It’s Never too Late to Go Back to School

The Ocoee River in Tennessee.

Welcome to Whitewater
A Beginner’s Advice for Beginners

I remember the first time I saw whitewater kayakers dancing on the water. It was the mid-1990s, and I was rafting the middle Ocoee on a guided trip with some friends from work. I had recently moved from Philadelphia to Columbia, SC, and it was my first-ever whitewater adventure.

It was exhilarating!

Once I got over my initial fear of flying out of the raft into Class IV rapids, I became aware of what was going on around me. The beautiful rock formations shifting the water into different channels and creating eddies, the contrast of white and blue-green water, the sun glinting off the ripples in currents, and kayakers flowing in and out of the spaces between rafts. I distinctly remember watching paddlers playing around the confluence with Goforth Creek and thinking, “I’m going to do that someday.”

Thirty years later, at 55 years old, I finally was able to realize my dream of living in Western North Carolina—and with only a few more rafting excursions under my belt—I soon found myself on a guided trip through the Nolichucky Gorge. Making our way downstream through the majestic cliffs and undeveloped beauty of Pisgah and Cherokee National Forests, that desire to connect with the water one-on-one in a kayak came rushing back.

But I had absolutely no idea where to start, and I didn’t know anybody into paddling I could ask, either. Then, as if the Universe heard my call, when I was picking up my car keys after the trip, I spotted a brochure on the counter for Nolichucky Outdoor Learning Institute (NOLI)* in Erwin, TN. And, as silly as it sounds to me now, I didn’t realize there were schools and professionally certified instructors who taught whitewater kayaking—which also indicated that I was vastly underestimating what I would need to know to successfully and safely undertake this journey with ZERO experience at my age.

Since I was basically clueless, going back to school was the right answer for me. I immediately signed up for an “Introduction to Whitewater Kayaking” class. Knowing that I was going to be working with other newcomers under the direction of an American Canoe Association certified instructor put me at ease on several levels. It reduced my anxiety about safety and getting in over my head, so to speak. It gave me confidence that I would be able to ask questions—and that no question would be “too dumb.” And, finally, I also wanted to ensure that I learned skills correctly from the outset so I didn’t start out developing bad habits that were likely to be sticky given my age and lack of any other paddling experience.

Of course, there are other ways to go if you are a beginner, including paddle clubs and private instruction (which are both excellent choices, now in my wheelhouse, and topics for other posts), but this is how the plan unfolded for me, and I want to take you through my baby steps to help encourage you to get out on the river if you have any hesitation about your ability to learn at any age.

Remember: It’s never too late to go back to school!

*Resources: In addition to Nolichucky Outdoor Learning Institute (NOLI), which I can personally say is awesome and the closest school to my home in Burnsville, NC, I have heard excellent feedback about the instruction in Western North Carolina at Nantahala Outdoor Center and Endless River Adventures, both in the Bryson City area near the Nantahala River, as well as H2o Dreams on the Green River in Saluda. If you want to enlighten me about other great schools that I can share, email Lisa@DragonFlyNation.com.

Lisa is a fellow APE who lives in Burnsville, NC. She began her whitewater journey in 2023—30 years after taking her first rafting trip on the Ocoee and falling in love with the rivers of the Southeast.