October: A Cornucopia of Fall Images

Typically, October is one of the driest months in the southeast. But this year, we have been getting steady rains and the paddling has been fantastic. There has not been any one excursion that specifically has brought down the house, perhaps more of a slow whitewater marination in both the subtle and profound changes that take place this time of year. From the hints of greenish yellow to the post peak orange and brown, we have been out and about this month, harvesting all we can, to further our bellies in anticipation of leaner times, which El Nino threatens to bring this winter.

So here's a barrage of images depicting just some of the ways we have been participating in the changes this fall.

Abrams Creek, late September

Clear Creek Canyon, a few colors coming in

Same

Side Canyon to Clear Creek

Same

Brandon Hughett, Clear Creek Canyon

Brandon on Jack's Rock, Clear Creek Canyon

Brian Mills, Crooked Fork with proper flows

Nick Barron, Crooked Fork

Lower Potters

Upper Potters

Nick Barron stroking away from a disgusting hole on Crooked Fork

Nick charging down to the Emory

Some midget tried to peddle a windshield off on us at the Caney Fork put in.

Nate Helms boofing a ledge early on, Caney Fork

Byron Sambat taking water quality samples at Devil's Kitchen

Knoxville contingent, typical boogie on Caney Fork

Lots of scenic flatwater with mysterious springs bubbling in here and there

Looking under the couch cushions for a missing kayak

The rocks on the Caney Fork are hungrier than the holes

Nick Barron, why don't you show us the next item up for bids?

Playing hard!

Family trip to the little

Laura Eddlemon illustrates "the boof"

My wife is a badass.

Trey Coleman, the boofing banker

Smoky Mountain Scenery

One of the best things about fall boating is the leaves in the water.

Laura high on the Little

Tunnel Rapid on the Little River

Decisions, decisions

This shot is pretty corny

Tradition, from the earth to the next generation

Raisin 'em right

The highly coveted Linville-Copia. Paddling Linville during the fall colors is the ultimate sensory overload experience in the southeast!

The only thing better than Linville in the fall is high water Linville in the fall.

Eli jumping into Babel Tower's chaos shortly before deeming the level too high

Streamside scene

All colors great and small

Its always over too quick.

Satisfaction

Alexanders biggest vertical climb yet, 1750 feet to Rich Mountain.

Well, Daddy helped a little. The colors were epic this day.

East Rim Big South Fork overlook

Don't forget to stop and take in the little moments that come your way this fall.

Linville Rendezvous

Drought conditions are pretty hard on whitewater paddlers in the southeast these days. That being said, there is one run that still seems to run at least one day a month. Linville has run 7 days in the past 2 and a half months. Having got back from BC, I had some serious catching up to do at home and had not been able to get on it the times it came up.

But, having allocated some time to go to the Russell Fork for the race, I knew as usual something would come along that would interfere with my Russell Fork plans. Luckily, for the last few years, that obstacle always seems to end up being a few inches of rain in the high country, resulting in cush flows for Linville.

Linville is the best river run in the eastern part of the continent. I haven't paddled every river in this region, but I am sure it beats anything else. Not many people run it for some reason, and I attribute that in part to the misinformation passed around the paddling community about what kind of flows are required for a good run. The gauge changed in 2004 after the floods, but there is much dispute now about whether or not it may be settling out. I KNOW it is settling out back to previous flow correlations, and is only around 0.2 feet off of pre-flood levels. Anyway, let the video be the judge. We had what many North Carolinians refer to as "minimum for sure". You can decide if it might be scrapable lower than our flow.

So here is a short video of our day on Linville on Saturday. It ended up being the best day I have had out there. The water was solid, and the leaves were amazing. We had two first timers too, and they now have a new favorite.

Linville Gorge from Kirk Eddlemon on Vimeo.

Props to Keith to stepping up to the run without a drytop and much of anything. Nick's vinatage pink shorty splash top loaner was classic. No wonder some of the footage was so shaky.