T5: Rafting in the Smokies

Day 2 in Tennessee brought me wearing my new Keen shoes (see previous post) and getting up early to secure our spot on the rafting trip. It was a great time to go because the water was up in the Pigeon River and the guides were having fun. I was slightly panicky thinking of how my hair would look after a rafting trip since I'd forgotten to pack a hat. We swung by the NOC (Nantahala Outdoor Center) Great Outpost store and I bought a Mountain Hardware hat. I also wanted to look at the camping stuff, and the North Face apparel, and the shoes (oh! how i love shoes) and my favorite SmartWool socks. We were almost late to the rafting trip which required a 35-45 minute drive to the river, depending on traffic.

Our guide was Turtle. He was training Chris, our other guide. They were funny. Turtle made a plucked chicken out of a towel. It turned out that Chris had been in the army and stationed at the base in Lawton. There was also another couple from Oklahoma who ended up in our raft. They were from Lawton and the husband had an OSU t-shirt on. Kyle and I sat in the front of the raft. This should also be labeled as the "splash zone" for those of you who have rafted before. The water temperature was in the 40s, hence the reason that in almost every picture, as the frigid water is hitting my lap, I have my mouth open, hysterically. Okay, to get back to my story (and away from the short,choppy sentences - maybe) -- the other couple from Oklahoma had left OK two days earlier than we had. I-40 was closed because of all the flooding and they had to spend Sunday night in their car. At a rest stop. With 5,000 of their closest friends. Good gravy, that would be awful! This picture is me in front with my mouth open.

There was another couple in our raft. They were from Cali, as in California. They were surfer people. I can't say "surfer dudes" like I really want to because the woman wasn't a dude. But, she was funny. She screamed the whole time, over every rapid, while Kyle laughed the whole time. Since she was shreaking and he was laughing, I couldn't hear the guide tell us which way to paddle and although Cali guy behind me was supposed to follow me he was doing his own thing resulting in us hitting paddles every 15 seconds. This picture is me getting hit by a rapid. Again. If you look really hard you can see my helmet and that everyone else is staying relatively dry. The rapids were fun and we both really enjoyed being out on the river. We finished up and drove back to town. To round out the day we went back to the Sugarlands Nature Center, got maps and advice on what trails to hike, and hiked the short trail to Cataract Falls. It was a lovely little trail. We saw grey squirrel and a luna moth! The waterfall was quaint and I took pictures.
Finally, we drove back outside the park and went back to NOC's Great Outpost, of course. I didn't have a pack for the next day's hiking adventure so I bought my first camelbak.

I would have bought the whole store had Kyle not steered me toward the door. Actually, he was way too easy on me and let me browse until the store closed. No kidding. We were both bushed and starving by then. Since we are such culinary adventurists we decided on KFC (yes, THE KFC) because we were too tired and lake-d out to go in anywhere and sit down. We took the chicken back to the hotel and sat on the balcony to watch the sun set over the Smoky Mountains. It was divine. It was the best KFC I'd ever had.

Wait until you hear about the next day's hiking adventures. I tried to prod Kyle to write a guest blog on this next one. He said he'd consider BUT with his schedule I am bound to get it written far before he would. And if we waited too long, neither one of us would remember the details. So, until the hiking....