fired up

My next race is the Virginia Creeper Marathon. I was training for it on Tuesday in the heaviest rain Johnson City has seen in a year. "I wonder if anything is running?" I thought as I slogged through deep puddles. I checked the gauges when I got home, but nothing was registering. I took a chance and drove up to the Doe. I was rewarded with 800 cfs of muddy, brown water. The next day Russell and I got a couple of runs on the Laurel Fork at a good level. Big R boofing the entrance rapid on the Laurel Fork.

This rapid has a couple of stout ledge holes and a gnarly corner pocket. The Laurel Fork is walled in and tight. Darwin's Hole is a mandatory class V rapid that consist of two, five foot ledges. The second one is a smooth, uniform ledge creating a potentially fatal hydraulic.
The portage around the Falls is badly eroded. We roped our boats down. The Falls are runnable, but not by me.

A couple of days later we were surprised by a juicy Watauga. This is Seth running Hydro. Russell on the traditional line at State Line.

Tennessee the Hard Way.

The Veil. All State Line photos by Seth.