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The Nantahala River flows through the western part of North Carolina. Under normal conditions this is rated as a Class 3 river (on of scale of 1 to 6 with 6 being the most difficult); under severe conditions it is rated as a Class 4. The most difficult rapid is Natahala Falls which is a two stage, six foot drop. It is on this river where I had my first experiences with whitewater.
This is my first whitewater rafting trip though I canoed down the same body of water one year earlier. One of the trip participants didn't want to run Nantahala Falls so she took these photographs (1976).
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The following day I took an intensive course in whitewater canoeing offered by the world famous Nantahala Outdoor Center; actually it was the second time that I took it. The graduation exercise was to run Nantahala Falls. As a precaution I purchased a whitewater helmet which I was to use on difficult trips over the next two decades. As you can see, my fellow trainee and I got clobbered at the falls. In panel three you might make out my head next to the overturned canoe. The last panel shows me successfully guiding a raft through Nantahala Falls around 1987.
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Section 4 of the Chattooga River, between Georgia and South Carolina, became famous because parts of "Deliverance" were filmed here. Just before moving from the South where I had been living, I took a trip down this river on a raft guided by someone with the Nantahala Outdoor Center. This river has numerous Class 5 rapids and one Class 6 which everyone walks around. Everyone wears a helmet. This photo was taken at one of the easier rapids, probably a Class 4-, and you can see that some of the paddlers are already intimidated by the river. This is the sole surviving photo of my trip down the Chattooga; when I got back home I threw away my Nikkormat camera because of extensive water damage (the "woterproof" camera bag wasn't what it was advertised to be).
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submitted by:
George Y. Liu
Seattle, Washington