Nantahala

Paddled this today for the first time. It was a fun trip. NOC shuttled us up at 10am and we put in before the rafts and paddled ahead and had the river to ourselves. It was a good time on the water. Some surprisingly big wave trains. Nothing super difficult but definitely enough to keep it entertaining the whole time.

As of the high water from a rainy winter, Surfers is pretty much washed out as of May 9th 2016. Aside from that its business as usual on the lower.

The American Whitewater staff got out on a trip to enjoy the Nantahala River as part of a fall staff retreat.

4/28/15 after running parts of the upper nanti we did farabee to the ledges. G in octane, eli in spanish fly, CT in ducky, John h and caroline in mini me. Trip went fast, maybe go down to surfers rapid next time. G ran through the meat of quarry hole and did great. G also had lots of good surfs at the 3 sisters wave just before the ledges takeout.

July 6th: Nantahala. Farabee park to the falls. (normal flow) 'Everyone's favorite run on the trip.' the NantaHELL-YEAH. The cold is manageable with gear and good planning. G did most of the rapids in the canoe. He had good lines and excellent surfing. We ate lunch at surfers rapid. Models swam a bunch; G and J were sabotaged by models at falls which caused chaos. S.W. had a medical emergency.

The late Doug Worful paddling an adaptive oar rig on the Nantahala. Doug was paralyzed from arms down, with partial use of right arm. Note that he is in a seat made for a rail dragster bolted onto the frame, with a NASCAR five point harness keeping him in the seat. We learned from experience that he would bounce several feet in the air on rough rapids, thus the harness, and yes everyone, we tested it, turning him over in the raft to see if he might survive. He did, until he died of pancreatic cancer. If someone wants to try this adaptive rig, call Dennis.

Doug Worful, paralyzed from the arms down, in our adaptive oar rig on a Schredder 'Big Rocker'. A drag racing bucket seat was used with a NASCAR five point harness, and yes, we practiced flips. No problems coming out.

Doug Worful paddling the adaptive oar rig on a Schredder. Doug, paralyzed from the arms down, on his own. Doug passed away this last winter, gone but not forgotten. Note the drag racing bucket seat and NASCAR five point harness.

Walt powering through the final drop of Nantahala Falls at GAF 2012. The level was up due to the Cascades/Upper Nantahala release.

Benny checking out the fish in the Nantahala...

My brand new PerceptionS.

Lori Barrow playboats the Nanthala

Lori Barrow winning her first Under 19 Nationals.

The fee is currently $1 for a day permit or $5 for a season permit. Worser Wesser has been run, but it's pretty dangerous. The rapid was created by blasting and is full of jagged rocks.

Combat roll past the Nantahala falls. Good roll up.

Combat roll Nantahala falls. Good roll up.

Combat roll on the Nantahala falls. Ran river right line. Power through the hole. Good roll up at end.

Anyone have any beta on running worser wesser?

It looks pretty runnable but I have a guide that lists it as a class 6 unrunnable rapid? There are literally a skull and cross bones...

I think the cost has changed for permits.

NOC wave is huge...its a river wide hole now. It may be a class III now...if only because of the carnage it would do to a non-WW canoe and the fact that a swamped canoe will probably make it to the falls below.

Patton's Run - Check out this blog entry for a suggestion for intermediate paddlers to make Patton's a little more challenging.
http://worldkayakblogs.com/wildmavrick/2007/10/18/pattons-on-nantahala-river-nc/

the falls are more intimidating from the boardwalk, fairly easy run if your on line,
running dead center of the bump in the open boat was a little more difficult than the falls : )
she made the falls look easy too, she also had the same difficulty at the Bump as i did.......

Helmet, PFD, Paddle and open boat, what more could you ask??

Little Mann's First Nanty Falls run in his sister's boat. LOL.

SYOTR

Whirlpool Rapid is (i think) and underrated playspot. So many people flock to quarry hole(that's a nice hole too) that it's nice to have whirlpool all by myself. There is good eddy access(even though it is a whirlpool eddy).

There is also a rapid that we call Root Canal because the water flows over roots sticking out of the water on river left and creates a nice wave train. Root Canal is right after Quarry.

Nantahala Falls can also be run on the right side. Most people go to the left of the top hole- but lemme tell you, the right side of the top hole, if you know where you're going, is a smooth ride.

NOC wave is still out to the best of my knowledge due to road construction but once there done it will be rebuilt supposedly and also last i knew quarry was flushed out in flooding again but hopefully it will get tweaked soon too

We got a little too far left. The guy thats falling out didn't fall out. He says his big toe saved him. Brad and myself came back and ran it minutes later in our kayaks. See previous photos.

Just running the falls in my barrowed s6f. The NOC needs to send these photo takers to the Lower Big Sandy and Tellico so I can finally have some decent quality pictures.

Going for the eddy on the right.

David Knapp gets verticle at Quarry Rapid.

Unknown boater playing at Quarry Rapid on the Nantahala River.

Jason Benton seal launches off of the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad into the Nantahala River. Check out some more video at:
www.jasonbenton.com

Chuck Hunley styling for the camera right before an 8-man raft used him for a traction device. RIP Chucky... (sniff)...

Temptie's first attempt at surfing Quarry Rapid.

5 Aug 03: The Nanatahala is always fun! My daughters soloed the falls for the first time (one in an open boat, and the other in her little Dagger kayak. The kayak got eaten in the bottom of the falls, and the open boat slid through sideways, but right side up! A great experience for both girls. Truly a challenging but forgiving river. A 'must' run for those who want to learn river running (just watch out for the 'clown mobiles', otherwise known as rafts!

A SEMI PERFECT RUN MINUTES BEFORE NIGHT FALL

Haleigh Byrd and Jake Miller surfing somewhere on the Nantahala River.

a whitewater footage inspired by 'The Blair Witch Project'

12 yr old Emily paddles the Nanny
and it's famous Falls with no flips,
swims or errors.
Kayaker's revenge on the Nanny?

Kayaker's Revenge on the Nanny?

Still video capture frame of lower section of Nantahala Falls.

The most popular hydraulic on the
Nantahala

Still video capture frame of the lower
section of Nantahala Falls.
Still video frame capture of Ecton as
he drops into the bottom hole of the
Falls.

Haleigh's second run at Lesser Wesser.

Gordon Byrd, Bryan Rushing, Jason Foley, Haleigh Byrd, Chris and Teresa Day, running Lesser Wesser Falls on the Nantahala River in North Carolina.
Matt and his first run down Lesser Wesser Falls on the Nantahala River in North Carolina.
Gordon Byrd running Lesser Wesser Falls on the Nantahala River in North Carolina.
Haleigh Byrd Running Lesser Wesser Falls on the Nantahala River in North Carolina.
Macy is ready to go on the Nanty.
Gordon Byrd at Lesser Wesser Falls.

Quarry hole has become quite a popular park and play spot. Beware the poison ivey as you walk down the trail to the hole, and be careful of the speeding 18 wheelers as you unload your boats. Quarry sees even more crowds on the days the ocoee is not running

1975 Southeastern Slalom Championships

A high water day on the Nantahala back in the days of yore.

Slalom gate practice at bridge above Big Wesser

A steep play wave that's good for some spins...it gets the blunt every now and then. Watch out for Wesser not too far downstream, though...