Wet and Wild

After days and days of rain in the area, all that water running down off the mountain started getting a little out of hand on the Little River near Townsend by Wednesday.

In most spots the boulders weren't visible anymore, and water was taking any route it could down the side of the mountain.  I believe they got over 6 inches of rain.  I tried to look it up but the internet wasn't cooperating in my search efforts.

At the end of a day of rain on Tuesday we weren't the only ones who thought a visit to The Sinks might be a good idea.  Just under 12 miles from the Sugarlands Visitor Center this spot usually has a nice cascade visible and the water-carved rock is neat too, but on this day it just roared.

The full parking lot contained not only looky-loos like us, but a handful of crazy kayakers jumping off the rocks and into the rapids.

One...

Two...

Three!

Wayne thought this was the coolest thing and kept professing how much he would love to be down there.  I kept professing how insane it all looked.  Did they not know the river was loaded with small boulders and underwater logjams?  Did they not see the pieces of tree bouncing along?

Still, it was a fun opportunity photographically speaking.  Except I kept having my camera on the wrong setting or fogetting to take the polarizer off so the shutter could go fast enough to keep up with the kayakers.

Not my type of watersport.  I'll take the lazy paddle-when-I-feel-like-it approach I use on a small lake over this madness any day.  I keep telling Wayne that's why we'll make friends when we hit the road, he can find friends who want to risk their lives on the river or go watch cars drive in circles around a racetrack and I'll find friends who like to wander around all day looking for hidden "treasures" on the hiking trails.