The Way of "Tox"

I want to grow old someday so I can tell stories like this one....

Once upon a time there was a little dwarf named Tox. Tox lived in a mountainous region on the East Coast of the United States of America. He knew little about the outside world, and kept to quiet never coming anywhere close to any cities or humans. One day while he was hunting small rabbits he caught sight of something strange. There was a pile of colorful plastic tubs in his scared hunting canyon...he knew something was wrong. All of sudden a group and well armored humans came too close with big long bladed staffs and helmets. He had to fight and protect himself. So with a cry of the most ferocious warrior Tox screamed "My name is Tox, feel my wrath" and he attacked...needless to say the battle only lasted a minute. Tox had lost and ran away. The kayakers who had fought Tox that day re-named this river the "Toxaway"...get it? Tox away. That's how the Toxaway river got its name, duh!

Enjoy the Photos from yesterdays run of NC's greatest drainage ditch.

Hiking up to get the bottom half of the monster putin slide.

Adam Bixby and Adriene getting some angel time.

Adriene about to seal launch into the Old mini-gizer...now a massive siphon.

Chilling between runs of Energizer bunny...this rapid is the quint-essential Toxaway drop for me.

Coming out of the Siphon at the top of Energizer.

Getting my groove on.

Run number two from the bottom...what a great drop.



Landbridge falls.

Going very fast on the Landbridge slide.

The biggest slide we ran...Wintergreen falls.

Me ready for the hike out, which is longer than I remember.

It is quite amazing how things work sometimes. I finished the Dashboard Empanada...and right as I started to go to sleep from the third late night of exporting and fixing errors it started to piss rains and thunder like hell...I knew something good was coming in. Just the treats I needed before heading back west. I ready for Cali now :)

Photos by Adam Bixby and RiverGypsys

Later E.G.

Life in the Ville

Well as my visit on the East Coast is now coming close to its end, I want to toss up a few shots from the time I spent here. With out much water to go around...not even the Green. I have been getting into some new stuff. Skating, working???? I know, but sometimes duty calls. However, I have been putting in tons of hours on finishing my film from Chile Dashboard Empanada, as well. Here are some of the places and faces that have made my last few weeks memorable.

These are some good boys...we all gathered together and helped Shane clean out the old design shop for Liquid Logic. Left to Right... Adam Bixby, Jonathan, Myself, Candace, Randall, Pete, and Josh.

Woody Callaway celebrating his birthday Demshitz style with some bagged wine.

Casa de Callaway take out of the East Coast's most famous creek run.

Shane saying goodbye to the birthplace of so many good designs and times with a few hard swings of a sledgehammer.

Killing it in our basement room on town mountain here close to the center of the city. This movie is gonna be the shit.

Skating up Chattanooga on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

Thanks to everybody for treating me so well out here...and for one last hurrah the world premiere of Dashboard Empanada is going to be next Thursday the 29th at the Asheville Pizza Brewing at 9pm. Come on y'all lets party a bit before I head back out west. Thanks for everything Asheville, until next time. Photos by Candace Sanders.

Later E.G.

The Beast in the East

After my arrival to the East Coast and fired up from a season of hucking in Chile...I was still on my game and ready to continue my kayaking. The first thing that came up with the warming weather and rains was the Cullasaga...This run gave me a good taste of just how steep and scary these east coast river can get. I was really loving the volume and safety of my Jefe Grande on this run that's for sure. Take a peek, we had Pat Keller as our guide so things were fast and blind as normal. jk.

The Putin falls of the Lower Cullasaga river, a nice back set for a stout steep hike in.

The first drop of the ever so steep and manky Saga.

Pat getting back in the game...need less to say he didn't loose much style.

That's the look when you know you did something right.

Getting through the crux of the Cullasaga.

Isaac launching out of the crux of Eclipse on the Cullasaga.

Isaac styling a nasty rapid on the Saga. Either you pick a big undercut hole or a siphon?

After a run of that river it was time to head north to get up to the Watagua river and have a nice little race with all the local boys out there. Most of the top boater were in long boats (Green boats, and Tornados) but I just kept to my nice Jefe and did just fine I thought...I ended up in the 7th overall with a time of around 35 minuets I think. I was some good times out there and another new river for me to enjoy.

Everybody all smiling before the brutal 30+ minuet race down to Stateline falls.

We had to start above this really tight bridge and duck under the thing to get the race going...it was a good thing to be up front at the point.

Mark Miller boofing through the big hole at Hydro rapid on the Watagua.

Right next door to the Watagua is its brother the Elk river. Ever since I was a little kid watching videos I always wanted to get out here and run the putin falls of this river. To me it looked like the perfect 50 footer. So with some rains and a bit of luck we got to the Putin and found a good enough flow to go stouting.

Standing at the top of the drop, checking my line out one last time.

lining this one up was the most difficult part for me...it is dead flat above and the lip is pretty blind.

Looking down the barrel to the landing zone.

Sitting enjoying the view after I ran the drop. The falls was totally good to go and soft for me...after a winter of hucking in Chile this felt like the normal routine for me.

Then we have been bouncing back and forth when it rains to get a lot of runs down the Raven fork, which is my favorite river out the side of the Mississippi. Everybosy pretty much knows about this river so I will keep it short. It's like 700fpm and has tons of quality slides and drops. It's like the dirty sister to the Rio Nevado in Pucon...enjoy!

Look at the steeps in the Raven fork, it is quite a nice river.

Coming down to Anaconda falls at the top of the run.

This rapid is called Harges's drop...he must have gotten a bad beat down. Tricky turning boof, with a nice or a not-so-nice line through it.

EG to the rescue...why the drop got its name.

Catching a break in the snowy depths of the Raven fork gorge.

Maybe my favorite drop out here...Big Boy as the Natives call it...scholars maintain that the true meaning of the words were lost thousands of years ago. Ok...you get it! It's a very nice place to spend the day hiking and kayaking around.

And...really....whats a Southeast update without some of the most famous river in the area...THE GREEN!!!!!!

Getting groovy on the Green.

What's the old saying...??? "Spanking" the Monkey.

I love all these river and I have gotten to paddle lots out east now. I have been known to be a west coast boy all my life, but the last two years I have spend a month out here running around and I have to say...the whitewater is really good. I hope you guys enjoyed the awesome shots by Candace and a few words. I will be here for another two weeks and then I'm heading to the Columbia gorge for some what of a home coming tour.

Later E.G.

Raven Fork Video March 30th

I know I'm behind on updates, as I have gotten 4 Raven fork, 1 Elk, 1 Green, and 2 Watagua runs in already, but I'm working on it. Here is a sweet video that Myself and Gareth shot on Tuesday the 30th of March out on the Raven fork. This was my second day in a row out there and the sun was shining bright...so we shot some really nice video. Here is Gareth's edit to the day, make sure you watch the whole video to see Gabe singing at the end it's quite good. Enjoy...

Ravens Fork Spring Update from Gareth Tate on Vimeo.

Love this river...it has become my home run here in the East Coast. It's like the sluty sister to the Rio Nevados in Pucon.

Later E.G.