We had way too much fun the first night. Some new buddies staying at the campsite from AVL, who weren't part of the trip gave me my first taste of strawberry appalachain moonshine....whew!!
I woke up to Bruno scratching himself and trying to poke through the tent screen. I let him out so he could sprint laps around the other tents at the campsite with 3 other very energetic dogs. I guess they acted as the camp roosters.
The campsite was on the river next to a field and farmhouse.
The morning mist was deluxe, as was the coffee and breakfast fare. We packed up and got on the river by 10.
Above, you have our fearless Riverkeeper, Hartwell Carson starting the day of right by finding a rope-swing tied to a tree above maybe 3-4 feet if water.
Here's Bruno enjoying the ride with my shipmate, John from Fletcher.
Stopping for lunch.
Check out Hartwell's fancy new boat. I guess he crashed his old one.
We passed by slot of mountain ranches and farmlands.
We saw several groups of cows in the river. Obviously, it feels refreshing for the cows, but the damage they do to the riverbanks is a contributor to the number one pollutant to the French Broad, sediment.
We saw a lot of areas where the banks of the river were extemely eroded due to humans using the land all the way up until the shore. Ideally there should be a 100 foot buffer of vegetation to limit erosion.
I learned a lot on the trip today about the challenges facing our water supply.
It is a real treat to live on the river.
Here's the group chillin' at our camp, Hap Simpson Park on the riverside in Brevard.
We went into Brevard for dinner at Square Root.
More updates to come.
