Nantahala Oct. 07 Pt. C

[bearridge]

I know most of ya'll dont care much fer whitewater. I wish there wuz more pichurs up 'n down the river, with the reds, greens, golds, browns, etc., but Miz Bear dont paddle whitewater much any more. She takes the pichurs 'n iz a first rate shuttle bunny.

It wuz a bit more overcast this day 'n more water in the river frum all the rain. The Falls worry me more when it iz dark 'n gloomy. This iz kinda high up in the top hole.

This iz John frum Rock Hill, Carolina...where some of my folks come frum. Lucien chunked him a rope. He saved hiz paddle 'n boat. I am headed downstream ta save hiz Cleveland Browns ball cap.

This wuz the next ta last day. I caught that eddy agin.

The last day it wuz foggy. Aint nuthin' like hearin' a rapid ya caint see. That iz me 'n Phillip, a nurse in Memphis. He oughta do fine til we git a gymnast. :wink:

It wuz so foggy I lost myownself a few times.

Me'n Phillip pickin' our lines thru the Falls. I reckon I musta looked down 'n made myself nervous there a hunerd times. Good thing the fog lifted.

Dont look scairt...........do I? :wink:

Me'n Phillip made it okay. Comin' across I hit the big rock 'n got turned backwards. I paddled like one legged man in a arse kickin' contest.....kept the water under the boat. Dont give a hoot how bad it looked. The camera battery wuz dyin' anyway.

regards
bearridge

The desire for certainty in life, often becomes a fast track to the acceptance of some form of mental or physical tyranny. Jack G. Montgomery

 

[hairymick]

My friend Bear,

I love your white water trip reports mate. Your piccies are even better!

I have taken the liberty of checking out your Webshots album ( and added a comment) We here, in Oz can only dream about rivers and scenery like that. Stunning.

Again, thank you for sharing.

 

[swamprat]

All grins here Bear... You dun good! Whats the dates for next spring? Will put in my leave request monday

 

[bearridge]

Friend Brad,

May trip iz flexible, but our spring plans are on hold til I hear whether Robin 'n Mick will be able ta come up. If ya gotta ask now, we prefer the last week in May before the schools let out. That way the campground iz near bout empty cept fer the weekends. After I git a final word frum downunder, I'll check with my shuttle bunny 'n see if she cares when we go. I mite call Ann 'n see who else iz comin' different weeks in May.

I'm hopin' some of the geezers will come....kinda like in that Kevin Costner ball field movie. :wink:

Oh.....remember how that Dagger canoe ya bought off me turned out ta have thwarts that rotted out? :lol: Well, the last day....at the takeout behind the NOC raft room....Philip and I lifted my canoe ta put it on the rack 'n my front thwart pulled loose.....rotted out. Dang good thing that didnt happen on the river. I bought two ash thwarts at the NOC store. I figgered that by the time I bought the wood, glue, brushes 'n went ta all the truble ta find the drill 'n build my own, I'd come out ahead buyin' store bought thwarts.

Oh.....when I got back ta the campground I seen my "D ring" that held my air bag in had pulled loose. I reckon it wuz all that backwards paddlin'. 8)

regards
bearridge

I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them. Thomas Jefferson

 

[swamprat]

I was just kidding Bear. I am back at work with the state. Can pretty much come and go at will, as long as I have the leave time to do it with. But I've already mentioned that they screwed up my fall trip by hiring me too soon, but I would be taking a week off in the spring.

I noticed the other day when I was moving boats around that one of my D rings had come loose. Think it was the other side from were we glued on but not sure.

 

[bearridge]

Friend Brad,

Jest before I left with a new D ring 'n rubber pad, the fella at the NOC store asked if I had glue. I sez "yep, Vynabond". He sez "put it on both surfaces, let it dry fer a long time, then heat the glue with a hair dryer 'n slowly roll it down tryin' not ta let no air bubbles underneath....make sho yer D ring iz aimed rite. Make sho ya git glue round the edge of the raized part of the pad (figure "8") 'n use a spoon ta press down az ya slowly roll the pad down."

I dont recall that much truble when I glued the D rings in the Impulse. Everthin' glued in that canoe wuz glued by me. :roll:

regards
bearridge

When a place gets crowded enough to require ID's, social collapse is not far away.  It is time to go elsewhere.  The best thing about space travel is that it made it possible to go elsewhere.  Robert A. Heinlein

 

[oldsparkey]

Friend Brad,

May trip iz flexible, but our spring plans are on hold til I hear whether Robin 'n Mick will be able ta come up. If ya gotta ask now, we prefer the last week in May before the schools let out. That way the campground iz near bout empty cept fer the weekends. After I git a final word frum downunder, I'll check with my shuttle bunny 'n see if she cares when we go. I mite call Ann 'n see who else iz comin' different weeks in May.

Ole Bear tried to sink all of us an almost managed ... now he wants to create a International incident by doing in the folks from across the pond. . :lol: Talk about ya weapons of single destruction.

Yep .. There aint no rapids in this river , heck no .... just Niagara Falls besides the river flowing over boulders the size of 18 wheelers when you are sitting in a canoe or kayak looking at them.

Mick , If you paddle with Bear , PLEASE , just before then take out a large , really large life insurance policy and put me as the recipient of it. :lol: :lol: :lol:

Chuck.
PS. If you do that then I promise I will swear off Budweiser beer and only drink Fosters.

 

[bearridge]

If you do that then I promise I will swear off Budweiser beer and only drink Fosters.

Anybody else hear Brier Rabbit beggin' Brier Bear not ta throw him inta the briar patch? :mrgreen:

 

[Jimmy W]

I enjoyed looking at the pics Bear.
I remember running the Nantahala one hot summer day when there was a layer of thick fog about 2 feet high over the river. You could just see people's heads sticking up above the fog and couldn't see the rocks until you were almost on them. Another morning, I put in right after the water came up at the put-in. I discovered that it is possible to go down faster than the water. I had to stop a couple of times to wait for the water to catch up.