Day 10 – The river runs wild

After a much needed lie in we headed to the Nantahala Outdoor Center to check out what we could do in the area. We were in luck as there was a guided white water rafting trip leaving an hour later. We killed some time by walking down the river gorge, taking in the stunning scenery.

The trip itself lasted 2 hours and consisted of gentle paddling down stream, having a bit of fun bouncing off rocks, spinning round and generally getting wet. The finally was a grade 3 rappid called Nantahala falls. Our guide, Brandon, used to be a rodie for Metallica (if you believe what a raft guide tells you) and was full of information about the area.

Felt slightly overwhelmed with the American’s loudness and eagerness to big themselves up. There was a lot of cheering and hooo yaaaas going on.

Negotioating Nantahala Falls rapid

We ended the day by driving to Cherokee and finding a motel on the reservation. First impressions of the town are quite depressing. Its very touristy based on the Indian theme and there’s plenty of advertixsing for the local casino.