Saturday the Greenville Canoe and Kayak Meetup held their fall paddle on the French Broad River through the Biltmore Estate near Asheville. The group does this trip twice a year, and the spring and fall excursions are their most popular. Nearly 80 people registered for last spring, and about 65 had registered for this trip.
I was a bit skeptical about going on this trip. I had paddled this section with Paul W some years ago, and wasn’t impressed. The river was nice enough, but the section through Biltmore was less than idyllic. There was a horse show on the Estate, and there were loudspeaker announcements all along the river.
I was also concerned about the number of paddlers. I had seen Jeanie Boyette’s photos from last spring, and it didn’t seem too bad. However, there were tales of the group being summarily booted from the Biltmore grounds when they tried to stop for lunch.
Despite the misgivings, I decided to go. I had missed several organized trips lately, and didn’t want to miss this one. It looked like the weather was going to be perfect, so I knew I needed to be on the water.