Flow Rider

VA Creeking and some 200% Green

Greetings earthlings. Rain has been aplenty in the southeast the last few weeks, and there's been some really quality creeking to be had. (Gorilla at 200%). (See below for video).

Saunders and I headed up to Virginia for some action up there...

We met up with Nate Bell and Michael Shields from Virginia Tech. Big thanks to them for showing me down. (Saunders had been twice before). We set off for the river from Blacksburg. Our destination: Bottom Feeder creek. This creek is super low volume and abundant with cool boofs and tight lines. Here's a sequence of me at Kettles.

Saunders dropping into Kettles.

Nate at Kettles.

A very beautiful creek indeed.

Pullin the bow up at "Crash Test Dummy".

Mike at "Crash Test."

Mr Shields at Mouse trap.

Nate doing his thing

Saunders engulfed at "Gorilla North."

Mike on Gorilla North.

No turning back now.

Mouse trap.

Saunders getting himself a taste of "Two blind mice"

Following Saunders' excellent example.

All good things come to an end.

After the trip to Virginia, we got rewarded with some highwater green for about a week. Here's a video from Gorilla earlier today.

Hope you all enjoyed the post,
and don't forget to shower at least once a week.

-Nathan Silsbee

Beginnings

So I was just looking at some old photos, and I came across all these pics from when I first started kayaking. This was before I learned how to roll, and when I was just beginning to love kayaking. My friends and I used to innertube this section of river that ran across the edge of my parent's farm, then one day my buddy Warren suggested we take his parent's kayaks down instead. This is when it all began... Here's a shot of me on the Chattooga Section 3.

It's funny how fear when running drops is in perfect proportion. I was just as scared running Second Ledge for my first time as I was running Gorilla for the first time or Landbridge on the Toxaway for the first time.

Feeling triumphant after running the big bad "Narrows" of Sec 3.

Kayaking is fun.

My dad on second ledge.

Later when I had the basics down, I fired up the big bad "Bull Sluice."

Well that's the end of my blast from the past, and stay tuned for more updates soon.

-Nathan

More Toxaway!

Another great day on the Toxaway yesterday with a really big crew. Paul Stamilio and I headed to the take-out to find 15+ people lounging around discussing shuttle and water levels.

The choice was medium-high Horse Pasture or low Toxaway. Everyone drove up to the put-in to check out the gauge, which didn't seem to be very accurate when compared with past trips. Pat said he thought it had enough water so everyone decided to go. Nick looks on as Eric prepares to launch.

Eric on the put-in slide.

A blurry pic of Drew in Minigizer.

Portage around the manky entrance rapids to Energizer.

Drew getting energized.

Taylor after running the majority of Feeding trough upside down.

Brian dropping into Landbridge.

Wintergreen run-out.

After Wintergreen there is some great class IV boogie to the take-out where a nice 4 mile hike awaits. A few more things worth saying: there were two upside down runs of feeding trough, one backwards run of landbridge, and one run of 40//40. (Nice Pat!). Otherwise, everything went surprisingly smooth considering the number of people in the gorge.

Disclaimer: Everyone on the Toxaway yesterday were very capable boaters, and most had been in the gorge before. Please approach this river with the UTMOST respect and caution. Photos/video do not give these huge rapids credit. The gorge is very secluded, and there is a 4 mile hike-out that you will have to deal with if something does go wrong.
Hope you enjoyed,

Nathan Silsbee

ps check back to the RIOT BLOG soon for some really awesome Toxaway photos from a few weeks ago.

Magging the Green Again

Happy Holidays! Nate Dawg signing in... I've had an unbelievable two months of kayaking, and have been lucky enough to get on some of the best creeks in North Carolina. When it's not raining however, the Green is the place to be. With the dry 70 degree weather in Asheville, I've been paddling at the green a lot. My buddy Saunders Southecorvo came down from Virginia Tech a few days ago, and I've been out there a couple times with him. Saunders just got a new Magnum from Diamond Brand, and I thought it would be cool to document one of his first experiences in the new boat.

I called Gragtmans, and he was up for a study break. So Saunders and I met him around 11:00 at the take-out.

Here's a shot of Saunders practicing his forward stroke from the safety of dry land. (Photo: Nathan Silsbee).

Saunders at Boof or Consequence. (Photo: Nathan Silsbee).

Saunders showing how it's done at Go Left and Die. (Photo: Nathan Silsbee)

Me going Left. (Photo: Saunders Southecorvo).

Saunders screaming through the notch. (Photo: Nathan Silsbee).

Grag catching air at the Gorilla, while Saunders averts his eyes in sheer awe. (Photo: Nathan Silsbee).

Putting in to have a second go with the monkey. (Photo: Saunders Southecorvo).

I like the rock star eddy. (Photo: Saunders Southecorvo).

Gragtmans in the powerslide eddy. (Photo: Nathan Silsbee).

Saunders stomping it at Groove Tube. This rapid is great for learning how to stomp your bow down for a softer landing. (Photo: Nathan Silsbee).

This is me running the standard line at Sunshine. (Photo: Saunders Southecorvo).

Grag styling the Left line, Sunshine. (Photo: Saunders Southecorvo).

Saunders' opinion on his new Magnum: "The first couple days I tried it, I had great lines. Some of the places that I didn't have great lines, I was able to stay in control and recover quickly. I also had the courage to run Go Left for the first time in a while, as I got beat pretty bad the last time I ran it. As far as outfitting, I loved the seat especially and it's way more comfortable then my last boat. This boat is bad-ass like a samurai sword." -Saunders

Saunders seems to really like his new boat, and is looking forward to getting on some other stuff with it.

I hope you enjoyed the trip report, and I'll probably not see ya on the river!

-Nathan Silsbee