran the Bullpasture River in Williamsville, Virginia. The section went into both Highland and Bath counties. It was running 1.5 feet and at this level I'd consider it a Class III+. It is very fast like the Nantahala but with bigger drops and it's a little more technical. At the level we ran it at there is a strong hydraulic below a ledge toward the end of the trip (pictured right). Most of us managed to avoid it by catching an eddy to river-left just above the rapid and then coming across and hitting the pillow below the big rock in the middle.

This time we got to do the Lower Maury in Rockbridge County, Virginia. This trips was from "The Olde Country Store" in the Rockbridge Baths area to Copper Road. We did it at what is supposed to be close to minimum level. It is a good Class II+ at this level. A lot of wave trains and some good surfing holes. There were some flat spots in between the rapids though, and they got longer toward the end.

This trip was on Big Reid Island January 15, 2005. This stream requires rain to run it so it isn't draggy. Lots of fast drops and excellent scenery. At many places the stream became very narrow. There are few good action pictures because the photographer was busy. Special thanks to Mack Whitaker for leading us down.