Beautiful Day on Little River Canyon!

By Stephen Wright

On Saturday, I read on Boatertalk that "Habitatmapper" had written, "LRC–it’s so hot right now…". That was all the prodding that I needed. On Sunday I loaded up Jessica’s van with 4 Heroes, 2 Rockers, a Punk, Justin Owen, Nick, and all our gear. With a 6:30 am departure, we were all a little groggy but looking forward to a beautiful day on one of the Southeast’s classic runs. At the put-in, we met up with several first-timer high school students, Mark Travers, and local ripper "D"–giving us a mighty 11-person group. Alex and "D" enjoyed the demo Heroes that we brought for them to paddle–Alex even tested-out our unishock bulkhead in the 2nd drop of Cable Falls. It was awesome to get to spend so much time analyzing every rapid. We spent about 4 hours running Suicide and Upper two–scouting our way down everything and talking through all lines and potential hazards. In Avalance, our group was overtaken by another group including none other than JK’s own Boyd and Samantha. Both are great paddlers, but Boyd found a fun pin in the top of Avalanche. No big deal–stable and head-up, but it was a good learning experience for all of us. Boyd then aced the second drop and I can only assume had great lines for the rest of the day. It was a fantastic day and I was psyched to get to paddle with so many new friends, and was grateful for a safe run down this gorgeous canyon!

I shot a few of the drops on the Suicide section with my trusty 40D and 24-70 2.8–enjoy! At the end of the day, I was PSYCHED that I carried my NRS Kayak Sherpa down the river in my stern. It made the hike-out @ Chairlift easier that it’s ever been!

Live from Rock Island,
Stephen Wright