West Fork French Broad: Land of the Big Slides
by Harrison Metzger
Contributed 07/14/2005 Responses: 1
West Fork French Broad
July 14, 2005
Flow: French Broad at Rosman: 680 cfs
North Fork at U.S. 64 bridge: 11+ inches above zero
West Fork gauge on the put-in bridge: -2 inches
Finally got to run the little sister of my favorite run. Paddled it this a.m. with fellow open boater Pat Stone and yaker Doug Bonnoitt. NFFB was 11+" and holding, so we decided to give the WF a look. When we saw it was -2" on its bridge gauge, we were stoked. Jah Will, an excellent hand-paddler who showed me down the Rocky Broad last year, had described this to me as a perfect first time level.
None of us had ever run it before, though I have run NFFB about 100 times and hiked into the WF twice to look at the three big drops. We all portaged the first one, though it looked pretty doable. This rapid maybe we should call it "Pothole" is run to the right to avoid said boiling pothole on left, and watch out for a sticky riverwide hole just below. Easy to carry on the left.
Second and third large drops are not far downstream, not as far as the 1/4 to 1/2 mile noted in Leland Davis' new book, North Carolina Rivers and Creeks. In fact if the water were high you would be there in about 1 minute.
The second drop is long rocky slide dropping about 18 feet. I went first, entering the slide just left of the rhododendron hanging down from the right bank. Tried to head left, hit a shelf 2/3rds of the way down which took me far right, tweaking the boiling hole at the bottom. All this is followed by an easy riverwide slide into a hole that could get sticky at high water. Can be scouted or carried on left.
I have not run Rapid Transit or Oceanna, so I can say this is the fastest I have ever gone in a boat. What a rush! Clipped the overhanging wall on the right near the bottom, denting the deck plate on my canoe, but otherwise no problem. Doug ran far right, under the rhodo, caught a boof halfway down and blasted past the bottom hole. This rapid deserves a name. I suggest it be called VELOCITY.
Drop number three is the biggest of the three, a slide like Razorback on the NF, but MUCH larger, dropping about 15 vertical feet, then a small eddy on the right, then another 7-foot drop into a big pool. The left side of the this bottom drop harbors a huge pinning log in the hole, so right of center is the place to be.
Preparing to run, I said to Doug and Pat, "I will buy a six pack of your favorite beer if you hit this eddy" (between the top slide and the bottom drop.) Seconds later, on my first descent, I entered center, turned right per Jah Will's instructions, and cleaned the right hand line into that eddy. Doug ran basically the same line.
This slide is big fun, probably the tallest thing I have run. Ten years ago I would never have run any of these drops, but as Leland's new book points out, skills and gear have come a long way, as have our perceptions of what can be run. There is a good scouting/portage path on the right.
Watch out for a river wide log immediately below the third big one, which must be carried on the left.The gradient eases up for awhile, the sun bursts through the cool mist hovering above the clear cold water, and the banks are an explosion of white rhodo blossoms on both sides. And then gradually it builds up to a class IV+ boulder garden, Jim Shepherd's Rapid.
I propose naming this drop in honor of our friend, a well-known boater from Hendersonville and WCP member who died there about eight years ago. There is lots of wood in it right now, which can be avoided by taking a right-of-center line. The eddies were all there at this level, but at higher flows it would start to flush. Like the Clog on the NF, only twice as long, it goes on and on.
Things then ease up to class II and flatwater before you cross under the 64 bridge. There is a good takeout at a pulloff on Woodruff Road we used. I wanted to run the NF too, but had to go to work.
The WFFB is Schweeeet! Thanks Jah Will for the lowdown on this cool run.
All content copyright of BoaterTalk, Inc. 1996-2005
Followup submissions
Re: West Fork French Broad: Land of the Big Slides by Harrison Metzger
Contributed 07/15/2005 Responses: 0
:
: West Fork French Broad
: July 14, 2005
: Flow: French Broad at Rosman: 680 cfs
: North Fork at U.S. 64 bridge: 11+ inches above zero
: West Fork gauge on the put-in bridge: -2 inches
:
: Finally got to run the little sister of my favorite run. Paddled it this a.m. with fellow open boater Pat Stone and yaker Doug Bonnoitt. NFFB was 11+" and holding, so we decided to give the WF a look. When we saw it was -2" on its bridge gauge, we were stoked. Jah Will, an excellent hand-paddler who showed me down the Rocky Broad last year, had described this to me as a perfect first time level.
: None of us had ever run it before, though I have run NFFB about 100 times and hiked into the WF twice to look at the three big drops. We all portaged the first one, though it looked pretty doable. This rapid maybe we should call it "Pothole" is run to the right to avoid said boiling pothole on left, and watch out for a sticky riverwide hole just below. Easy to carry on the left.
: Second and third large drops are not far downstream, not as far as the 1/4 to 1/2 mile noted in Leland Davis' new book, North Carolina Rivers and Creeks. In fact if the water were high you would be there in about 1 minute.
: The second drop is long rocky slide dropping about 18 feet. I went first, entering the slide just left of the rhododendron hanging down from the right bank. Tried to head left, hit a shelf 2/3rds of the way down which took me far right, tweaking the boiling hole at the bottom. All this is followed by an easy riverwide slide into a hole that could get sticky at high water. Can be scouted or carried on left.
: I have not run Rapid Transit or Oceanna, so I can say this is the fastest I have ever gone in a boat. What a rush! Clipped the overhanging wall on the right near the bottom, denting the deck plate on my canoe, but otherwise no problem. Doug ran far right, under the rhodo, caught a boof halfway down and blasted past the bottom hole. This rapid deserves a name. I suggest it be called VELOCITY.
: Drop number three is the biggest of the three, a slide like Razorback on the NF, but MUCH larger, dropping about 15 vertical feet, then a small eddy on the right, then another 7-foot drop into a big pool. The left side of the this bottom drop harbors a huge pinning log in the hole, so right of center is the place to be.
: Preparing to run, I said to Doug and Pat, "I will buy a six pack of your favorite beer if you hit this eddy" (between the top slide and the bottom drop.) Seconds later, on my first descent, I entered center, turned right per Jah Will's instructions, and cleaned the right hand line into that eddy. Doug ran basically the same line.
: This slide is big fun, probably the tallest thing I have run. Ten years ago I would never have run any of these drops, but as Leland's new book points out, skills and gear have come a long way, as have our perceptions of what can be run. There is a good scouting/portage path on the right.
: Watch out for a river wide log immediately below the third big one, which must be carried on the left.The gradient eases up for awhile, the sun bursts through the cool mist hovering above the clear cold water, and the banks are an explosion of white rhodo blossoms on both sides. And then gradually it builds up to a class IV+ boulder garden, Jim Sheppard Rapid.
: I propose naming this drop in honor of our friend, a well-known boater from Hendersonville and WCP member who died there almost 10 years ago. There is lots of wood in it right now, which can be avoided by taking a right-of-center line. The eddies were all there at this level, but at higher flows it would start to flush. Like the Clog on the NF, only twice as long, it goes on and on.
: Things then ease up to class II and flatwater before you cross under the 64 bridge. There is a good takeout at a pulloff on Woodruff Road we used. I wanted to run the NF too, but had to go to work.
: The WFFB is Schweeeet! Thanks Jah Will for the lowdown on this cool run.
:
: All content copyright of BoaterTalk, Inc. 1996-2005
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