Johnson City whitewater guide keeps family history alive

Solomon Lennon is turning a family tradition and lifelong passion into a career on the river. The Johnson City native and East Tennessee State University student guided visitors down the French Broad River over the July 4 weekend, saying that while local rivers have changed since Hurricane Helene, the thrill of rafting remains the same. "The picture doesn't get the full part of that rapid," Lennon said. "But that is a class three rapid. There's a nice rock in it that if you run up on it the right way, you can spin off of it really hard. We sadly didn't get a picture of that, but you can imagine us spinning off and almost dunking half of the boat." Lennon said his love of rafting was handed down to him from his parents. "I've been living on an outpost off and on for most of my life," he said. "Both of my parents were river guides starting in the late '90s, so it felt like it was kind of preset that I would be a guide too." Lennon said his parents guided on the Nolichucky River before Hurricane Helene devastated the area nearly two years ago. Lennon said he spent much of his childhood there before the event. "I grew up on the USA Raft campground and outpost," he said. "I've gotten one run in recently since Helene on the Nolichucky River, and it's definitely changed a lot. I would say it's probably gotten harder. It's quite different, but still very much the same at its heart." Now in his second year as a guide, Lennon works for French Broad Adventures. He said East Tennessee is one of the country's best places for whitewater rafting because of its variety of rivers and scenery. "You get to experience so many different environments in nature," Lennon said. "You also get to interact with people that you would rarely ever get to meet. I just had a trip about a week ago with a family from Australia." He said meeting people from around the world has become one of the most rewarding parts of the job. "I wouldn't have gotten to meet some of the most interesting people that I've met if it wasn't for rafting," he said. Lennon said he also enjoys the mental challenge of reading the river and choosing the safest (and most fun) route through the rapids. "It's a lot like a puzzle," he said. "It's fun to have that mental challenge of figuring out where you need to go and what you need to do. It can be a very, very stressful environment. The river is always changing, and that can be difficult." "You can get on the water and it be pretty low, and then, within an hour, it can surge up and turn into a completely different river," he added. Lennon is entering his second year at East Tennessee State University as a surveying and mapping major and is currently working with university leadership to start a whitewater club. "Right now, it's still very early in the process," he said. "The goal is to get people out in nature. ETSU is centered in one of the prettiest outdoor locations you can find around here. I feel like paddling is just as much a part of that as climbing or hiking, so we're trying to push for more people to experience these places." "There's also some competitions and races that would be fun to do with other students," he added. Lennon said he hopes to continue the family tradition of guiding after graduation while using his surveying and mapping degree for contract work. He said the flexibility of the profession would allow him to travel, stay on the river and have a career to rely on while he pursues his lifelong passion.