Winter Wonderland in Wesser NC
Whitewater Kayaking, Mountain Biking, Craft Beer Breweries
Summary:
Last summer I was having some major mental health issues. I quit my job (luckily had another lined up) and went on a road trip by myself. During this trip I tried some new things including skydiving and whitewater. I've always been interested in whitewater kayaking, and so I tried out a guided ducky trip with the Nantahala Outdoor Center. It was a blast! I signed up for a whitewater kayaking beginner course a month or so later, and I've been returning regularly ever since.
This trip consisted of mountain biking, whitewater kayaking, brewery visits, good food, snow, and exploration.
The Gear:
The Story:
The Beginning - Traveling to and Arrival at the Nantahala Outdoor Center
Waking up at 05:00 on a Friday (or any day) is so much easier when you're about to go to one of your favorite places in the world! Luckily the truck was already packed, so I just had to get in it and drive the 7 hours.
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| Truck all packed and ready to go! |
I swear my GPS navigates me through Atlanta a different way every damn time. There's always accidents, and there's always another highway you didn't know existed that you end up on that is also backed up. I'll have an exit coming up to my right, be in the right lane, and then I blink, and I'm now 5 lanes away from the right lane. Anywho, I rolled in around noon and got some good parking.
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| Arrived at the Nantahala Outdoor Center |
My first goal was to find shoes that would fit over my new drysuit. Speaking of drysuit, I had bought the Gul Taw on ebay, which is a ladies paddling drysuit with a dropseat made in the UK. However, it was ~$450! Which was a good price, especially after looking at Kokotat's drysuits. Free shipping from the UK too (I used ebay to purchase). I could not find many reviews online. I was definitely taking a gamble and figured I'm universally a women's small, what could go wrong? Nothing! At least so far. The fit works, but the big test is once I finally get in the water. Here is a picture of me the day it arrived, and I tried it on and walked around the house with it until I started sweating.
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Drysuit fitting and photoshoot
Gul Taw |
Back to the shoes. There's a lot of fabric bunched around the feet part of the drysuit. I'm sure there's a way to make that better, but I knew I didn't want to buy paddling shoes until I could try them on at a shop. Since it's early March and still early in the season, the stock was pretty low. The women's sizes were all too small, so I eventually decided to try a men's size. The guy was like "sorry about the colors...". No biggie, just as long as they fit over all of this. I'll dig the Rasta color pattern. They don't match my purple, white, teal kayaking gear coordination, but I can change the shoelaces easily. It was a hot mess partially wearing the drysuit while trying on shoes as people from the raft guide school were on a break trying on shoes too. I left with the Astral Brewers.
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| Astral Brewer shoes |
As I wait for my friend Brooke to arrive from Birmingham, I go to check in at Turkey Creek Campground and setup camp. I was told that I was "brave" for tent camping because Saturday night is supposed to bring 5 inches of snow. There were several cancellations for the weekend. Also due to it being their first weekend open, only two other sites were set-up. One tent and one teardrop camper. Kayaks at all sites of course! I got my tarp, tent, and rainfly all set-up then went back to the NOC to hangout.
Tsali Recreation Area - Mountain Biking (waiting on pics)
Tsali Recreation Area is home to some of the country's most popular mountain biking trails. Jae, Brooke, Jae's awesome doggy, and I decided to tackle some trails! The days alternate trails between horseback riding and mountain biking. In December I had done the partial Right loop and Mouse Branch+overlook. Today was a Left Loop/Right Loop day, but since it was late afternoon and there were no horse trailers, we decided to ride
Thompson Loop Trail. We took it pretty easy and just enjoyed the girl power time.
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Brooke and me
Tsali Thompson Loop |
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| Tsali Thompson Loop |
Bryson City, NC - Dinner at the Warehouse --
Nantahala Brewing opened up a new restaurant in Bryson City called The Warehouse. Everything looked amazingly delicious. After a cold day and bike ride, I wanted to order everything off the menu. I got the Breads & Spreads appetizer, which I think the spread of the day was an artichoke cheese dip. Scrumptious. Then I had to order the pot roast because I wanted a comfort meal to warm me up. The slow cooked beef and root vegetables hit the spot. Sadly I was so full from all the food that I couldn't finish my beer. I'm so sorry, beer. :(
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| Appetizer! |
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| Pot Roast! |
They also had a really cool bathroom set-up. There were four separate room stalls with no gender assignments! Super progressive Nantahala Brewing, especially because North Carolina and some of its stupid laws. The sink area was to my right. I didn't want to be the weirdo that took pictures of both the bathroom stalls AND the sinks.
Paddling Day --
Saturday morning means it's time to paddle! We met at the paddling school and loaded up. Rachel was our awesome instructor.
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| So much gear |
The morning was for drills practicing. We went to the "Tuck Through Town" segment where the Tuckaseegee River runs through Bryson City. There were enough rapids and flatwater to practice ferrying, edging, surfing, paddle strokes, and catching eddies. I got all my gear on. It takes awhile - wearing full layers, adding a drysuit, shoes, then the skirt, waterproof neoprene gloves, then the PFD, which is now really tight due to all the layers.
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Now wearing all that gear
Tuck through Town, Bryson City NC |
It's now time to test the waters! Let's see if the drysuit actually works. I needed to wet my skirt so I walked into the water. It's the strangest feeling where you can feel the movement and coolness of the water surrounding you, but you stay dry! I got in my boat and we got to practicing. I learned a lot more technique. Afterwards we ran some of the rapids. I wanted to practice a few rolls, but my face got way too cold when I was submerged underwater after about 3 tries. I'm so close!
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| Selfie at the Tuck thru Town |
We got a hot lunch at
The Filling Station Deli, a popular sandwich spot in Bryson City. Once we were fueled up (from eating the High Octane Sandwich), we moved on to the Nantahala River. The water is even colder here and since I haven't perfected my roll yet, the goal was to stay above the water. We practiced some ferries and edging, caught a lot of eddies, but mostly stayed consistent going down the river. For the most part, it's Class II. At the end of our run is Nantahala Falls or 'Lesser Wesser', which is class III. It ended up being my second time running it successfully! I'm 2 out of 3 now.
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| Wesser Falls Badassery |
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Catching that eddie
Wesser Falls, Nantahala River |
Innovation Brewing (Sylva, NC) --
We took a trip to Sylva that evening to have some brews from Innovation Brewing. They had amazing beers, and quite a few of them at that. I started out with a flight of 5 which came in a cool tree-like board. The Peanut Butter Amber really stood out. There was a food truck outside too in case you need to satisfy your stomach's needs. The place was full but didn't feel too crowded. Before heading out, I got a Growler filled with Midnight Rye-der (a black IPA).
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| Innovation Brewing (Sylva, NC) |
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My Beer Flight
Innovation Brewing (Sylva, NC) |
Waking up to the Winter Wonderland --
Throughout the night I heard heavy precipation landing on my tent's rainfly. Heavy rain? Snow?? The predicted 5 inches of snow??? The only way to find out is to open the tent. I built a warm, comfy cocoon by putting my 20 degree sleeping bag inside my 40 degree sleeping bag. I slithered out of it and unzipped the door to find the perfect amount of snow: enough that it sticks and makes everything look pretty but not enough to cause problems driving on the roads. I wore my new Astrals because they're great for traction and are waterproof.
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Climbing out of my double sleeping bag cocoon to reveal the snow!
Turkey Creek Campground (Almond, NC) |
I took too many pictures at Turkey Creek campground. It was just so pretty! The other tent campers didn't stay, so I was the only one in a tent that night.
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| Turkey Creek Campground (Almond, NC) |
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| Turkey Creek Campground (Almond, NC) |
I tore down camp, packed up the truck, checked out and paid, then started driving around. I stopped to get some pictures on Hwy 28 North (campground is on this highway about 2 miles North of the Hwy 74 junction).
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Smoky Mountains
Almond, NC |
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Smoky Mountains
Almond, NC |
Great Smoky Mountains National Park --
Since I woke up with not enough energy to bike or paddle, and the snow was also turning me off from getting into trouble by myself since I'm on my own today, I thought it would be a great idea to venture out to Clingman's Dome! It's been on my list of things to do in that area, and now I have the time. Maybe even travel a little further north up to Gatlinburg, TN for a bit.
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Entrance to the park from Cherokee, NC
Great Smoky Mountains National Park |
I made it to the park entrance and started to drive through. I noticed a lot of cars coming the opposite direction but didn't think about it until I reached this point:
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| Oh no! |
So when it snows, roads at higher elevations stay icy and snowy and dangerous longer. Clingman's Dome wasn't going to happen today and neither was Gatlinburg. I would've liked to pick up more mango habanero moonshine. Cars were making U-Turns, kids were building snowmen, and I got out and stretched my legs. At least I wasn't the only dummy who didn't think things through today.
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Why not take a picture while I'm here
Great Smoky Mountains National Park |
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| Guess I can't do free moonshine tastings in Gatlinburg |
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Watch out for elk
Great Smoky Mountains National Park |
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South visitor center
Great Smoky Mountains National Park |
Cherokee, NC --
I noticed I no longer had cell service, and I forgot to download an offline map of the area. Luckily I knew to drive south if I wanted to get back to the Bryson City area. There ended up being signs helping guide me and eventually I got cell service again to help with more specific navigation. I decided to drive around Cherokee for a bit. Since I already had to pass through it to get to the Smoky Mountains National Park.
Cherokee is home to the headquarters of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation (one of three Cherokee tribes recognized by the Federal government).
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| Cherokee Welcome sign in Cherokee syllabary and English |
I decided to check out Oconaluftee Islands Park. The name (I'm assuming) comes from the Cherokee Oconaluftee Village. You can apparently
take an interactive tour of the village.
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| Someone built a snowman! |
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| View from the bridge at Oconaluftee Islands Park |
Back to Bryson City, NC --
Clingman's Dome? Nope. Gatlinburg? Nope. Bryson City it is. I always delay my return home as much as possible. One time I delayed by doing a 12 mile roundtrip hike from the NOC to Wesser Bald Fire Tower. This time just food and beer I guess. I got a personal pizza from Nate and Nick's Pizza, which was fantastical. Then I moved on over to Nantahala Brewing Company and got a flight. Super chill and quiet at both places, but then I knew I needed to get a move on. Luckily I had leftover pizza to keep my stomach happy for the 7 hour car ride.
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Nantahala Brewing Company
Bryson City, NC |
Aaaaand time to say goodbye :(
Hurdles:
- Wish I was closer.
- Wish that I had more time.
- Road closure for going through the Smoky Mountains to reach Clingman's dome
Relevant Quote:
"Celebrate we will for life is short but sweet for certain"
Dave Matthews Band, Two Step
Crash
I listen to DMB when I'm driving through the mountains. It helps create my happy place. It was a great weekend of celebrating what the world and life offers us. We only have so much time. Paddle the rivers, enjoy a trail, explore new places, and drink a good brew.
Other:
Someday I'd like to live somewhere in this area. I have no idea when someday will be or whether it will be a vacation home or a permanent resident home. Life changes though, and as scary as it is to not know the future holds, I finally think it will all work itself out and be okay. I really love living in Tallahassee and don't want to give up great things here, but change is good.
Notable Resources:
