River: Other

I arrived at WOR on Thursday night riding with Russ, hoping to paddle something for the last two days.

It seems that at every CCC event there is always some incident, good or bad, which provokes campfire conversation and laughter. The CCC 2004 Easter Weekend was no exception. As paddlers, there is a new quote that we should all exercise before putting on the river: “Ask questions, assume nothing”. I’m told credit for this goes to Ron Tolley, after a 6 hour trip on the French Broad from Barnard to Stackhouse. It’s a quote, after learning, which I failed to exercise myself before getting on the Nolichucky with 20 paddlers. Never again, it is now my golden rule.

Who: Robert Martin (TL), Jack Shuler, Diane Owens, Ted Jean and Gary Lambert from Florida, Canadian Jack, New York Jim, Buffalo Don, Up State Chris/Rich; Jay Trayler, Pat Glazier, Robert Weddle, and last, but not least, Nate Gulbreth and Todd Corey, with whom I've not gotten to paddle for 2 Obed seasons in a row.

When: March 21-25, 2004

Where: Well, that's a good question …

Instructors: Sharon Myers, a mountain of paddling sized up as a women’s medium;Spencer Muse, a beautiful paddler, a gentle soul, and a triumph of dedication and perseverance over aptitude.

Students: Russ Scheve, Kurt McKissick, Michele Pagnotta, and me, Sandi Metz.

PRELUDE

I awoke to the Weather Channel showing a large green blob over the entire eastern Tennessee area. This alone was enough to get my adrenaline up, but I also saw that the Little River in the Smokies was at 350 cfs and rising fast!

I immediately started calling people who knew that when the creeks rise you go paddling, not to work. By 8:00 AM. I had a group: Dave Fox In his Micro 230, Chip Turpin in his still somewhat new Esquif Zoom and me in my Esquif Nitro.