Catawba, North Fork

Southeast

Upper Fork of the Catawba

As of press time, the Upper North Fork of the Catawba near Linville Caverns, N.C., had only been run five times, most of the descents taking place in spring 1998. And for good reason. The section, which starts two miles from Linville Falls, occupies the extreme upper reaches of the Catawba and rages towards sea level at a whopping 450 feet per mile. With the entire Catawba watershed beginning only a mile upstream, the section runs maybe twice a year, requiring at least seven or eight inches of rain.

The run was pioneered in the fall of '97 by Banner Elk, N.C., locals Doug Helms, Brent Meadows, Franklin Smith, Jim Little, Quinn Slocumb, Chris Sumrell and Sherwood Horine. The group put in below the first falls, a 50-foot slide into an undercut wall and large hole, which was run last spring by Daniel De La Vergne, Brad Kee, Eamonn McCullough, B.J. Johnson and Katie Nietert. The main gorge below the 50-footer includes four series of falls. The first is called Shotgun Willie, consisting of a four-foot entrance drop into a six-foot slide into an eight-foot slide into a 12-foot vertical drop into a 20-foot stairstep drop. As if it needs more, the river then courses through a log-strewn boulder garden before entering the next rapid, Elephant Ear, a 15-foot drop into a must-make eddy. Colt 45 comes next, the section's only unrun rapid, which local Spencer Cooke describes as 'a big meat cleaver with a bony entrance and a recirculating hole at the bottom in a four-foot-wide area in a cave.' The section's final waterfall is THC, featuring a six-foot-wide entrance into a 25-foot drop. --edb