the best place to enjoy the fall foliage is from the lip of a big waterfall

After the skunking of a lifetime on the Green, Jonathon and I drove over to DuPont State Park in Brevard to run Triple Falls. There were quite a few leave-gawkers watching us, but I think we put on a good show. The leaves looked really good and jah was praised.

where's waldo?

jonathon, givin'er

Happy Fall.

Rain? What? - Cullasaja/NFFB/Horsepasture Redemption

After one of the largest rain events I've ever witnessed in the southeast, Matt and I hit the road to run some fun drops in Western North Carolina. We got to run the Upper Cullasaja and the North Fork of the French Broad last Friday, and then we had a spectacular day on the Horsepasture on Sunday.

The Upper Cullasaja was cool, but I don't think I'll ever run it again. The first drop (Triple Drop) was awesome, but could very easily work as a park-n-huck. The rest of the run is kinda junky, and punctuated by one giant portage about 1/4 mile through, and then the run ends with some flat water.

The NFFB was fun. I haven't run it since last spring, so it was nice to get back out there. I ran the left line at Boxcar Falls (Blind Date) and it went a lot better than I was expecting. I think they call it Blind Date because you just sorta melt into it and you don't really know what to expect.

Finally on Sunday we went back to the Horsepasture River for a redemption run. Last spring, Matt, Jonathon, and I went there and didn't have the smoothest of days. This time the three of us went back and it was much better. Matt did however end up pinning in a sieve in the first rapid and destroying his boat, but Jonathon and I had a smooth day after Matt hiked out.

There's something about the Horsepasture: Every time I go there, it's incredibly painful between all the hiking, portaging, and scouting, and I always beat the hell out of my body, but whenever I leave all I want to do is go back. The next time I go back in there, I'll take more photo/video, but until then check out this video that Matt made from last weekend:

Horsepasture/Culli/NFFB from Matt Porter on Vimeo.

East Bound To Cola Town and my first experience with Gorilla

After an excruciating 30 hour drive from Buena Vista to Asheville, I met with my good friends Matt and Jonathon for a little AVL husk sesh. We left Jon's house near UNCA around 1am and hucked the middle drop at Triple Falls in DuPont State Park. Running waterfalls in the middle of the night is quite a bit of fun, even if it's not really flowing. The next morning we woke up and did a hike up double on the Green and then I pointed east towards Charlotte. I was very tired when I got home.

Over the next few days, I relaxed at my parents house in Charlotte, and then eventually moved into my new house in Columbia SC for my senior year at USC.

We had a few days before classes started, so me and Matt started bringing my new roommate Bo to the Green for his first runs. Bo did really well out there and was very smart about what to run and what not to run. I'm really happy he's out there with us now.

Above, Bo giviner with the straps and below, givener on Frankenstein

On a related note, I ran Gorilla on the Green for my first time. This is a drop that I've fantasized about ever since I started kayaking, so it was a big day for me.

Gorilla is a three part rapid. The first part is an eight foot drop called Pencil Sharpener. After that, you eddy out and run what's called "The Notch," a four foot drop where the entire river constricts through a slot that's about 3 feet wide. This is where the scare factor comes in - after The Notch, there's about 3 seconds before you go over what they call "The Flume" which is what is generally seen when looking at a photo or video of Gorilla.

the author in utter awe

I ended up flipping in The Notch and I had a pretty terrifying several seconds. When I flipped I knew I had one shot to hit my roll. Luckily I was able to focus and get it upright just as I went over the launch pad. I was pretty far offline to the right, but I was able to keep it upright and safe through the flume. Not a day goes by that I don't think about running that drop. Now I'm super stoked for the Green Race and the rest of the dam release boating season.

rollin into scream machine


(all photos by matt porter)