New River Sampler (May29)

On Thursday the 29th, Kyle and I took two families on a canoe trip down the New River. Both families had little experience but picked up the sport fast. It was a little difficult at first pairing up who should ride with who, but then we got it together and headed out. About 5 minutes on the water and we realized the last boat, which had a child and his mom, needed a guide. So in the middle of the river we "McGivered" Kyle out of the back of our boat and into the back of ours, while switched to the back of our boat with the little boy in the front. The ride down the river was very calm and everyone did a really good job of keeping together. The rapids were small but amused the kids. About 3/4's of the way down we stopped at Whitt-Riverbend Park, in Giles County for some lunch. We had the lunches prepared and boxed from Tangent Outfitters, who also provides us with the water equipment. Before we stopped for lunch we were trying to find a good place to dock the canoes and I happened to step into a mud hole that went up to my knees and promptly lost my brand new shoes I had just gotten that day, specifically so that they would stay on my feet! Needless to say I had to walk around the rocky riverbed the rest of the lunch and when we finished our trip. After lunch the float down the river is only about another 15 min so all in all we finished the trip in about 2 hours. Everyone really enjoyed themselves. Take a look at our pictures as well...

-ash