Paddling buddy Hunter Davis and I were recovering from our annual Gauley Fest hangovers when we got a phone call informing us that it had been dumping rain in NC and creeks in the area were exploding.
We blazed back to NC as fast as we could and managed to get onto Courthouse Creek before the sun set on us that evening.
Hunter firing up one of the first rapids on Courthouse CreekCourthouse has some great rapids, really tight and technical and a great run. Wood is a big concern because it is so small, but the creek is a blast and if the North Fork of the French Broad is ever high enough, fire this little darling up...
Me and Dace on a fun little boof at the bottom of Courthouse CreekThe next day we skipped up to brevard only to find most things way too high to run.
Looking Glass Falls was throbbing water.
So we skipped off to Dupont State Forest for what is possibly a first descent, Grassy Creek Falls.
Me on the possible first descent of Grassy Creek Falls
After hiking in a mile and scouting for a bit we fired up what turned out to be a super big, super clean slide. There is a piton spot on river right and an undercut at the bottom left, but other than that the slide is good to go. The rest of Grassy Creek feeds into the Little River right above the park and huck Triple Falls, but it's covered in rhododendron and I would not paddle it again unless I absolutely had to.
Hunter busting down Grassy Creek Falls
After Grassy Creek Falls we rushed off to the Green River Dries which had plenty of water.
The Dries, which practically never run thanks to the dam that has dewatered them, have plenty of fun slides, cool boulder gardens and one big drop that lands on rocks at the end.
Green River Dries Slide
One drop had a pretty scary looking cave on river right, but it ran pretty clean.
Hunter gets ready to book it left to avoid the cave
There is lots of wood in there because the run doesn't go very often, but we never had to portage a rapid.
Hunter on a Green River Dries Slide
The highlight of the run is a big clean drop that lands on rock at the end. It takes a pretty solid boof to make it happen, but the drop runs really clean.
Final drop of the Green River Dries
The next day we got out to the Brevard area again for a run of the upper North Fork of the French Broad, which has a great 20 footer, and then a gorge section that we hiked out of because it looked way too high. After another trip up to Courthouse Creek, Hunter and I headed to the West Fork of the French Broad to fire up some big slides at a huge level.
Firing up the second big slide.
Hunter giving er on the final slide.
Me on the possible first descent of Grassy Creek FallsAfter hiking in a mile and scouting for a bit we fired up what turned out to be a super big, super clean slide. There is a piton spot on river right and an undercut at the bottom left, but other than that the slide is good to go. The rest of Grassy Creek feeds into the Little River right above the park and huck Triple Falls, but it's covered in rhododendron and I would not paddle it again unless I absolutely had to.
Hunter busting down Grassy Creek Falls
After Grassy Creek Falls we rushed off to the Green River Dries which had plenty of water.
The Dries, which practically never run thanks to the dam that has dewatered them, have plenty of fun slides, cool boulder gardens and one big drop that lands on rocks at the end.
Green River Dries Slide
One drop had a pretty scary looking cave on river right, but it ran pretty clean.
Hunter gets ready to book it left to avoid the cave
There is lots of wood in there because the run doesn't go very often, but we never had to portage a rapid.
Hunter on a Green River Dries SlideThe highlight of the run is a big clean drop that lands on rock at the end. It takes a pretty solid boof to make it happen, but the drop runs really clean.
Final drop of the Green River Dries
The next day we got out to the Brevard area again for a run of the upper North Fork of the French Broad, which has a great 20 footer, and then a gorge section that we hiked out of because it looked way too high. After another trip up to Courthouse Creek, Hunter and I headed to the West Fork of the French Broad to fire up some big slides at a huge level.
Firing up the second big slide.
Hunter giving er on the final slide.The West Fork level was huge and Hunter and I each got a little hole ride on the first slide but everything turned out ok. Hunter took a lot of video and as soon as I get a copy I'll post it up here...
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