6/14/2014: Nolichucky R., Poplar, NC to the Nolichucky CG
With: David Blumberg, Merridee Harper, Wayne Poole, Melanie Ruhlman, Wayne Jones, Brent Summerfield, Olivia Summerfield, Wes Dodson, Joe Owensby, Fred Metherell
This was a Carolina Canoe Club trip led by David Blumberg, which David had posted to the CCC Trip Schedule as "The Umpteenth Annual Nolichucky Gorge Trip."
When I called David he already had a full 12-person trip, but he graciously allowed me to replace one of two subsequent dropouts, so we wound up with eleven boaters altogether.
This was my first attempt at loading a large number of boats on the new van (which I call "The Shuttle Mistake" because it is so tall that loading boats is way, WAY harder than it was on the old Shuttle Monster. I got five on top, which I think I can stretch to six with one slight change, and two more inside, which isn't too bad, but doesn't come close to the 12 boats I once had on the Shuttle Monster.
It was a beautiful mild summer day; sunny all day long with temperatures in the low 80s, and we had a lowish level which was great for me since it was over a year since I had boated anything above Class II/III.
It was a carnage-free day; David did a perfect job of instructing the first-timers and everyone in the group had a clean run and a lot of fun.
1. Umpteenth Annual CCC Nolichucky Trip: The Shuttle Mistake loaded up (with two more kayaks inside) and ready to head for Poplar.
