Personal First Descent of the Nolichucky Gorge

By FastFred Ruddock

Friday December 19, 2008 felt more like a fresh spring day in April minus the buds of awakening trees. The previous evening while wrestling with decision upon where to paddle or park and play my good friend James called just I nearly resigned to park and play at the ledges or nanty falls for lack of a buddy to paddle. However he informed me that a mutual friend, Karen, paddled the Nolichucky regularly but lacked available accomplices. After a few quick phone calls a plan was made to meet in Asheville Friday morning. Upon arriving at convenience store in Erwin we located a couple of Fat Tire beers that are now voluntarily available in Tennessee. As we set shuttle from the campground we met John, our third accomplice.

My first impression of the Nolichucky was a river as big as the French Broad or Pigeon but as clean as the Green River. The Noli was flowing between 1,800 and 2,000 cfs as I began my first descent. There was about a quarter mile of flat water to warm up before the fun began with first rapid named Entrance found just past the railroad trestle. Entrance is a class III+ rapid that vaguely reminded me of the best boogie water to be found on the Lower Nantahala or Pigeon Gorge but with some additional gradient to boot. Entrance was a straight forward read with a couple of holes on the bottom left.

Another class III+ rapid named On the Rocks followed shortly after Entrance. The first drop of this rapid was run from right to left following a tongue followed by a must move to the left or right to avoid a large rock. This was a fun rapid. On the Rocks was quickly followed by another class III rapid called Jaws; this rapid is primarily a hole and the most popular play spot on the river. Karen did some extreme side surfing on this river feature with her creek boat; Jaws made her work to get out of the hole.

Since this was my first trip on the Noli we stopped a half mile later on river left just above the class IV rapid named Quarter Mile for its length. From my vantage point I could easily a large hole near the top of the rapid named Hungry Jack. However I could not see Murphy's Ledge the site of a nearly river wide hole. This rapid had several ledges and drops. This rapid contained several must make moves. The final ledge can be run left or right; we ran the far right side of Murphy's Ledge in a manner very similar to running the right side of Wanda's Hole on the Upper Green. I found my first run of this rapid terrific, the current pushy, and some holes necessary to punch. Murphy's hole the past site of drownings is not a hole to punch.

Thus far I had experienced a near flawless day. However things begin to blur at Roostertail or Rollercoaster. I'm pretty sure after double checking AW's Noli description I made safe passage of the class III+ Roostertail rapid. I experienced a minor case of vertigo as I looked down the steep class III rapid called Rollercoaster. The combination of big water and steep gradient was somewhat disconcerting. As with previous rapids Karen showed me the line but the large waves made it difficult to see her lead or what was immediately in front of me. I could not see in the troughs and even from the crests of waves other waves obstructed my view; this was serious boogie water.

The waves reminded me of surfing hurricane swells on the Carolina coast as teenager except for the plentiful rocks. After a quick succession of four large waves I realized the fourth wave was not a wave but rather a pourover. I was staring into the what appeared to hole larger and meatier than I had ever entered when William Nealy's “Zombie Factor One” began to kick in as I wondered if I missed the proper line or not. I plowed into the hole with plenty of momentum but likely had the look of a deer caught in the headlights. Everything went white as I submerged in the hole. Somehow I emerged from the hole none the worst but still in disbelief as I had expected to get munched. I'm not sure what happened next other than I flipped for no apparent reason after clearing the hole. My next mistake was failing to tuck tightly and hold on tight with my knees. As I attempted to move to setup position the current pulled me from my cockpit. I quickly grabbed my gear and decided to swim vigorously for the right bank.

Time seemed to stop as I swam in what appeared to be slow motion compared to the flow of the river. Swimming the waves was no worst than swimming in hurricane swells and breakers after a wipeout. However being drug over rocks and through holes was a new experience. I managed to keep the kayak downstream of my body at all times in an effort to as a bumper to absorb impacts with rocks and in hopes of using it to pull me through holes. Toward the bottom of the rapid I heard a great howl and saw a horizon line broken by a boulder near the center right of the river.

I managed through my adrenaline fueled active swimming technique to pillow surf my partial swamped boat on the rock. After a quick survey with my hands I found a safe place to stand while I choose the safest line through the final drop. While I was scouting my next move John arrived on the scene. I still had all my gear and John offered to carry my paddle down the pool below where Karen was waiting patiently. My choices at this point were hole on the left or a rock jumble on the right. I choose the rock jumble and rode my boat much like surfboard to allow it to take most of the abuse.

Upon reaching the pool Karen offered a tow to the beach. Only after I stood on the beach did I realize how hard I had swam as my legs felt like rubber as if I had just sprinted a mile. I dumped the water and rested briefly to let my heart rate return to normal again. The only injuries were a lightly bruised right knee and pride. Actually the experience was positive overall and one hell of a ride.

The next two class III rapids Surprise and Rock garden were fun with more waves and holes to punch. Railroad Wall is a class III rapid with a river wide 3 to 4 foot ledge at the bottom with a sticky hole. Apparently I missed the desired line by a couple of feet on this ledge. Despite having good forward momentum aggressive stance and actively paddling the hole grabbed and pulled me backwards. I briefly side surfed the hole before being flipped and surfing upside down but the hole still would not flush me. I finally used the boat as a platform to launch myself downstream along with a powerful crawl stroke and escaped the hole. The boat filled with water and then flushed as well. I was able to gather my gear and swim for shore no worst for wear.

Next came Sousehole another class III rapid. This rapid presented no problems. Finally we reached the last class III rapid named Twin Eddies. This rapid provided some funky waves to ride and some great boogie water. The final couple of miles was just laidback class II with ample time to view the scenic gorge. Upon reaching the campground we secured our gear and enjoyed our Fat Tire beers.

Nolichucky Gorge is a great run with most of the action right at the start. It took me a little over a year to reach this river but I will certainly return to run this river again. Noli was big step up from the Upper Green another river rated at class 3.75 in Leland's guidebook North Carolina Rivers & Creeks. It was also a lot more fun.