On the Road

Highway 19 West is the only road that runs the length of the Nantahala gorge. The speed limit ranges from 35 mph to 50 mph as the road curves and winds through the narrow canyon. There is no shoulder. Considering its distance from civilization, around here best defined by the presence of a Wal-Mart and a Waffle House, there is a surprising amount of traffic. It consists of everything from locals in pick-up trucks to tourists in sedans and river trolls in SUVs with four kayaks on top. There are also buses carting vacationers to the put-in and trailers loaded with rafts. To complicate matters further, massive trucks speed along the narrow roadway, hauling supplies to the Wal-Marts and Waffle Houses that are so few and far between. As if the traffic alone wasn’t enough of an issue, the gorge is also a temperate rainforest. The roads are effectively permanently wet. Add a bunch of teenage, college-age, and generally immature raft guides, and you have a recipe for roadway disaster.

Indeed, in the three weeks I’ve been down here, there have been at least three car accidents involving NOC staff. One hydroplaned going through a big turn, over-corrected, hit the guardrail and flipped, totaling the car. Another just rammed the guardrail. Most recently, a vehicle went straight over the guardrail and hit the ditch, destroyed.

I blame the high speed limits. As we all know, rules were made to be broken, and just about everyone goes 40 in a 35. That usually works out just fine, but speed limits generally refer to the road in good, dry condition. Highway 19 is rarely, if ever, dry. After all, the gorge is home to a temperate rainforest. Regardless, people refuse to adjust their speed to the conditions, possibly because of the magical invincibility of youth.

Working as a raft guide is quite the adventure, but it seems just getting to work is more life threatening.