Participants: Elyse Lee, Pablo Destefanis, Joe Mount, Martha Mount, Eric Mount, Rich Ruhlen, Sara Ruhlen, Chuck ?, Liz Phelps.

My goals for the trip were minimal planning and maximum chillaxation time on the river and Turkey Creek campground. I'd only ever been down the Tuck gorge once and Nantahala at least a dozen times, but never seem to be able to remember any of the rapids, so luckily we had several seasoned boaters to lead the way.

 

On the second weekend in June, 19 youth and teen paddlers descended on Bryson City for a paddling clinic held by the Foothills Paddling Club and Carolina Canoe Club.  The students ranged in age from 7 to 18, with almost every age in-between.  Skill levels ranged from, “what’s an eddy?” to “why aren’t we on the Ocoee?”  The students were divided into three groups – beginner, novice, and intermediate, with 2 instructors for each group. 

The trip was posted with a minimum preferred water level of 1' or above. The gauges held all week before the trip at around 2.5', so I figured we would have at least 2' by the weekend. We met at the visitor's center on Saturday morning and the folks there were reporting a level of -1.35'! To say the least. we were surprised, but a quick smartphone check indicated that the gorge was steady at 0.87' – a good, fun level with only minimum intimidation potential.