Pigeon and FB9
| River: | Pigeon |
| Skill: | Intermediate |
| Trip Date: | 07/23/2022 |
Paddlers – Joe, Sam, Jay, and Lee
The base plan was to paddle the Pigeon Gorge on Saturday and French Broad section 9 (FB9) on Sunday. We were hoping for enough rain to bring the Nolichucky, Big Laurel, or the Hepco section of the Pigeon up. We got scattered rain, but not enough in the right locations so we stuck to the original plan.
The Pigeon has scheduled releases, pretty reliable flow rates and is a fun river to paddle. There is adequate parking at the takeout(s) but the put in can me a madhouse. We got to the put in early enough to avoid most of the craziness. Once you’re on the water the put in scene is forgotten. It was a sweet paddle.
There are some pretty good play spots on the “Pig”. Rumor has it that ends were thrown and waves were surfed. At the takeout everyone under the age of 65 opted for a 2nd run.
On Sunday morning we were at FB9 where the parking situation is reversed. Plenty of parking at the put in but not enough at the takeout. The early birds get the good parking spaces. We were early birds.
The flow was 1240 cfs, so some features were in play and some weren’t. Only a few rafts on FB9 but as many hard boats as the Pigeon. Once moving downstream, you see the others infrequently. No good spots for throwing ends but we found places to surf. Being a Sunday, it was mostly drive-home day with work stuff on Monday. No one even mentioned a 2nd lap.