Big Group on a Little River (South Fork Little – Guess Rd to Little River – US 501)

We started at the less paddled South Fork off Guess Rd. I had scouted this section previously at an un-runnable level and ran it again with water back in December of last year, so at least this part I had fresh in my memory. We had the benefit of William Holeman guiding us on safety and our plan of action and I would play guinea pig on taking the lead on the rapids to ensure there were no problems ahead of the group. We started with our first challenge (after a not so ideal parking and brushy put in location) where there was a large strainer with just enough room for passage just below the Guess Rd bridge. We all made it under safely and wondered if this would be a common occurrence throughout the rest of the run. Luckily, that was not the case, and we made our way downstream to the first rapids, class I-II around the left side of an island. We made it through no problem and continued on to the next rapids, which I have called double drop, but with some feedback from the group, this is possibly not the best name for this. Below, we set up a plan to tackle the most consequential drop of the South Fork. About a tenth of a mile above the S Lowell Rd bridge, there is what I’m boldly declaring the highest boof in the triangle where there used to be a 9 ft dam (Benner & McCloud – A Paddler’s Guide to Eastern North Carolina). The drop itself is probably somewhere in the range of 5-6 ft, but this was a point debated as well. William scouted the outflow from above and signaled me to run the drop and set up below to observe the group. The drop was nice and clean and was the same for everyone in the group without any issues. We all then took the next boogie rapids in the outflow and eventually made our way to the convergence with the North Fork into the Little River proper.

On the Little River, we made our way down passing through what seems like miles of flat water interspersed with the occasional class II set of rapids that are surprisingly good given how spaced out they are. Think Cape Fear sort of pacing for example, but perhaps Upper Flat River style rapids. Evan stopped to eat a sandwich at some point and then we continued on. About 3/4 of the way through this portion, we stopped to surf some waves and Anna pretty much dominated the wave play in the group, but several others caught some good ones too. Towards the end of this section, there were some neat rock cliffs that resemble what one might see on a mountain river, which was a nice change of scenery from the normal view of backyards and occasional rope swing upstream. When the bridge for Johnson Mill Rd came into view we regrouped into an eddy and went over the plan for the gorge. If you’ve never paddled this stretch, the Gorge marks a significant transition from Novice friendly rapids into the more Intermediate range with a sudden change in gradient that is surprising given the character of the river upstream. Think Wilson Creek where the Gorge takes over from the normal gradient river, although on a much smaller scale of course.

Evan had made his way down ahead of the group and whistled for our attention that there was a tree on the river left side just below the bridge, which I believe is the more popular route at least according to the few videos on this section. No worries, we made our way down river right and eddied left before the first significant drop, Swimming Hole rapid. We had a quick meeting about how to run the drop and everyone sent it without issue. William mentioned that it sort of reminded him of a longer Lunch Stop rapid (Lower Haw) for reference. We then discussed our plan for the next challenge and in my opinion the most difficult rapid of the section, Fossil Rapid. Fossil Rapid at this level has some tight lead in flow that starts from a curve from the left, back to the right and then into a narrow flume back to the left with a small hole and some diagonal waves in the outflow. Just before the drop though, one member or our group flipped and missed a couple rolls. It was a good effort and no shame, but he swam. We directed him back upstream around the cliff to meet us below and we tackled the drop one by one. Everyone did well and then Anna and I tried to dislodge the runaway boat from a rock in the middle of the river. This is where we learned a valuable lesson from William in river rescue and recovery. William pointed out that if we had dislodged the boat (which we were awfully close to achieving), it would mean chasing the boat downstream in a similar situation. He instead, eddied behind the rock, was able to safely get out to grab the boat and then use the paddler’s rope to attach a carabiner and throw it to shore to have pulled in. Free safety lesson for us all. We continued downstream through the easier boogie rapids and then around the island where the lake started to back up, blocking what was one final drop last time I ran this stretch.