Chill Day on the Noli
| River: | Nolichucky |
| Skill: | Intermediate+ |
| Trip Date: | 09/02/2018 |
John's flight in Charlotte was delayed, and he didn't get in until late Saturday. Late enough I managed to convince him to not leave at the crack of dawn. We left at 8:30 am for a couple of days on the Noli. We arrived at the Noli Campground to find a Labor Day Celebration with live music in full swing. We asked about a shuttle driver from someone at the entrance, and one was sitting right there – how convenient! We quickly set up camp and were on our way, putting on around 3 pm with plenty of time. It'd been a while since I'd run the Noli, and the weather was spectacular. I'd remembered 1,000 cfs as low-ish, but it didn't feel that way. Not much push, and low enough the lines weer a bit easier to spot.
It's always great to end the day by paddling up to your campground. We drove out for something to eat before settling in for the night.
Sunday morning John learned that the the Noli Campground is no longer (as of two weeks ago) assisting with shuttle drivers. They apparently don't want non-campers in the campground? USA Raft was a great help in finding a driver. USA Raft also offer camping, so I'm likely to camp there in the future.
We picked up our driver at Uncle Johnny's Hostel. While we'd thought the Noli had dropped down to 900 cfs, it stll felt like the day before, and the gauge later updated to reflect that.
After that a both long and short drive home (given that my usual weekend drive is the Ocoee, the Noli is much closer!).
You'll have to ask John about his Gingery Jaggery Balls – there's even a song.