April 27, 2006 - Richland's Creek, Clear Creek, East Fork - Photos and Trip Report

Wow. Finally an update, after what, 4 months? Well, I didn't exactly have anything exciting to update until now.

Last weekend, Tom and I did an obscure, secret run on the Cumberland Plateau. To say it was an adventure would be an understatement. Read the trip report and check out the photo gallery.

I also added an extensive photo gallery of the UT Canoe & Hiking Club's annual Clear Creek Canoe bash over Easter Weekend. This is an infamous trip in UTCH circles, and this year's didn't disappoint. Carnage, debauchery, and beer drinking. See the gallery here.

Several weeks ago the South Knoxville Boof Squad got skunked on the Little Possum and ended up running Richland's Creek at fairly high water. Some good photos can be found here, in the gallery.

This Sunday I'm taking a 'beginner' trip to the Big South Fork, which should provide plenty of humorous photos and stories. Check back soon.

  After some nagging and death threats from my paddling buds, I finally uploaded the photos from our trip down the Tallulah Gorge this past November. Classic shots of some classic hair whitewater, including Oceana. Check 'em out. Also added a photo gallery from a trip to Coker Creek in '04.

October 20, 2005 - Photo & Video Update

   Been a while since the last update - amazing what a full-time job does to your free time. It's been dry as hell in the southeast, and we haven't done much boating lately. Plus Sebastien killed his video camera on the way back from the Gauley. But I did borrow some web space from my boy Matt, and have some new videos to share. Also uploaded several new photo galleries - our trip down the Crooked Fork last fall, the Green Narrows, an exploratory trip on the Upper-Upper Little, and some hero shots of yours truly on the Oct. 1 Cheoah release. Check 'em out! And don't forget to sign my guestbook, dammit!

October 4, 2005 - Guestbook and new Photo Albums

   After weeks of tweaking and learning Perl, the Guestbook is up and running. Please stop in and sign it - I'd like to know where everyone is coming from.

   I also uploaded two new photo galleries - one from a run down the Big South Fork this past summer, and one from AW's Gauleyfest two weekends ago. Pay attention to the photo series where I break my paddle in the middle of Pillow Rock. Ah ha, nice patch job that Seb & I did... So, the new hand-paddles worked out great, considering the acid test of running Lost Paddle with them. Hey, when you don't have a paddle, you make due.

   After 77 years of being dewatered, the Cheoah River in western North Carolina released this past Saturday for private boaters. Naturally myself, Dr. Watson, Randy Bigbee, and Team South Knox Boofalicious headed over for a day filled with trees, big drops, and carnage (not ours). Check out the photo gallery, or read the trip report.

  I also finally got the film developed from a Canoe & Hiking Club Ocoee rafting trip this past summer, and posted the humorous pictures in the photo gallery. Check 'em out.

  Added more photo galleries, including the infamous lower Tellico trip at 9 feet, and a trip down Citico Creek with a little carnage. Also, the Guest Book isn't working, because Perl sucks. Try back later.

 At the recommendation of my friend and former partner in crime, I added a guest book. Visitors (aka you) can post comments, questions, quirks, their version of trips, etc. I also added a page of links, which hopefully will get bigger and more useful in the future. Enjoy.

  Uploaded the latest (and hopefully final) version of our Colorado DVD trailer, including footage from the Royal Gorge. This video will be on our DVD in high-res, if my computer doesn't melt first. Check it out in the video gallery.  Also added some more trip reports, including Little Clear Creek and the Middle Prong.

    After years of deliberating, I have decided to finally create a paddling site. Nothing fancy, just a blog of sorts and some galleries for sharing pictures and videos with my friends who are constantly nagging me to send them "those pictures from the trip last weekend" or whatever. So here it is, complete with some rantings and discussions of our latest adventures.

   I'm not going to bother explaining the site layout, because... well, you're an idiot if you can't figure it out.  A note: past dates are events that happened then, not that were posted then, since this website is brand spankin' new.

   Check out the video gallery for some great flicks by myself and Sebastien. Included is a trailer for our upcoming DVD from our Colorado trip, and a bad-ass flick titled "The Best of TT". 

   Well, the absolute damndest thing happened today. We got busted in the park for trying to run the West Prong. Hurricane Katrina was in full gale mode, and dropped 1.5" of rain on Newfound Gap. When we arrived, the wind was blowing hard and the gauge was at 1.26'. After some deliberation, we decided to put on. 5 minutes into changing, a ranger drove around the loop, blaring through her loudspeaker to "evacuate the area due to a high wind advisory". We naturally decided to evacuate the area by going downstream, and proceeded to set our shuttle and get ready. Unfortunately, we were neither quick enough nor sneaky enough, for Officer L. Harris returned and proceeded to 'escort' us to the visitor center and issue us each a ticket for $250 (x 6 paddlers = $1500 of bullshit) for "interfering with the duty of a federal officer." On top of this, another ranger came to interrogate Sebastien on account of his nationality and ended up confiscating his boat for 2 days. This naturally is a crock of shit, and we will go to court and fight it. Hopefully we can get it reduced to a violation of a road closure ticket, a paltry $50 by comparison.  If anyone wants to donate some dough to the cause, my PayPal account is trent@utk.edu. And if you're up in the park and you see Officer Harris (she's a short, bucktoothed, angry women), stay the hell away from her.