5/11/2015: Nolichucky R., Poplar, NC to the Nolichucky CG

With: Kim Buttleman, Lee Belknap, Karen Egbert, Jon Hitchings, Keith Merkel, Jenny Thomas, Ned Howenstine
 
Dan took the day off to repair damage his boat sustained on Big Laurel, and Len had still not arrived, so we were eight boats again. I called ahead and reserved two shuttle drivers from The Nolichucky Gorge Campground and we drove from Hot Springs to Erwin, TN, in my van and Lee's van. I was apprehensive putting on, and even more so after Entrance (AKA Railroad) because I was paddling my new Esquif l'Edge half canoe (this tiny creek canoe handles very differently from a real canoe, and in big water I haven't yet figured out how to ferry properly). And sure enough, I let myself be intimidated into lifting over the entrance to Quarter Mile, which left me on the wrong side of the river. I failed the ferry, got rocked, and swam. Ned got to me and pulled me into an eddy just yards above Murphy's Ledge, where I would have joined my boat in its 45-minute recirculation, and
 
1. Lee in the safety eddy at On The Rocks in the Nolichucky Gorge
2. Kim, at On The Rocks in the Nolichucky Gorge
3. Karen, at On The Rocks in the Nolichucky Gorge
4. Ned, entering Jaws in the Nolichucky Gorge
5. Jenny, entering Jaws in the Nolichucky Gorge
6. Jenny in Rooster Tail in the Nolichucky Gorge
7. Karen in Rooster Tail in the Nolichucky Gorge
8. Karen in Rooster Tail in the Nolichucky Gorge
9. Ned in Rooster Tail in the Nolichucky Gorge
10. Ned in Rooster Tail in the Nolichucky Gorge
11. Lee in Sousehole in the Nolichucky Gorge
12. Jenny in Sousehole in the Nolichucky Gorge
13. Karen in Sousehole in the Nolichucky Gorge
14. Ned in Sousehole in the Nolichucky Gorge