family time in the mountains = KaYaK

Growing up around the Woodward household there were a few certainties in life: you wore cloth diapers, thought granola was a food group, and you kayaked. Ol' papa Woodward has sometimes been referred to as one of the "founding fathers" of whitewater kayaking in the Southeast (you can check out his book here), and it followed logically that at the age of four I found myself on the river in a kayak, and at the ripe old age of six was kayaking class II-III whitewater in the NC mountains.

Since those early days, school, living in Chapel Hill + a whirlwind of other sports have often pushed kayaking to the back burner, but coming home is always special, and times spent on the river with family are some of the finest. Earlier this week, some heavy rains boosted all the rivers, and my older brother David (aka: woody) and I headed up to paddle Overflow Creek - a homegrown classic. The majority of the gorge that Overflow runs through is deep in the mountains and can only be accessed by those with the skills to navigate it's class V waters by kayak.

With a new tilt-shift in hand I jumped at the opportunity to bring the camera along and try to capture a bit of the beauty and adventure that draws us there. The reality of it was that I spent most of my time trying to keep the boat pointed down river and out of the manky undercuts, but I did get out to film and shoot stills at a couple of the nicer drops.

PS) I know some of you may have been worried about Ralph - my trusty helmet parrot. Not to fear, he survived unscathed...