Well, got back from SC early this afternoon after a great drive. We stopped at 6:30 AM to see Cathy Barbano in Chapel Hill. She was surprised, though now quite awake. She has a really nice dorm — on the 7th floor, private bath, etc. Only stayed 1/2-hour & continued on home. Really had an excellent time at the Thomson’s — they’re a great family.
Yesterday (19 August) we (Karen, me, Richard & Randy (& John & Brian – a couple guys from UNC who we ran into)) canoed Section 3 of the Chattooga River. We left Anderson around 7:00 AM after forgetting our food, etc., & headed for the SC/GA border. After an enjoyable 1-1/2 hour drive (we took 2 cars — Richard’s VW & mine with the canoe), with Randy & Richard shooting bottle rockets at Karen & I). We made it to the outfitters. We met Brian & John there by chance & they teamed up with us, fortunately, since single canoes are not allowed to attempt Section 3. John had been down two times previously.
Good thing, as we probably would not have survived some of the Class IV rapids and a couple water falls that we had to portage around. The take-out had a cool chute where the whole river went through a place only a few feet wide. Richard was the first to seat-drop into it and then over a small waterfall into a huge pool. Everyone else followed, wild!