Only sure of the start time of the event, but not sure of the actual location i headed out early confident I'd find my way....no worries. Head North towards the mtns and what do i see but the Dagger team car ahead of me in traffic, surely they are going to the race...after a quick pow wow with team Dagger at the gas station, i keep heading North. Zig, Zag and finally find this extremely remote trail, the parking is already two miles thick along the two lane country road..."Just head down the trail", one paddler says. 1.5 miles later, I'm still hiking, down...steeper and steeper until i hear the river...there must be some serious water ahead. I had no idea. I pop out in a deep granite gorge next to a waterfall that's feeding an already full river....SICK! To be so deep in the gorge and feeling the water course threw like blood threw an athletes veins, feeling every pulse...deafening. I had no idea there was this kinda water around here....my heart almost jumped out of my chest for the next three hours.
Evidently the Green River Narrows Race has been going on since the mid 90's and is basically a race against the clock down whats called the "Monster Mile"....a one mile stretch of river that is nothing but class IV,& V+ drops....if that means nothing to you, then please, please watch this video. Majority of all the spectators planted roots at "Gorilla", the nastiest of all the drops, due to the sheer volume of water, the moves needed to set up, as well as the narrowness of the chute you exit in...amazing. Paddlers from all over the world converge just South of Asheville, NC to race in what is deemed as the "...most dangerous kayak race in the world.". For the next three hours me and 1000 like minded spectators cheered for the 162 competitors who charged every fall as if it was the last one they would ever hit. I was blown away at the burliness of the river, and all just 30 miles North of my doormat.
Evidently this is an international competition attracting the worlds best steep creek boaters, and they were all out in force on Saturday. The Green River gets a ton of attention from paddlers all over the world for one reason....water. It's a dam released river, which is awesome, but the fact that it runs 300+ days/yr at full flow down IV & V moves it what is the real attraction. Ya, these were the best in the world and made most every drop look insanely easy and while several had to be rescued from some pretty nasty situations....i still must do this race, or at least run this section at some point during my stay on this big rock. To witness a boater slip their boat though granite boulders in the midst of a raging river that is doing all it can to wreck them, it's a beautiful thing. Dr. J will of course have nothing of this, but...forgiveness is easier than permission...right? Enjoy the photos, one day soon they will be of me in that fall.
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