We've returned safely from the Smokies and my annual run at the Ocoee during Draw Down. We a had a great time paddling some outstanding water with a fabulous bunch of boaters.
The Cast of Characters:
Bruce Litton, Bob Ward, Cliff Perry, Scott Coultas of Houston.
Tracy Harton of Austin
Ralph Lauer and Brett ? from the Big D.
Charlie Laws from Clayton GA, formerly Houston.
Scene 1:
We opened up the fun on Saturday afternoon by taking our one shot at the Upper Ocoee, a.k.a The Race Course. Bruce, Cliff and I timed our drive to allow us enough time to get a run in before the water got turned off. Ironically, TVA had been releasing water on that section for the whole month of September while wrangling with American WW and the local commercial outfitters over regularly scheduled releases into the future. The have since reached an agreement for 54 releases per year. AW, Salute!
All 3 of us had done the run before and knew what to expect. As we got on the water, the dark clouds started to gather. When we heard the faint sounds of thunder, we put the pedal to the medal to get down to the Ocoee Whitewater Center. We arrived just in time to get our boats dragged up the bank when the bottom fell out. In rained hard for about 15 mins then steady for another 10 mins or so. We were glad to see the rain ( what paddler wouldn't be ) because of what that might do to other rain dependant runs in the area. The rain cleared out the paddlers who were on the race course so we got back in and had the river to ourselves. Unfortunately, the rain delay meant the water had already been turned off upstream and we only had a little time to get down the river before it ran out.
We decided to take the easy line eddy hopping down the left side. As I pulled into the 4th or 5th eddy, I looked over to see Cliff out in the middle of the river. Just above Humongous. Wham! He drops out of sight into the largest whole on the river. The next thing I see is his boat floating down stream upside down. Bruce is in a eddy around the corner and I can't tell if he knows Cliff's in trouble. Off I go. I catch up with his boat but Cliff is nowhere to be seen. Hmmm? I guessed he'd swam to the bank so I chased his boat down and towed it to shore. Got out and emptied the water. Shortly, I saw Bruce coming down so I whistled him over. He hadn't seen Cliff either. We bushwhacked up through the trees to start back up river to find him. Pretty soon, we find him walking down the road looking for his boat. Cliff's first words were " I thought I was gonna die". He wasn't injured and he was smiling but he was clearly a little gun shy. After we walked him back to his boat all he wanted to know was if we had any more hard rapids. That answer was, just one. Roach Motel III+ to IV-. It's a long rapid with offset holes. As you dodge one hole, your set up to blaze right into the jaws of the next one. Even though Cliff has run this before, mentally he was in no shape for running down the meat. We led him down the super far right sneak at Roach Motel. When we got to Edge Of The World, the power house was generating and the ledge was completely washed out. NoBigDeal. Load the boats at the take out and off to Herb's BBQ for Dinner.
Scene 2:
As we were finishing up dinner, Bob drove up. He and Tracy had finally made it into town. Since it had been raining, I suggested we head over to the Tellico. If the water hadn't come up enough to make a run, we'd run Baby Falls (always enough water for that) then head back over to the Ocoee. Bob, Bruce and Tracy had never seen the Tellico and as we drove up the river road they were clearly impressed. More so because there were local boaters around and the river was just high enough for a run on the Ranger Section. ( turns out it was about 175cfs ) Wahoo! We went up to Baby Falls and every one had a great time running the falls for photo ops.We then headed back to below Jared's Knee for the put in. Since it was lunch time, we decided to eat before we got on the river. While we were eating, we noticed a lot of bees buzzing around Cliff's boat. Turns out, when he took his boat off the truck, he'd set it over the opening for some ground nesting bees. They were not happy but as soon as Cliff moved his boat, they calmed down. On the river we had a great run. Bridge rapid III-, Bounce Off Bolder III aka Judging Rock, and all the rest. Blue sky and sunshine. All in all , it turned into one heck of a nice run.
Scene 3:
Back at Circle J, we still hadn't seen Ralph and Brett. Kevin said they were pretty laid back so we shouldn't worry about them. They'd make it when they made it. The next morning we woke to clear skies and a morning low temp in the mid 30's. Another gorges day. Off to the Middle Ocoee. As we were getting ready to put in, Ralph and Brett showed up so they joined us. The 2 of them about doubled the crowd at the put in. As is typical of the release during draw down, the place was deserted. We had the river to ourselves. Bruce, Bob and I were the only ones who'd made the run before so we led the rest down explaining the routes traditional, hair and inadvertent. Ralph and Brett turned out to be pretty solid boaters as was Tracy. Bob, seemed to be a little off his game and paddle a little stiffly. As Kent Ford say, "If your stiff, you'll flip". Ralph wowed us all by doing an intentional "Fuji" at the hole in Double suck. Although he seemed in control and apparently enjoyed the ride, he declined a second helping of sticking hole surfing fun.
In our camp, we had the usual camp host, Lady, who is an amiable white lab. We also had the company of "Not My Dog" NMD has a cute little beagle that some one had dumped at the camp. Sweet dog with a good disposition. Edgar, the Camp owner asked if it was our dog. No, he's Not My Dog. Ed said it's not unusual for people to dump dogs there. He usually rounds them up after a couple of days a hauls them off to the pound. It made us a little sad to think of that but non of us could take him home with us.
Scene 3 Act II:
If it's Tuesday, we must be on the Ocoee. Yet another beautiful day. The lows around camp were in the low 30's but it was a dry cold and quite tolerable after leaving the heat back in Houston. As the sun rose, it warmed up nicely. At the put in, Charlie joined us and shared with us some of his more direct knowledge of the Ocoee. We played a lot more on this run. Bob found his grove or maybe greased his blade with Paddle Snake Repellant because he had a much better run including some nice combat rolls. At dinner that night, we decided it was time to up the ante' a bit. When we got back to camp, we loaded up enough to head over to Clayton for a couple nights to run Sect IV of the Chattooga.
Scene 4:
Turtle Rock. Bruce's dad owns a great house just south of Clayton, GA that he refers to as Turtle Rock. It's named for a Volkswagen sized rock in the back yard that looks like a giant turtle. Luxury. After camping out for the last couple of days, a roof and indoor plumbing. The house is decorated with turtles every where from turtle cabinet pulls to turtle glass hangers. It was actually kinda fun trying to find them all. Wednesday morning we made the brutal commute (20 mins) over to the put in for SectIV. Once again the weather was perfect. Only Charlie and I had ever run this section before and there was a certain air of apprehension. I was extremely glad Charlie was with us. His hysterical dry sense of humor brightened our spirits. Besides, Charlie works SectIV and knows it intimately at all water levels. Once the shuttle was run, it became time to air out the butterflies. What better spot than the Bull Sluice IV. The Bull is a teaser taste of what you'll see down stream and it's always a riot of fun. As William Neely said, "The best thing about the Bull is that ambulances can drive right up to the river for easy access". The Bull also boosts confidence as well. It's on par with most of the rapids on the run. We all had good runs and they were carnage free. Looking good.
Heading out, the water was quite clear. Under the bridge we checked out the gauge and it was 1.65ft. That was dead on my target level for this run and things looked great. Mostly we boat scouted with Charlie suggesting the common lines and hazards. One thing about the Chattooga, just because you can't see the pot hole/undercut, doesn't mean it's not there. The river is like swiss cheese. We all had pretty good lines on the rapids above the Five Falls, such as Screaming Left Turn III, Rock Jumble III, Woodall Shoals IV (class VI hole), 7 Foot Falls IV, Stekoa Ck III, Ravens Rock IV. At Woodall we all had pretty good runs except for Bret. He'd caught the eddy above the hole. When he peeled out, his line was a fraction too far left. He got stopped in the foamy water feeding into the hole and only flailing ninja strokes kept him from being sucked into certain oblivion.
At the 5F's. Bob elected to start his portage above Entrance Rapid III+ and the rest of us read and run on Charlie's excellent instructions. After scouting Corkscrew IV, Bruce and Tracy elected the dry line. They then set safety for those who ran it. The wet line is a weird flush though a swirling vortex of exploding water. You start right of center heading left right towards an exploding haystack 4' high. If you miss that line, you risk ending up in nasty hole on the right at the bottom. A swim here can lead you into Crack-in-the-Rock III+. I had what was my best lines of the whole trip even if I did finish stern low/ bow high, sort of speak. Crack-in-the-Rock is a very straight forward slot move. Don't forget to hold your paddle side ways or it'll get stuck in the slot. Charlie related a story to us about someone who forgot to do that. The guy's paddle got ripped from his hands and fell into the hole. It promptly sank, never to be seen again. Our group had very little trouble with Crack but it did cause a few combat rolls from unintendos. Jaw Bone IV doesn't get as much press as some of the other rapids in the 5F's. It's not too hard but the consequences for a mistake are quite severe. If you screw up, you likely be washed under Hydroelectric Rock. One of the most dangerous places on the river. The current runs through a hole at the base of a car sized boulder. Boat's, bodies and logs get hung up in the hole and the force of the water holds them there. Not a happy place. We all did good runs though and set up for the last rapid which is likely the crux move for the whole run. Sock-em-Dog IV+. This is an 8' boof over the second nastiest hole on the river. The trick is to peel out of a 3 boat eddy on river right 20' above the drop. Compensate to the right as the current pushes you left and jump your boat off the 3' wide "Launching Pad". If done correctly, it's a shit load of fun. Done wrong, you either land on a poorly padded boulder to the left or the hole immediately underneath the ledge. There you will get to practice your hole escape strategies in earnest. Most of our runs were fine. On mine, I over compensated about a foot right and plunged deeply but safely through the hole. Below the "Dog" is Dead Man's Pool. It's named for people who have too many bad lines through the falls. Funny thing is, it's usually a great relief to be there. Especially if your sunny side up and breathing on your own.
After the Falls is Shoulder Bone III+. It's sort of anti-climatic after paddling the fury in the Falls but still a fun rapid. Down stream is one of the funniest Splat rocks in the South East. It probably has a name but I've forgotten it. Charlie showed us Possum Creek Falls which is a short hike off the river right before Lake Tugaloo. This beautiful cascade is 30-40' high set in a lush old growth hard wood forest. You'd never know it was there unless someone told you. Then there's "the Lake". Unfortunately Lake Tugaloo is the price you pay for paddling Section IV. If it was at the beginning of the run, I suspect fewer people would paddle the river because a 2 mile lake paddle is not very appealing even for a Texas paddle. It does go by pretty quickly though and boy are you glad to be at the Takeout when your done.
Scene 4, Act II:
Since it was so perfect, we decided o do Sect.IV again. Wouldn't you? This run was different mainly because we'd seen it the day before. The only butterfly's came for those who ran something they'd walked on the previous run.
We ate lunch above 7'Falls. The hero line here is to boof your boat on a rock in the middle of the river. Hit it and you'll land pretty as you please. Miss it, and your going to get flushed into the undercut cliff river left. Bob had taken the sneak sluice route river right the day before so now he knew where to run today. Confidence high. That's when it always happens.
As some of you may not know, Southeastern WW is the home of the infamous Paddle Snake. Known by it's Latin name: Squirrlious Flipicus Swimmem. It is empathetic and can sense a paddler's emotional state. When you are where you think you need to be and confident of your line, Bam!, it hits you. Biting your paddle and dragging you under water. Bob got bit in the current line just above 7'. When his head popped out of the water, 2' from the lip of the falls, he set Olympic speed records swimming into the eddy right above the falls. You could tell by the look on his face it was a great day to be alive. The darn snake got Tracy too. It must have moved down stream a little because it didn't bite him until he was trying to paddle away from the undercut. Chomp. Tracy then did a fish survey and found that there weren't any there.
Down in the 5F's the most notable event was the 3rd attack of the Paddle Snake. Charlie got bit going off Sock-Em-Dog and spent a few seconds surfing the hole. Only his clear thinking and hole riding skill saved him. That PS hung out in the whole for a while because while we were sitting in DeadMan'sPool, a couple of more people from another group got bitten in the same place as Charlie. Fortunately the worst injury was a bruised ego. Survivable.
After the "Tugaloo Torture" paddle, we loaded up and headed back over to the Circle J in Murphy. We really hadn't paddled the Ocoee much and were anxious to get some more runs in. Charlie had to get back to work so we said our farewells. Ralph and Brett were anxious to see the Nantahala so we sent them on their way too.
Scene 5:
If it's Friday, this must be the Ocoee. Bob had to start back to Houston so we bid him farewell. I think he's already marked his calendar for next year cause even though he was stretched to his limits, he had a good time. The rest of us headed down the gorge to Rock Creek and did a little shopping. On the way back up the gorge to the put in, the traffic came to a complete stop. When that happens on the Old Copper Road, it's not a good sign. We hopped out started walking up the road. About 100 yards in front us there was a wreck. No injury's but it was clear that it wasn't going anywhere for a while. None of us felt all that motivated to do a full run so we decided to "Park & Play" at Cat's Pajamas. Had a good time fooling around in the eddy lines and play waves then went up to the White Water Center ( the wreck had cleared out ) for some souvenir shopping. All in all, a pretty laid back day.
Back at Circle J we noticed that Not My Dog wasn't around. We feared the worst. When we asked Ed, he said his brother in law who was building a house up the hill had decided to take him in. Whew. What a relief.
Scene 6:
A little melancholy as we broke camp. After paddling, we'd be heading straight home. We decided to make it a short day and put in at Goforth Creek. As we were unloading our boats, a paddler walked up from under the bridge and asked for some help. He'd just rescued a guy who had a rough swim. We helped the guy back up to the bed of Bruce's truck and got him laid down. Did a little first aid on his bruised and bleeding legs and covered him up to warm him. Turns out, he's a raft guide who decided to try his luck paddling an IK down the river. He got trashed in 3 Stooges II+ and swam Flipper III-, the rocks below Flipper and Hollywood Hole. Ouch!. By the time he got down to Goforth, he was cold, wet and disoriented. When a ranger came by, we got him to radio the guy's raft company and they came and picked him up. I wonder if he'll keep paddling solo? Well after all that, we got on the river and had, what else? , another glorious day on the Ocoee.
Parting Shot:
Got back to the Little House on the Swamp in the early afternoon on Sunday. Hot, Hot, Hot. Sunny welcomes from the family are always a treat after being gone for a week. Now we'll start the planning or 2004. Maybe we'll get more runs on the Upper Ocoee.
See You There?!
Scott </>