Asheville and Linville Gorge, NC

I decided to start this journal of adventures basically because I forget just about everything and anything I've ever done. I'm no good at writing in an actual journal so this was the next best thing. This is not necessarily for public viewing, but mainly a journal for myself to keep track of my travels. As of now, my job tends to keep me near Chattanooga (or the Southeast I should say), but hopefully after some experience, I'll be able to broaden my travels and this blog will be really sweet to look back on.

My buddy Jon and I left Chattanooga on the 21st of June en route to Asheville, NC. We luckily had plenty of time to make it to our concert, Foster the People, so we stopped some places on the way. We took the scenic route and the first stop was the Ocoee River. We checked out the place where the 1996 Olympics were held. The racetrack was build specifically for the Olympics and is the only in-river course used for competition. Pretty cool spot. I am new to kayaking but apparently the Ocoee is pretty heinous (like crazy class 5 you might could die or some shiz). It's definitely one to save for the future! I honestly thought it looked pretty dirty and scummy compared to the other rivers I've seen but hey I guess cleanliness of water is not necessarily what you're looking for.

Olympic Course on the Ocoee

Next stop was the Nantahala River in North Carolina. This course seemed a little more do-able for the beginner kayaker. I've decided to make it my next paddling goal. After hanging out there for a lil, we found some experienced kayakers that would make their way into a "surf" and were doing front flips. Of course, now I want to learn. Add that to the list of things to do in the near future. I thought the Nantahala was so much more beautiful than the Ocoee. Check it!

Nantahala River

Since we were still on track and had some time left, we made one last stop in Bryson City to cool off at Deep Creek. This was just a fun little tubing river with a lot of little coves that ran off of it. It was really nice to stop and get wet being it was 90 degrees. 

Deep Creek

We finally made our way to Asheville and headed to the Foster the People show. The show was.... decent at best. I was a bit disappointed. The crowd sucked, no one danced, and everyone was recording with iPhones/iPads. So redonk. Luckily, Asheville had plenty of other options for live music. We ended up at a Widespread Panic cover band show. Now that show had energy! It was really nice to let loose, dance, and just go crazy since the last show sucked. 

The next day, we got up and had breakfast at a great place called Over Easy. I just love the city of Asheville and their good, unusual food! Triple potato hash with roasted beets, BBQ tempeh, broccoli, carrots, and a fried egg with delicious coffee for breakfast?! Hell yes, give me more.  We then headed to Linville Gorge for some swimming action. We walked down the Pine Gap Trail and ended up finding a magnificent 3 tiered falls area into a swimming hole. We got out the Therma Rests and literally played like children in these falls for HOURS. We had a blast. A father and his 2 children actually walked up on us and ended up playing with us in the falls for a couple hours too. It was great. 

Next to the falls enjoying a brew

Pretty sure Jon and I looked like this all day long

Grabbin a quick massage

BOOSH!

That evening was the THE Supermoon! The closest the moon gets to Earth until August 2014. It was the biggest and brightest we will see the moon in a long time. We found some photographers up on Wisemen's View (best view of the gorge). 

Wiseman's View

We simply wanted to ask some questions about the settings of the camera for the Supermoon and ended up hanging out with these really awesome characters up there for a while... until we found out the Supermoon was hidden by clouds! Bummer!  I ended up getting a sweet pic later that night with the help of those settings. Pretty proud of this guy \/ !!

June 22, 2013 Supermoon

The next day, we woke up and headed to Linville Falls, since we didn't get to see it the first day. The falls were tiers of cascading water heading straight into the beautiful gorge. Some pretty amazing views. 

Linville Falls

Linville Gorge

After we checked out the falls, we headed North to meet my good friend Craig to do some bouldering near Grandmother Mountain. The place was called Valley of the Kings and I had never been before. Only a few good, fun boulders to spend the day but def worth checking out. We worked some problems, got eaten alive by bugs, and enjoyed some more incredible views of North Carolina. 

Craig on Dark Man showin us how it's done

The "Fin" Duh 

After climbing, we followed Craig, Holly, and Griffen back to eat and chill in Johnson City. It's actually a cute lil college town. We ate amazing burgers at their local joint. It was nice to catch up with friends you never get to see. Next was the haul back to Chatty. All and all it was a great trip! Always psyched to get out to North Carolina, it definitely does something for my inner peace.

Until next time!