Thank God it's October. I need it. We all need it.
When you read Friday's paper, last week's dancing had stopped. Helene had bashed Florida and was barreling northward pushing a 1000 year deluge on parts of the southern Appalachians.
When the storms hit us, most of the heaviest rain was spent. The Russell Fork peaked Friday evening just under 11,000 cfs at Elkhorn City. Too high for kayaking, but nowhere near flood stage.
Saturday we learned catastrophic flooding on rivers and streams had obliterated communities, roads and bridges in North Carolina and Tennessee. Hundreds are dead or missing.
The extreme rush of water scoured riverbeds, leaving them unrecognizable. Like the Russell Fork, a handful of these streams are popular attractions in the whitewater world. The Nolichucky, the French Broad, the Pigeon, and the crown jewel of Class 5 kayaking, the Green Narrows, all had, by far, record flows.
Today is the first day of whitewater release season here on the Russell Fork. I don't expect a large crowd. A lot of boaters come from the areas hardest hit. Many from elsewhere will be on support missions.
The disaster to our south will have a lasting effect on the very tight whitewater community. It's too early to tell the extent of those effects, but 3 of the rivers mentioned above were commercially rafted. The fourth was the standard for extreme Class V whitewater.
Our yearly river race, the Lord of the Fork, is dominated by kayakers fine tuning their strokes for the Green Race which comes a week after. Usually the winner on the Russell Fork is the winner on the Green. Given conditions, it's doubtful there'll be a 2024 Green Race. Probably means fewer racers here.
The impact on future whitewater activity on the Russell Fork could be negative or positive. If we want positive, we need to be proactive. That means advocating with the Corp of Engineers, commercial rafting companies, and elected officials to find ways to enhance our flows more often and to promote whitewater year round.
We did that at one time. When we did, extra days were added by the Corps to the October season, trade magazines named Elkhorn City a leading whitewater destination in the country, and we were funded for a second round of work with the leading hydrologic engineering firm in the nation to design downtown whitewater features.
But that was 12-14 years ago.
I'm feeling better about the town's direction. So far new leadership leans to attracting people to town instead of the opposite. That's a good place to operate from. Elktoberfest on October 19 has great potential if the weather cooperates.
Another promising sign is a group led by Roxanne Blankenship will bring back the Paddler's Appreciation Dinner at the Pool Hole River Access (aka Rat Hole) on the 12th. Will be nice to have that again.
It's been a hard week. Besides the disaster, we lost two of my early heros.
Bob Dylan said there were two Nashvilles. The one before Kris Kristofferson and the one after. Second, who needs a baseball hall of fame if Pete Rose isn't in it? Godspeed Kris and Pete. Thanks for making things interesting.