How a trip on the Cape Fear can be in Durham
| River: | Eno |
| Skill: | Novice |
| Trip Date: | 05/19/2013 |
Having published weeks in advance a trip on the Cape Fear, as the date arrived I was about ready to cancel. On the 15th it was running around 4.5', but by the 18th it was running at just barely over 2' which, while higher than the 1.6" I'll never run again, isn't off by much. I'd received a few inquiries, but said that if it was below 2' I'd cancel. But still, I felt committed.
But on Sat. night, it rained. It poured. And the Eno came up. I quickly emailed / called folks (not telling people the exact start time/place makes it much easier to be sure you're not leaving anyone at the altar). Instead of Eliot going down to carpool with David, we had David head up to meet with Eliot. That and a number of other gyrations led to several of us at West Point, but David and Eliot were behind schedule. So we juggled shuttle around a bit to accomodate that, and met them at the put-in at Pleasant Green.
By the time we got to the put-in, we had David, Lynn, Eliot, Rob, Galen, and myself. We managed to catch the Eno at around 3.5' (I'd say 3.5' to 4.5' are about the right level for beginner/novice paddlers with a bit in there to make it interesting).
We had no rolls/swims, the weather was great, the company was fantastic, and it was a good day on the water. A few of of went out to eat afterwords, capping off a great day.