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Forum: BoaterTalk
Re: Quality ratings for rivers. Gabriel New
Date: Oct 07 2008, 14:05 GMT
From: Leland

	Excellent point.  I don't know how this slipped past my radar when I wrote NCRC.  I think the problem then was that I hadn't been around enough to think outside my local area, so I just assumed people knew which were the classics that they needed to hit and which weren't.  I addressed it some by leaving a few things out that aren't worth the time, and also by describing some better known runs that might not be worth the trouble as such in the book to steer people away.  It turns out that it wasn't enough. Since doing that book, I've traveled to a ton of different places and used a ton of different guidebooks.  I realized that the main frustration was that when you pick up the local guidebook, you can't tell which of the 150-300+ runs in the book are the ones you want to hit.  Unlike NCRC, most paddling guidebooks tend to shoot for quantity of runs over quality.  When you're traveling, sometimes you only have 1-2 weeks to paddle, and you want to make sure you use your time wisely to get the best runs you can.  At some point along the line, I had the forehead slapping moment where I remembered all of those years of looking for stars in climbing guidebooks as indicators when I rolled into a new climbing area (I was a traveling climbing bum for a while about 15 years ago).  Right about then was when the River Gypsies' Guide to North America was born.  I realized that if you put all of the "star" runs from 10 different areas into one book, then you would have a superb guide to travel with without the distraction of sorting through 100 drainage ditches that somebody ran once in a 100 year flood in there.  The natural progression was to realize that all of that space saved by not listing mediocre runs could be used for important info like where to camp and where the best local beer store is. As for which NCRC runs I would give a star to, I can give a quick list.  This isn't necessarily a list of runs that will be in River Gypsies', but more a locals list of classics: Green Narrows NF French Broad Toxaway Horsepasture Chattooga III Chattooga IV Tallulah Nantahala Upper Santeetlah Cheoah Tellico Ledges Upper Ocoee Ocoee Little River Sinks Upper West Prong Lower West Prong Upper Big Creek Lower Big Creek Raven Fork Section IX Big Laurel Nolichucky Watauga Linville Wilson Creek So about 1/4 of the book is must-hit stuff, and the rest are runs to fill in with if you live here and want variety.  Some will agree, some will disagree, but if you remove yourself as a local and think objectively about the area, I think these are the ones that stand out. Great topic! L

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No Overflow?   FluidDruid New

Nice catch.  I noted that one on the first run through then missed it when typing. Leland New

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