"FUN LEVEL" - WORLD PREMIERE!!

Finally! The event you have all been waiting for! Next Thursday we will be premiering our movie "Fun Level - 4 Friends, 7 Southern Rivers, 10 Days" documenting our paddling adventures in the southeast as we chased the water of the classic rivers and creeks of Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina. The movie will hit the big screen the 13th of May at 6pm at the Schwartz Outdoor Leadership Center at Bowdoin College. Follow us on our road trip as we explore Appalachia, bob down rivers, huck waterfalls, stuff ourselves with Bojangles and encounter the characters of the south.

Back at Bowdoin

Hello everyone,
Well we are back home and back in school up in the cooler northeast and though we miss the south (Bojangles, Cheerwine, sweet trucks, sun, southern accents, kudzu and stellar creeks) it has rained tons here and the rivers are running! After spending one last night in North Carolina with Jane's godfather in Winston Salem on Sunday, we started our journey back north. We stopped for a break at the battlefield in Petersburg Virginia for a historical field trip where we got to see the remains of the crater that the Union army blew in the Confederate lines and the tunnel that was dug for this purpose. Unfortunately this seemingly smart idea turned into one of the greatest military blunders of all time when the Union army proceeded to charge into the crater in all the chaos and subsequently be surrounded by Confederates. The visit was a nice change of pace and afterward we continued on to Arlington where we stayed with Sarah's sister for the night. We also reestablished Virginia in first place in the quality of rest stop competition. The next day Jane, Dave and Noah bid farewell to Sarah, who was staying in Arlington for another day, and made the final haul back to Maine i. Since our return the rivers have been pumping and we have enjoyed some very local paddling surfing waves on the Androscoggin. This week we have already begun teaching the beginner whitewater class and are looking forward to most of the paddling season that is still to come (!!!) as well as the 70 degree weather that is forecasted for this weekend. So thank you for following us on our blog, rumor had it that there we many of you which was exciting- we enjoyed sharing our experience with you (and are sorry this last post took so long to get up!). Once we edit and compile all of our video footage we will be showing a film of our trip at the outing club at a date tba before the end of the semester so come and see! Happy paddling!

Photos from the French Broad

Watuaga

Tyson woke us up early Saturday morning with great news. His friend Krystal and her boyfriend Andre wanted to paddle with us on the Watauga. Our drive to put in was delayed by getting completely lost following the headwaters of the Watauga. The day turned out to be beautiful and warm, yet the water was a little cooler than Wilson’s. Sarah and Krystal did the upper part of the Watauga. They shredded the gnar surfing waves and dodging undercut rocks. Sarah saw a dead baby calf stuck in a strainer that was swept down with high water earlier that week (very sad). Downstream of the calf, Noah, Jane, David and John Hoffman (Class 2008) put on with Andre. Things picked up quickly when John got sucked into a sieve that swallowed his boat but not him. At the same time Jane swam out of her boat through some squirrely water on the same rapid. The rapids continued and increased in difficulty and Jane bagged her first Class V! Andre was a fantastic guide and styled all the lines. We entered Tennessee on Stateline Falls. This drop was about 15 feet tall and the water on the left landed on an exposed rock. Therefore it was necessary to boof right and generally style the line. It was for sure the most righteous way to cross any state line. We were warned at the take out to drive slowly because the locals were known to pull guns on kayakers. After this epic day we returned to Blowing Rock for another night at Tyson’s following a delicious BBQ dinner, during which Jane and Noah got more in touch with their southern side and ate some fried okra. Sadly we had already lit all our fireworks off, but were thoroughly wiped from the Watauga so we had a mellow explosion free evening.

Wilson's Creek

On Friday we woke up in Blowing Rock and headed down to Wilson’s Creek. The clouds seemed to part immediately once we arrived at the put in. Finally a nice warm sunny day! We have been hearing how nice it is up North and wished our weather could be the same. Our wishes were granted and the sun beamed down on the gorge and heated the air up to 70 degrees. The water was crystal clear and we could see through to the riverbed. The run was quick and continuous and was filled with small ledges and boulder gardens- definitely the most beautiful river we have paddled. We spiced up the run with a slide down the bedrock bank into the river. On the run we met four boaters from the Ohio region and did a second run with them. At a gas station on the way to the Wilson Jane found Cheerwine, a classic southern soda beverage and was excited to add it our gourmet collection of food items. In Tennessee we had stocked up on fireworks and that evening decided to light them off at Tyson’s. David and Tyson battled with Roman Candles, the south versus the north…we think the south almost won this one. After the battle we sauntered up a mountain that overlooked Hickory and enjoyed the view of all the lights far away.