Water Words: “A History of Whitewater Paddling In Western North Carolina”

A History of Whitewater Paddling In Western North Carolina

Water Wise

By Will Leverette

The History Press

117 Pages

–Report by Stan Cole

Oh man, this ought to be good. If my mother finds out I am writing a book report of my own free will, she will likely faint. The fact that the son who despised reading growing up, actually read a book, and willingly wrote a book report about it will be enough to amaze her. Now, if any of my English teachers read this, they will feel confirmed that the less than A grades that they gave me were well warranted. That said, the reality is, this guy learned to love reading about things he loved. One of those is whitewater paddling, and the history that surrounds rivers. I was asked if I was interested in writing a book review for the club. I said sure, and when I was presented with a number of books to read, I volunteered for this one. Interestingly enough I had read it before, but I didn’t realize it had been 7 years ago. So I joyfully read it again.

The title of this book sums it up well. While I do not know the author Will Leverette personally, I sure feel like I do after reading this book. Will was lucky enough to be a part of the history he was writing about. Some of it he witnessed first hand, some of it he heard from reliable sources first hand, and other parts he honestly relays that it is as true to the stories as he knows, and if any of the history is factually inaccurate, it is completely by accident. I find that approach to be very straightforward and honest. It also gave me permission to breathe and relax by the same campfires that many of these stories or histories were first told and shared.

In writing this, Will is very open and vulnerable about his health struggles and effectively communicates what paddling has done for him in his life. Saving it. Many paddlers can relate in some way, to some degree to this. Many who are not paddlers may view paddling only as a hobby or obsession. But if you know, you know. Will connects well to this in this book. For many, paddling is not just a hobby, it is a way of life or at least a huge part of their life. It is a way of connecting us to mother nature, God’s Creation, or however the paddler, or reader in this case, experiences nature and the power of the river. While no two peoples’ stories are the same, I connect in many ways with the information and history that Will describes in the book.

I will not attempt to summarize the whole book here. I couldn’t possibly do justice to the history itself or the fact that it is done so much more eloquently by Will. I will just mention some interesting tidbits that I came across when reading the book. The fun thing is, the reader of this article may connect to totally different pieces of the history that are shared. As paddlers we all are standing on the shoulders of those who have pioneered before us, and taught us what we know. At this point in my life, I have been the recipient of this knowledge, but do hope to one day give at least as much back to it as I have received. For the duration of reading this book, I had the pleasure of remembering things I had heard in the past, I got to connect names and stories to rapids, and fill in complete gaps in my knowledge around topics like the evolution of boat materials and designs.

Will introduces the book and then breaks this little over 100 page book into 5 primary chapters; How So It Was, Wooden Canoes, Aluminum and Fiberglass Boats, Plastic Canoes and Kayaks, and then a look into the future with Looking Downstream. Don’t mistake these chapter titles for a book only about the history of paddling equipment though. It is much richer than this. Will leverages the boat types to help frame the time periods that this history occurred in and how his family, both blood family and paddling family intertwines with it. It proves very effective, particularly for folks like me for example, who grew up paddling an aluminum grumman, which sits by the family pond to this day, as well as paddling tandem in a Blue Hole canoe with my dad, and learning to roll in a Perception Corsica. Not only this, but names of rivers and rapids that I had either experienced or heard about in my childhood, came beaming back to life as I read the book. The Nantahala River, with DeLabar’s Rock, the French Broad and Frank Bell’s rapid(named after Will’s grandfather), and even the name Bob Benner whose name was revered in my household. The Carolina Whitewater book which was written by Bob and others was more valuable than gold when sitting by a campfire the night before a run, researching a river, its rapids, and access points. Heck, my dad had taught for one year with Bob at Western Piedmont Community College. And while this was certainly an honor for my dad, and a fact I am proud of, it is just one example of the many impacts that the folks that Will writes about had on the paddling community then, now, and into the future. While this story I just told is mine and likely insignificant to others, it is a part of my history and I can now connect in a deeper way to it. I imagine many other readers have and will continue to connect in similar ways.

I will leave you with a few of my favorite quotes from the book.

• One of my favorite quotes in Will’s book is attributed to Bill Doswell. He says, “You can never conquer a river. If you try it will always kick your butt. What you want to do is find that place where you learn to go with the flow. Use the current to accomplish your goals, cooperate with the river, love its beauty and be thankful at the end of the day that the river let you descend it.”
• Another of my favorites was from Will himself, in the context of safety and his time as a river guide. It was said in the context of humility and with the understanding of the nature of whitewater paddling. “By looking ahead at most situations, most incidents can be prevented by simply saying, “What is going to happen if that kid does something out of inexperience and takes the next move in the development of a train of steps that leads to a problem?” Not on my watch has always been my philosophy.” I think the humility to realize things can go wrong, along with the wisdom and ever vigilante attitude that Will purveys here, is a goal for all paddlers to strive for. It certainly echoes in my mind as I bring along my young paddler son.

There are many more treasures to be found and experienced in this book. It is a short and easy read that you can pick up and put down at any time. In my case,I had the joy of reading it again to relive the stories, just as you might hear the same story at a campfire and engage with it as earnestly as the first time you heard it. Go find this book and enjoy it!!