Little River Canyon Falls in Alabama: Kat checks it off

Finally, I made it down there at 8 to 9 inches and was able to run this awesome drop. Dave has run it lots of times, but this was my first time :)

Thanks to my friends Matt Wallace and Ben Davis for the moral support and the photos! They also dropped it for their 1st time and had nice lines!

Green Race 2007...Kat Spanks the Monkey!

Well, I have big news! After years of walking it and being a stupid chicken, I FINALLY RAN GORILLA!!! It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, and I nailed the line. The Notch went smooth, I caught the eddy and looked up at the huge crowd of people screaming at me...I smiled, peeled out and hit the pad dead center with a big right boof stroke, landed and punched the speed trap in control. I eddied out at the bottom and pumped a fist or two! It was one of my top moments in a kayak for sure. For years, through mental and physical trials, there were many times when I doubted whether I would ever do it. It felt really good to put the Gorilla "rite of passage" behind me and just enjoy the Green! It was awesome to have my husband waiting for me at the bottom, and my friend Tommy, who I haven't seen in years, setting safety as well, with big smiles on both their faces. What a great day!

Now lets just hope I can keep running it like that! :)Kat

Below are his and hers lines at Pencil sharpener:

Green Narows Again...low, but fun.

His and hers boofs at Groove Tube. (Kat above, David below)

Thanks to Matt Wallace for the photos!

Gauley Fest 2007

After Labor Day, our next big fun paddling trip was to West Virginia for Gauley Fest Weekend. I paddled 3 days on the Upper Gauley and carried my boat up the Panther Creek trail every day. I was so tired from paddling hard and carrying my boat up that steep trail that I slept through the festival! I missed dancing with the Orange Crush, Pole Dancing at the Dagger Booth, and all the rest. Oh well, I came for the river anyway! I did run into many people I hadn't seen in a long while. Gauley Fest is always socially enjoyable.

Kat

Cheoah on Labor Day Weekend

Cheoah is great fun, and the tree situation is getting better all the time. The first time I ran this river, back before the releases were negotiated, it was scary and dangerous due to all the class 3-4 rapids literally in a forest.



Kat (above) entering the center line at Bear Creek Falls, or Big'un...or whatever its being called these days. This is such a fun rapid. David (below) running the same line, but a closer shot.



Here's David on the second drop:



Kat's second picture turned out blurry. Thanks to Dneesh on Boatertalk for the pics!

A Decade of Whitewater

Well, I've been boating for 10 years now, so I decided to get with the times and post a blog on the web of all my adventures. Plenty of paddlers have come and gone during these years, but my fascination with fast rivers and falling water is never-ending. I look forward to paddling whitewater for many years to come. Thanks for visiting and enjoy!

Above is me on Bear Creek a couple years ago. The drop is Big Bang, a 5.2 because of the shallow and extremely narrow landing zone. It is a pretty easy boof with a sweet, little kicker pad, but it can hurt you if you miss it.

Below are some more sweet boofs in Tennessee, North Carolina, and Alabama:

A tight little slot:

David scared me on this one...but he kicked it right back up and never got his face wet.

6 inches on the Green

We hadn't been to the Green in a while, so last weekend we headed over there and found it pretty low (80%?). I had a good run, but then again I walked Gorilla. David ran GoLeft for his first time perfectly, but he had a painful landing off Gorilla. His ribs are still sore. Here's the pic: