A Weekend Out East

A three day weekend with a storm involved means only one thing- three new rivers to paddle. Thursday night Boyd and I headed out pretty late in the afternoon in pursuit of the wonderful thing that we call whitewater. Friday, after crashing at Clay Wright's house, Boyd and I hooked up with this guy named Jase to go do the waterfalls at Rock Island. The first one that we did was Millside falls. It has an entrance rapid that goes into a 20 foot waterfall. I flipped at the top of the ledge and hurt my left hand, shoulder, and that side of my face. I don't have a picture of it yet, but I'll post one up soon. We spent most of the day at the falls. They were all a lot of fun, but I did not to The Spout because it looked a little too high for me. Saturday we met up with some friends (Nate and Elmore) and wound up paddling down the Cheoah with Emily Jackson. The Cheoah is such a fun river! I had such a blast, especially in my Jackson Star!It is a fun river that is full of little play spots.
Sunday, instead of hitting Tallulah, Boyd and I decided to hit Island Creek with the Memphis whitewater crowd. I was soo nervous- I had done two new rivers, successfully might I add, in two days and I didn't want to mess this one up. I had never seen the run before, and I was around the people that I feel are my biggest critics. But the run went well and we got some great pictures! This weekend showed me that it is ok to have confidence in yourself. If you don't have confidence then you will not perform to your true potential as a kayaker or in any other aspect of life. This was the first time that I was actually able to be aggressive and relaxed throughout the whole run, and I feel that I did very well, as well as everyone that we paddled with.

What a fun weekend! Next weekend is Spring Splash at Nantahala- I wonder what is going to happen there...

Sammie