Exploratory Paddle, Upper Little River to Cape Fear River

Greeting All,
Well We all met up around 0930ish Hr, everyone was busy unloading boats and gear, some decided to move their boats to the others side of the put-in because it was slick, Omer, Van, Kim and Rhoda played guard duty while the rest shuttle to take-out, and safety brief was given. Of note, when a trip is planned, the planner normally will post their cell number, please put that number in your phone, as this will also be you contact for emergency while in the water. You may have weak cell status, but a text message usually can get through, it is a short burst.
I really do not know what time we launched at, but I would say, 1015, the area is really very beautiful, but not at much as it was last time, I think the rain and cold had knocked down alot of the flowers and such, but the river was moving and very brisk. we really did not encounter any real down fall, once we got pass Titan Rd., things got interesting, we encounter 2 downfalls that could be alittle tricky with the amount of push we had, actually the areas were we could pass through, was well marked by rapids. We took a lunch break about the 4th mile mark which was around noon, with the water moving we covered alot of distance in just an 1 hr..
Only thing about lunch was no fire, which I was hoping to have, but everything was wet and no one brought any quick-lite logs. The second part of the journey was marked with 2 areas that was litter, was sad to see, since most of the trip was pretty much litter free, we hit alot of very small class 1 rapids, and 1 class 2 rapid, which all those without a skirt on, got alittle wet from the drop and wave greeting them, there was some surfing of waves and such also during the trip. so it seemed all was having fun time, I spent most of the paddle in the back with the CaBoose Sisters, which were well versed in the art of , " Shenanigans and Malarkey ", really had to paddle when laugh very hard. When we came to the confluence of the Upper Little and Cape Fear, Andy found a basketball, refereed as Mr Wilson, stuck, we decided to free him and let him continue his journey. The rest of the trip was small rapids and Andy mentioned that we was at take-out at 1300hrs, this was a 7.7 mile trip according to Gene's GPS tracker. this also included our lunch break. We did do some scrapping on bottoms at this level the river , about 6 in of height would have been the perfect level, while it was passable at the levels listed below, I would not suggest any lower, as a few people got broached. This was entertaining for the rest of us , 😉. The canoe that was stuck in the bank, could be easily moved, I was able to from my boat with one hand lift it, so those that have the owners contact, should let them know, I wanted to, up right it, but than thought better, because it could end up in an unknown location and even down the Cape Fear.
Of future Reference Lower Little River USGS was at put-in time 7.4ft
Cape Fear River Lillington USGS was at 2.37 ft
Distance 7.7 miles
Paddlers: Scott , Gene, Van, Rhonda, Omer, Garrett, Kim, Crystal, Andy
many pictures were taken, from what I have seen they do capture the beauty and spirit of the area and paddlers, video will be upload as soon as I get a chance, it will feature Irish music since the 17th was St Patrick's Day.
Special Mention: Andy, again was the shuttle, please thank him, as he has carried a majority of the load, and to Gene, who was also shuttled kayaks and paddlers and chain saw. And to Janet, which was a wealth of information for me about this area.
This was Rhonda's first paddle with me, she is a add benefit to LRCC, and is trained in many ACA river safety courses
I would like to thank everyone that came on this exploratory paddle, is has been both a physical and emotional blessing for me, and the " Shenanigans and Malarkey " was most welcome.
May God Bless you , and yours for all your days