It was 4am when we finally pulled into the Kentucky campground. Around 30 boaters were fast asleep -- in bivies, tents, trunk beds, and snoring away on top of the picnic tables. I picked my way through the crowd, looking for two trees to hang my hammock from. Most of the good ones already had clotheslines of drying neoprene strung between them. Finally, I found a spot and settled in for my 3 hour nap.
The Cumberland was a perfect choice for our first day. Several pushy, class III rapids were spread out in between large pools – a small cave and a huge 360 wave made the day perfect. The landscape is so different that Missouri. Giant boulders the size of houses turn parts of the river into a maze. I had never paddled around undercut rocks before, and it was a very safe river to eyeball them for the first time. Undercuts are scary stuff.
I paddled my EZ. In retrospect, I would have been fine in the C1. The hour and a half flatwater paddle to the take out would have killed me, though.
One more photo: me at the falls
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