First day of kayaking at NOC

After all of yesterday's high adventure, it's no wonder I slept through my alarm this morning.  Twenty minutes later than usual, I headed out for my morning hike before everyone got up.  Today I decided to walk upstream along the Nantahala River.  There was a nice gravel and concrete path along U.S. 19 for a while but it quickly gave way to guard rail.  I found a little picnic table and stopped to enjoy the river in the morning mist. 

The water in this river is a cold 50 degrees Fahrenheit.  It is released from the bottom of Nantahala Lake and flows into Fontana Lake down the beautiful 8 miles of natural gorge I am sitting in.  Duke Energy releases athe water and they publish the release hours on their web site. 

The blue dot in this map is my current location and the purple pin is the fire tower we hiked to last night. 

The water level was lower this morning and it made me laugh, thinking about Sydney's comment last night; "Don't they turn the this river off at night, or is that just the Ocoee?"   She was absolutely right. The Nantahala flow is reduced at night.  I have read that this has more to do with accommodating recreation than hydroelectric needs.  

I happened upon a young trout fisherman as I walked upriver. He was standing on the edge of the river at what our raft guides called "concrete beach", enjoying his coffee, studying the water with his eyes and ears. He has caught some nice brown trout in here he said and pointed out a few areas where the trout were coming to the surface to feed.  I could not see it, as he had the practiced eye for his quarry that I did not. I loved seeing a 20-something year old out enjoying the outdoors like this.  On the way back, I stopped to watch him fish. His feet have got to be cold!

The water will come up a few feet before the rafters get on the river, but Nantahala Falls still looks tough even in light water.  I can't believe we went down this water fall  yesterday in duckies.  What a blast!  Top picture is the low flow at night.  Bottom picture is the high flow during the day.  

After breakfast, we all went across the street and up past the General Store (don't ask for anything specific there!), to NOC's paddling school, their "premier product".  We were outfitted with whitewater kayaks, neoprene "skirts", lifejackets, helmets, paddles and boats. Our instructors drove us in the van with a trailer to the "Finger Lakes Section" of Fontana Lake as the sky grew darker mid morning. 

After getting our gear down to the water's edge, the storm began and we all piled back in the van to eat an early lunch and wait it out.  We sang songs, laughed, ate and got to listen to (and snag) some marble sized hail!  This one melted a little before I could get the camera out for a shot.  It was all very loud!

Once the storm was over we got back out on the lake to play around in the kayaks.  They are very maneuverable so we had to practice paddling in straight lines!  At least the lake water is warmer than the Nantahala River was yesterday.  

After about 20 minutes, another storm came up and we had to call it a day.  NOC's staff is so accommodating.  They offered to take us out tomorrow to finish up our skills in the lake with the "wet exit" practice and then we go off to kayak the Tuckasegee River.  Our instructors, Rachel and Annabell, are superb.  I love their thoughts on women just being themselves!  What great wisdom from some outdoor-minded 20-somethings!

The girls were happy to return to camp, shower, get out of wet gear and take a nap!  Sue and I took our hammocks to the river for front rows "seats" at the "Camp Cup", an event that pits several youth camps in the area against each other in a fun way, that can be as competitive as the kids want it to be.  

We are watching young kids in kayaks, canoes, and play boats come down the river with numbers on.  Some are solo and others are tandem. I don't know how these events are scored but there are different color poles they have to go through (aka Chuck Norris hurdles).  It was a fun event to watch and I loved seeing all these kids out here just playing outside, enjoying themselves. 

Sue and I have decided we never want to leave!  Frankly, I don't think the girls want to leave either!

Check out this cool bracelet that Rachel was wearing!  She introduced me to Jae, the NOC staff member who made it. Jae gave me the name and number for Kevin at Birdsong Beads & Designs in Murphy. Maybe we will stop there on the way home!

The girls wanted to just relax all day and the weather turned bad again with a big storm just before dinner.   It cooled things off and gave us some more down time.  I think we all needed it.  

Sue and I sat by the river and made paracord bracelets this evening while the girls just "chilled", which was exactly what they wanted to do.  It wasn't as strenuous a day as yesterday, but it was what we all needed; another day spent outside.