River: Big Laurel

14 paddlers on a great stretch of river.  A gem to have during the summer.  Level was ~1 inch, French Broad was about 1600 cfs.  Everyone took turns leading and setting safety and relaying lines.  There were many first timers …

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Big Laurel Creek 5/14/16

It's unusual to get the highlight of the trip before you finish setting shuttle, but this day was different. On the way back from dropping off the cars in Hot Springs there was a mama bear in a peach tree with a cub on the ground. She was pigging out after winter and apparently oblivious to how unripe the peaches were.

   The trip was advertised as "Paddler's Choice' and the votes were for Big Laurel Creek. It's normally a treat to catch Big Laurel up in the summer, however it has been above minimum from late June until the present. The level was about 5 inches on the painted gauge, a great level.  It was still a treat.  .A picture is worth a thousand words so Les Case's video must be worth a couple million. http://youtu.be/Di8c4-xdK4Y 

   What's going on in the video – after initially checking the gauge