Zombie Evan

Well contrary to what you probably already believe I am in fact NOT dead!  These past few months have been taxing on me between finding a new job, starting said job, and the general jobby-ness that comes along with being an adult.  I'll square with you, I've been playing a lot of video games as well.  But regardless of my slacking on the outdoors front I do have some things to share!

Thing number one is from the depths of the past.  As Derek already pointed out I did my very first run of the USNWC's comp channel!  Our last visit to the center was a day of firsts indeed, I tried out a Dagger Nomad 8.1 and really enjoyed it, despite getting my metaphorical shit pushed around by the hard lines.  I also found a whole new level of appreciation for my nose plug but you'll see that in the video:

Not pictured of course are my multiple failed attempts at rolling before actually getting right-side-up.  That, my friends, is what we call movie magic.  Now that I've run my first Class IV I feel all grown up and I'm super hyped to start getting down more actual rivers.  Like, in nature and stuff.

In fact my excitement was so incredibly palpable that I couldn't handle waiting and decided to go for a hike along the Triangle's very own Haw River!  We had a super rainy week last month and the Haw was actually full of water, which is something I never thought I'd say about a river but when all the readings when there's not a hurricane are usually around 130 cfs I'd say it's warranted.  I walked the entire 3rd section, about a mile and change, and recorded my awe.

Keep in mind, experienced Haw River Runners, that this was literally my first time seeing the Haw, so apologies are in order if I got some of the names wrong for the rapids.  If I totally nailed it though, HAH I'm the best.

Future plans to be discussed later, for now I have a tiny world to save.