I'm in Asheville, NC for the weekend. The home of world-class craft beer, terrific hiking along the Blue Ridge, and outstanding kayaking on the French Broad River. I intend to take advantage of all three during this short visit. To start, I'll be joining REI for a paddle through downtown Asheville along a tamer section of the French Broad.
I get an early start and drive the three or so hours the morning of the event. Meeting up with our guides a few minutes before the start, we go through some introductions and basic gear review, and then we hop in a van to shuttle a few miles up river to our launch point. There will be seven of us, plus two guides on this little trip. After the standard safety briefing and gear outfitting, we hop in our boats and launch into the river at the confluence with Bent Creek.
Continuing on down the river, we reach our take out point near Craven Street and the northern end of the River Arts District, which we have been paddling alongside for a while. Checking my GPS track, it looks like we've traveled a distance of about 10.3 miles through the heart of downtown Asheville. It was a nice smooth ride the whole way and our guides were outstanding as always. Now, I'm going to head across the street and enjoy a nice cold craft beer at New Belgium Brewery before continuing on to further adventures in the Brewery District of downtown.
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