Monday, June 9, 2014

We're rolling, rolling, rolling on five rivers!

Ethan and Davis at the gates of Camp Daniel Boone
On Sunday, Junior Assistant Scoutmaster Ethan and Assistant Senior Patrol Leader Davis – under the watch of Assistant Scoutmaster Jason Smith – set out for a five-hour trip to Camp Daniel Boone, located in Canton, North Carolina, for their summer camping experience. Both Scouts have twice attended Camp Daniel Boone as campers working to earn merit badges, but this summer they are returning to participate in the camp’s “Five Rivers in Five Days” high-adventure water trek program.

Camp Daniel Boone is nestled at the base of North Carolina’s Cold Mountain — one of the Great Balsam Mountains, which are a part of the Blue Ridge Mountains within the Appalachian Mountains. The camp is surrounded by a million acres of national forest and is located at 3,300 feet above sea level. Its proximity to some of the most well-known whitewater in the region offers Scouts and Scouters a unique week-long experience on some of the finest waters in the Southeastern U.S. Participants will spend the majority of each day on the water while staying on camp property each night at its Harrison Outpost — except Thursday, when they will camp at Oconee State Park in South Carolina.

The group’s schedule will include:
Sunday: arrival at Camp Daniel Boone and check-in 
Monday: raft the Class II section of the Nantahala River and Class III whitewater of Nantahala Falls within the scenic Nantahala National Forest of North Carolina and near the Great Smokey Mountains National Park

Tuesday: raft the Class II and Class III sections of French Broad River through the scenic Pisgah National Forrest in the mountains of North Carolina 
Wednesday: raft sections of the Upper Pigeon River’s Class III and Class IV whitewater along the eastern border of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Thursday: raft through the southern Appalachian Mountains while experiencing the Class III and Class IV rapids of the Ocoee River’s Middle Section, which will include rapids with names like Grumpy’s, Table Saw, Broken Nose, Double Trouble, Double Suck and Powerhouse 
Thursday Night: camp at South Carolina’s Oconee State Park 
Friday: raft Section IV of the Chattooga River made famous by the film “Deliverance” and to include Seven-Foot Falls and Five Falls, the latter a series of back-to-back Class IV-V rapids with names that include Jawbone and Sock’em Dog

We look forward to sharing some exciting images and video from the expedition in our online photo album, thanks to the GoPro video cameras both Ethan and Jason will be sporting during the trip.