First Descent of the New Gorilla

[Glenn MacGrady]

"November 2, 2024 would’ve been the 29th annual Green Race, an event that draws thousands from all over the world to watch whitewater [boaters] race a stretch of Class V rapids on Western North Carolina’s Green River Narrows.

"Instead, paddlers rallied for a river clean-up day and memorial for the Green River as they knew it after floodwaters from Hurricane Helene altered the river beyond recognition."

. . . .

“'Probably 97% of the rapids on the Green changed, and three percent are intact,' Gragtmans estimates. 'Maybe less. It’s basically become a very young geological river bed. Sediment is going to fill in and rocks are going to roll.'

"Overall, Gragtmans estimates that the river has likely become more difficult and more consequential."

First Descent Of The New Gorilla

November 2, 2024 would’ve been the 29th annual Green Race, an event that draws thousands from all over the world to watch whitewater kayakers race a

paddlingmag.com

 

[Alan Gage]

It's hard to imagine the force that can do that.

I've walked along small streams in the AZ mountains and marveled at the shear number and size of rocks that washed down from the mountains to bury sections of the stream under rock and to completely fill in small reservoirs. It's so calm, placid, and small when I visit. It's hard to imagine it being otherwise.

Alan

 

[ppine]

Good observations by Alan. As canoeists we pride ourselves on reading the water. The next step is to read the stream bed, notice changes in gradients and why they occur. Figure out the bends, the bed load and the hydrology of the rivers we paddle.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

The next step is to read the stream bed

Tangentially related, when I was the whitewater trip chairman for the Connecticut Chapter of the Appalachian Mountain Club in the 1980s, I was sort of stumped as to what trip to organize one weekend when many of the rivers were bone dry in mid-summer and not releasing water from dams. So, I organized a "whitewater hike" of the almost dry stream bed of the Bulls Bridge section of the Housatonic River, which has a runnable waterfall and several class 3/4 rapids.

Hiking down the dry waterfall was downright scary because many of the stream bed rocks had big sieve holes either between the rocks or right through the middle of giant boulders. If you got sucked underwater while swimming that stream bed, you could easily be trapped-wedged-lodged in those big rock sieve holes and drown. Or so my mind had no trouble picturing.

As a result, I opted never to paddle that section of river, even though I'd never heard of anyone being trap drowned there. And, goodness knows, I've probably paddled over many stream beds that were that scary or even worse, especially in big canyons and gorges such as those in West Virginia and California.