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OCOEE Draw Down 2004

Sunday 10/3/04 (“This Was Edgar’s Place”)

Tracy Harton and I arrived at Circle J Campground at 1:45am after driving for 13 ½ hours, and we promptly crashed. I woke up to Jamie Mitchell pounding on the window of my camper shell (at the ungodly hour of 10am). Jamie had been wandering aimlessly around the Northeast for a month and had arrived the day before. He paddled the main Ocoee on Saturday with somebody from somewhere, and although the details are a closely guarded secret, it is said that a swim may have been involved. Also at the campground to meet us was Robert Terry from Houston via his Dad’s house in Kentucky (Robert was traveling incognito). Robert had also paddled the Ocoee Saturday and evidently there were no swims involved.

We arrived just before the crack of noon at the put-in for the Upper Ocoee. When we arrived at “Mikey’s Ledge” we pulled over to scout it, as Tracy and Jamie were Mikey’s virgins. We scouted the line and everyone ran the 8’ boof ledge without incident. Next was “Blue Hole”, a series of ledges, rocks, holes and waves that always seems to flip me. Sure enough, on the big wave train at the bottom I flipped and rolled quickly to avoid the shallow rocks I have visited before. The Olympic racecourse was next and we elected to scout it also. The wimp (our) line at the Racecourse is to stay left the whole way down, thus avoiding most of the big stuff, especially “Humongous” lurking below. Tracy decided to test his roll in one of the fastest sections of the course, but he rolled up quickly and was on his way (to the left). It is rumored that Robert flipped and rolled in the big wave train at the bottom, but I did not witness it and cannot independently verify that account. Next was “Roach Motel”, a long rapid with huge randomly scattered holes, usually hidden by big waves. Jamie was pleading with Robert and I to describe a route through the maelstrom, but we couldn’t. It’s so long and there are so many holes that you just have to avoid them on the fly, or punch through hard. The Roach is one of the most impressive rapids on the Ocoee and it was a blast. Afterwards Jamie understood why we weren’t able to describe the line to him. Robert and I could not remember the line at the “Edge of the World” ledge so we stayed to the right and avoided it. Our day on the river was done and it had been great. The Upper is a lot different from the main Ocoee and is well worth the effort to get there for a scheduled release.

That evening I spoke with Pat, the widow of Circle J’s late owner and raconteur Edgar Johnson. Many of us have done the trek to Circle J over the years and I expressed condolences for all at Edgar’s recent passing. As a small token I gave her a new Hidalgo Falls t-shirt and she was very appreciative. We talked about what she is going to do and it sounds like she will be closing the campground by the end of the year. It’s sad, and we will be losing a great place to stay, but like she said “this was Edgar’s place” and on many levels it is too hard for her to do it without him. She said it will stay with the family and eventually they may reopen. (BTW – Edgar was a graduate of UNC – Chapel Hill and was a pharmaceutical representative when he decided he wanted a simpler life in the North Carolina mountains. He owned and ran and gave personality to a great campground for 35 years. Another local character, my Uncle John Litton from Waynesville, NC, was also a lover of mountains and rivers. He was going to meet with us at Circle J on this trip but he passed away a couple weeks before our arrival. Edgar and John would have been great friends. This trip report is dedicated to them.)

Monday 10/4/04 (“They Still Allow Open Canoes on the Ocoee!?”)

Once again we put on the river today somewhere near the crack of noon. Joining our quartet (Tracy, Robert, Jamie, Bruce) at the put-in for the main Ocoee was Glenn Hart, who recently moved from Austin to Black Mtn., North Carolina, and Mike Wagner from Rogers, Arkansas. For those who have never been there the main (middle) Ocoee starts with a bang. “Entrance” rapid is almost all “Snow White” as far as the eye can see. Everyone took the left line to avoid “Grumpy’s” ledge, and all was well until……… “Broken Nose”. Let me explain it this way, I WOULD NOT recommend surfing the bottom hole at Broken Nose (I swam out). At “Double Suck” Tracy and I ran the slide on the left while everyone else ran the main drop and successfully skirted the Double Suck hole. Glenn had never run the Ocoee before so he had scouted the rapid from the road bank, and then proceeded to have a great run. In fact, Glenn had a great day on the river. Back in the day there used to be a ton of open canoes on the Ocoee, but that’s not the case anymore. A good OC-1 boater is fun to watch and Glenn was in total control, as I never saw him miss a line or even come close to flipping. We passed through Double Trouble, Flipper, Tablesaw and Diamond Splitter without incident. Jamie had a slight dunking after playing in the “Witches” hole below Diamond Splitter, but props to him for going into the hole at all (most of us did not). We continued through Accelerator, Cat’s Pajamas, Hell Hole, and Powerhouse and the day was done. We said goodbye to Jamie, who was loaded up with a bike, 2 boats, countless surfboards, and God knows what else, as he CLAIMED he was finally going home after his odyssey in the East (we’ll see). Glenn had dinner with us and headed back to Black Mtn., and Robert, Tracy and I returned to Circle J to prepare for another day on the river.

Tuesday 10/5/04 (“Just Follow The Line That Log Just Took”)

Of the original and supporting players from the previous days, only a trio was left for today. Robert, Tracy and I had decided to go to “Baby Falls” on the Tellico River for a photo shoot, and then we would run part of the Ocoee in the afternoon. As expected, the water at the Tellico was quite low. We had all run Baby Falls before, but never at that low a level so we weren’t sure what to expect. We took photos and/or video from the top and bottom for every run as I did it 3 times and Robert and Tracy “fell” twice. I say “fell” because we quickly discovered that at low levels it was difficult to get much speed over the 15’ waterfall. We were all in short play boats, we had to scrape down the rapid above the falls so there was little assistance from the current, and for the most part we just fell like logs off the edge. It was still worth the trip (a whole hour drive!), it was great fun, and we got some good documentation of the event.

We headed back to the Ocoee and put in at GoForth Creek to run the lower half of the river. We paddled somewhat wearily through the lower rapids, as we were all kind of tired. It was just a normal afternoon on the river (which means it was the best possible use of our time).

Wednesday 10/6/04 (“Molly, Where’s My Breakfast!!!! And the Laundry Too!!!!!”)

Our party has grown considerably today. Kevin Fujii arrived yesterday after driving from Houston (and he began gathering twigs for the fire immediately and constantly thereafter). On Tuesday afternoon he did some park and play on the wave below “Entrance” rapid and then he showed up at Circle J that night. Ralph Lauer and Brett Crawford had also arrived Tuesday (from DFW) and did some playing at “Hell Hole” before joining us at the campground. ALSO, Molly Cumming had arrived about 11pm Tuesday night from Atlanta in her soccer mom rental mini van after flying in from Houston (we had her boat and gear there already). And finally, Charlie Laws met us at the put-in for the main Ocoee. We now had……….let me count (literally)……eight boaters in our group for the day (all in kayaks). Charlie is from Houston but is a legend in these parts as a Chattooga River raft (and kayaker) guide. He is a great guy with a million stories and it is always a blast to paddle with him. Ralph and Brett are very good play boaters and it was very entertaining to watch them jump into the biggest holes on the river. Robert and Tracy were very solid as always, Kevin played a lot and had an excellent day, and Molly played a bunch (and rolled every time). She is a very good boater and she has a bombproof combat roll, but she admittedly has no brace to speak of. Molly’s “brace posture” is to set up for a roll and we delighted in giving her hell about this the rest of the week (she actually did try to brace once later in the week and we fear it may have caused a permanent injury). Molly was a very good sport, and she had to be starting very early in her trip. That morning our campsite had been visited by a good ‘ol boy from the “hills of Mississippi” and he openly wondered why Molly was not doing our cooking and laundry. Us menfolk thought that sounded like a keen idea, but we had a hard time convincing Molly of the wisdom espoused by Jethro.

As we continued down the river I missed a roll below Diamond Splitter and bailed out. It was a short easy swim with all my gear into an eddy on the left, but it was stupid and of course now it bugs the hell out of me. When I missed the roll I was in turbulent water, got discombobulated, and bailed out before trying another. After a 6-month crisis period my roll has gotten a lot better, but it obviously still needs some work. However, the big news of the day that prompted an immediate call to CNN and the BBC was that Charlie also swam today. We were playing in the “Gerbil Stuffer” hole (no comments please) below Diamond Splitter when he flipped, lost his paddle to a paddlesnake, and swam out of the boat. The carnage was collected quickly in the eddy next to the hole, but Charlie was disconsolate and kept muttering unintelligible things about paddles and snakes and evil happenings in “them thar’ hills” (we decided a paddle lobotomy was probably in order). We passed easily through the final rapids, watched the “playas” at Hell Hole for a while, and Charlie, Brett and Ralph had fun helping to free a pinned canoe at Powerhouse rapid.

Robert departed after paddling to go back to Kentucky, then Houston, and the rest of us headed for Herb’s BBQ for some sustenance. Eating as a group listening to Charlie tell stories is almost as fun as paddling. This evening we had a quaint little discussion about what some of the Polk County Tennessee locals might do with Molly given the chance. It involved her own private box under the bed from which she could emerge to play only after dark. Hence our battle cry from that point forward; “Hey Molly, it’s dark outside, time to come out and play!” It was the perfect end to a phat day on the Ocoee River.

Thursday 10/7/04 (“It’s Double Suck’s World, We’re All Just Living In It”)

Late last night (early this morning) we had another addition to our crew when Dave Mitchell (aka, Dave The Mexican, Dave The Wave, Son of Mother of The Wave) arrived from San Marcos. Also joining us at the put-in for the main Ocoee was a friend of Dave’s from near Chattanooga named Chris. Glenn Hart had rejoined our group, and we were expecting to meet Houston native, NOC Stud, and all around great guy Gary Studwell at the put-in. Gary hadn’t shown up by 12:30 so we put on the river and figured he would catch up. The nine of us took our time going down the river, playing a lot, and eventually Gary met up with us below “Double Trouble”. By then Chris had gone on downriver, so our posse still numbered nine. Because of his tardiness Gary had missed the main attraction of the day, Kevin’s awesome “Fujii (Mark II)” at “Double Suck”. Kevin had followed Glenn down the main drop. The only problem was that in his big OC-1 Glenn was able to bridge over the Double Suckage spot, while Kevin’s little playboat obligingly entered the ugly hole for an extended surf session. It was extremely impressive. At first I was some distance away and all I could see was the ends of Kevin’s red Chronic cart wheeling at warp speed in the hole. Was he in control? Could he breathe? Who really cared, it was fun to watch. We estimated that Kevin was in the hole for at least a minute (one hour and 15 minutes in “Double Suck” time) and he had so many “unintendos” that we lost count. Finally the hole decided to surf Kevin upside down for an extended period of time and Kevin decided that rather than continuing with the fun, it might be a good idea to breathe some oxygen. He bailed, we collected the scattered gear, and we all had a great story to tell. Kevin was a little disconcerted, but of course he got right back in the boat and continued on down the river in fine form (although I think there was still water leaking out of his ears for hours afterward).

While the big dogs (Ralph, Brett, etc.) played at “Double Trouble”, the rest of us went down to John and Sue’s Rock for enders on river left and awesome stern squirts on river right. This was a favorite spot for us little dogs as there is easy play and a lot of flipping and easy rolling. I discovered something revolutionary as I played, when you flip, OPEN YOUR EYES STUPID!!! (talking to myself) Probably seems obvious to most people, but from paddling at Hidalgo Falls I had gotten into the habit of closing my eyes every time I flipped. It was amazing how much easier it was to roll with my eyes open. I could see if the boat was settled, see my set-up, etc. I had finally seen the light.

We continued down the river (with Gary now) and had another fine day on the Ocoee. We had a silent moment of remembrance for Charlie’s swim at “Gerbil Stuffer” the day before, and by the time we got to Hell Hole the river had been “turned off” for over an hour and “Hell Hole” disappeared in front of our eyes. At the takeout we had a great game of Frisbee thanks to Dave the Boy Scout being prepared with 3 discs. Everyone had fun with that for a while, with Glenn especially showing great style, before the hunger pangs took over and we headed west to go eat at Wildwater. Although we were all camped in the other direction we agreed to go that way because Gary then needed to continue on to Cleveland to get “cat food”. We think it may have been some illicit parking lot “cat food” deal (Science Diet no less), but we’re not sure and Gary’s not talking. When we got to dinner our stomachs were empty, the beer was cold, and most of us got a little tipsy before the first fork was wielded in anger. It was a great meal with a great group and some great conversation. Just another crappy day on the river.

Friday 10/8/04 (“Hey Man, Ya Got Sumthin’ Attached To Yur’ Van Thar”)

The dinner and campfire conversation last night had partly involved where to paddle the next day. The Chattooga was at about 1.9’ and Charlie had extended an invitation for anyone that wanted to paddle with a raft trip down Section IV. Charlie would be guiding a raft so whoever went would have to rely on the guidance of the photo and/or safety boaters. With the high water and uncertain guidance not all were comfortable with tackling Section IV, so we decided to split up. Ralph, Brett, and Dave (a Section IV first timer!) decided to go meet up with Charlie’s group while the rest of us (Molly, Tracy, Bruce, Kevin, and Glenn) decided to go to the candy store,…er….I mean the Nantahala Outdoor Center, to shop and paddle with Gary on the Nantahala River.

I demo’d a Necky Chronic that Gary graciously provided and Molly got a demo Pyranha H3, as she needs to procure a big boat for an upcoming trip to China. We discovered that the H3 was a good surfing boat, as it would stay on squirrelly waves rather than getting blown off, and Molly even attempted to stern squirt the barge. We think that at some point in her playfulness the fateful moment may have come when she attempted to brace and injured herself. We also quickly discovered that for some reason the water was warmer than the normal 50 degrees (a pleasant surprise). Somewhere about halfway down the 6-mile run we pulled into an eddy on the left and Gary began carrying his boat up the bank to the railroad tracks above. What followed was a big, spine-compressing bump as we hit the dirt from the elevated tracks, and then a long fast slide into the river (c’mon Gary, isn’t there anything fun to do out here! geez!). It was awesome and we continued playing our way down the river. I discovered that a short play boat opens up all kinds of play possibilities on the Nanty that are not there with a longer boat. On the other hand, Molly’s demo boat failed her at “Nantahala Falls”. Like any good test pilot she tested it’s limits by allowing it to drift sideways into the bottom hole. The boat failed, Molly rolled up, and she vowed to put a Liquid Logic through the same excruciating test on Sunday (don’t hate the “playa”, hate the boat). Gary had described a right side line at the Falls called the “wildwater” route and it was my intention to take that route since I had never done it before. It was supposed to be fast and direct, but we (Tracy and Kevin foolishly followed me) went too far right and ran an undiscovered “creek” route at Nantahala Falls. I did about half of it in a stern squirt from the first hole, but it was fun and we had a first descent to tell the grandkids about (a first for us at least). We played some on the waves and holes between the Falls and the Outdoor Center, and topped it off with some great, fast surfing at the “NOC Wave” just above our takeout (I LOVE this Chronic……must have it….).

At the takeout we discovered that Gary’s van was broke and wouldn’t start, despite the spray skirt being firmly attached on the back, so Glenn and I hitchhiked back to the put-in for our trucks. Because Gary had no transportation we agreed to go eat in his neck of the woods (Bryson City), and then we would take him home. The pizza was good, the beer was better, and as usual the conversation was stimulating (or something like that). We took the windy roads to Gary’s home in “back woods yonder hills”, North Carolina and we headed back to Circle J (without Glenn who went home to watch Texas-OU the next day – ugghh!).

On the way back we passed through Murphy, NC – home of “Hide and Seek” Champion Eric Rudolph, who following the 1996 Olympic bombing eluded authorities in the mountains and dumpsters around Murphy for 5 years. Mr. Hide and Seek had been one of Charlie’s favorite subjects at dinner Wednesday night. We successfully negotiated our way through Murphy and arrived back at Circle J around 9-9:30. The Chattooga Gang arrived very shortly after that and were extremely stoked and amazed at their day on that awesome river. The water was much higher than we had run it last year (1.9 vs. 1.65) and I asked Ralph and Brett about the differences and the lines they took through the big rapids. They went “with” Charlie’s raft trip, but were mostly led down the river by an 18-year-old safety boater named Zack. They said Zack was good at pointing out all the possible lines and would leave the decision up to them. Ralph and Brett ran everything (including the “Puppy Chute” at “Sock-Em Dog” as the main, bottom hole was very fugly), and Ralph didn’t like his run at “Corkscrew” so he decided to run it AGAIN. Even though Dave The Wave was a first-timer (in a playboat) he ran everything except the swirling maelstroms at Corkscrew and Sock ‘Em Dog. Dave was effusive in his praise of the beautiful and challenging Chattooga and wants to return soon. It sounds like that group wants to dispense with the “Ocoee” draw down and just spend a week at the Chattooga (a valid thought). One of the best parts about their trip to “Deliverance” land was that they got a motor tow out at the lake (thanks to being with a raft trip), and they got to have one more dinner with Charlie at a fine Mexican establishment in Clayton, GA (Dave felt right at home).

Saturday 10/9/04 (“Watch Out For ‘Humongous’ Snakes”)

Today we woke up to the first cloudy day since we arrived. Kevin had left early in the morning to return to Houston, we would not be paddling with Gary and/or Charlie today, and Glenn was off watching some football game. Those of us who were left (Ralph, Brett, Dave, Bruce, Molly and Tracy) made our appointment for another “crack of noon” put-in on the Upper Ocoee. Ralph, Brett and Molly had never run the Upper and we were explaining and looking forward to some of the bigger rapids. Our first stop was at “Mikey’s Ledge” to scout it and to set up for photos below the ledge. Ralph took an interesting line through the seam to the left of the usual launch point, and Molly took an even more interesting line to the right of the intended launch where she got stopped in shallow water on the lip of the ledge. After a little sight seeing from the top of the ledge Molly dropped in, flipped and rolled (of course) and joined us at the bottom (see the photos of Molly in action on Tracy’s website). The next big rapid, “Blue Hole” deserved a scout so we walked down to take a look. Everyone had good lines through the rocks, holes and waves, and thanks to a couple of well timed “oh shit” slap braces at the bottom it didn’t even flip me (for once). After running “Callihan’s Ledge” at the top of the Olympic Racecourse (I got back-endered, Tracy and Molly flipped and rolled) we got out to scout the rest of the Racecourse and we ran across a raft-full of carp that had evidently swam through “Blue Hole” (ouch!). They appeared to be extremely shocked and dismayed by the whole experience. Joining us in the designated boat parking area was a big, lethargic snake that Brett found curled up in the rocks. We all stared at “Humongous” for way too long (Ralph refused to probe the hole for us), and then Dave, Molly, Tracy and I went on our merry way scraping every rock on the left side of the river. Ralph and Brett were much more adventurous and took some different lines and they played some at “Smiley’s” rodeo hole (Molly also played there unintentionally – she side surfed for awhile to take stock of her situation and then did a fish count and roll to get out). We all made it safely past “Humongous” and through the huge wave train under the final bridge, creeping towards “Roach Motel”.

As mentioned previously, The Roach is a helluva rapid with huge waves and holes all over the place. Dave and Tracy had obviously talked beforehand because in the top wave hole they pulled off perfectly synchronized side-by-side stern squirts, flips and rolls. It was a thing of beauty and we applauded them for their efforts (they’ll be going on tour soon). The rest of the run was thrilling as we rode huge waves and attempted (sometimes unsuccessfully) to dodge big holes. The Roach is scary and fun and it is probably my favorite rapid on the Ocoee. At the “Edge of the World” Tracy, Molly and Dave stayed right to avoid the Edge, while Brett, Ralph and I elected to run the 6’ ledge into a squirrelly channel on the left side of the river. The ledge is about 100’ long and I couldn’t remember the line so Brett and I caught a leaky micro eddy at the top (the only one I could see), and we sat there trying to get a look over the edge to find the best line. While Brett and I debated the finer points of the drop Ralph paddled up and we waved him away as we were in a precarious spot. He looked at us quizzically, asked what the hell we were doing (we had no idea), and he proceeded to paddle off the ledge blindly. Brett and I decided that looked like a good spot to go off so we peeled out and followed Ralph off the Edge. Brett made it upright into the weird side channel while I got back endered in the super aerated water and rolled up. All that was left was a casual float to the takeout. We said goodbye in the parking lot as Dave and Brett were headed back to Texas, Ralph was going to park and play at Smiley’s (then on to Montgomery, Alabama then home), and Molly and I decided to make it a Ocoee Double Play Day by running the main Ocoee down to GoForth Creek, where Tracy would pick us up.

Molly was not real pleased with her run on the Upper and wanted to leave with a better feeling, and I just wanted to paddle and play some more as this was our last day. Molly and I went quickly through Entrance, Broken Nose and Double Suck. At Double Trouble Tracy was on the river right bank to get some pictures. We ran the meat of the rapid for the camera and it was great fun. Molly and I played for quite a while at John and Sue’s Rock, her on river left at the ender spot and me on river right at the stern squirt spot. We played a lot and rolled a lot (with my eyes open!), and then we finally ran the last big rapid (Flipper) and met up with Tracy and my truck at GoForth Creek. It had been a great day and we were completely spent. We headed for the Mexican restaurant in Copperhill for a final meal together (the 3 of us who were left), and we returned to Circle J for our final night there (hopefully not forever). Tracy and I would be leaving early Sunday morning for Texas while Molly was returning to the NOC to test pilot some more boats before flying out of Atlanta Sunday evening.

It was an outstanding trip with a fantastic group of people and we are already making plans for next year. It is a little bittersweet because Circle J may not be there next year for us to stay at, but after talking to Pat later in the week it sounds like there is some hope that they may stay open, or at least reopen quickly. Pat told us to check back with her next spring. Circle J and the assorted animals there are a part of the whole experience of this trip, and it adds up with everything else to make it a tremendous happening every year.

Here is a complete list of the “playas” in order of appearance, their city of origin, and the days (and boats) they paddled.

Lady the Dog – Circle J (all the time) – old school Grumman canoe with Styrofoam flotation

Yum Yum the Cat – Circle J (all the time) – prefers slicey C-1’s

Robert Terry – Houston (Sat – Wed) – Dagger Ego

Jamie Mitchell – Austin (Sat – Mon) – Riot Booster 60

Bruce Litton - Houston (Sun – Sat) – Jackson Fun and Necky Chronic (demo on Nantahala)

Tracy Harton - Austin (Sun – Sat) – Pyranha S-6

Glenn Hart – Black Mtn, NC (Mon, Thur, Fri) – Dagger Rival OC-1

Mike “Old School” Wagner – Rogers, Ark (Mon, Sat) – Dagger Vortex

Kevin “The Twig Gatherer” Fujii – Houston (Tue – Fri) – Necky Chronic

Ralph Lauer – Fort Worth (Tue – Sat) – Prijon Delerious

Brett Crawford – Arlington (Tue – Sat) – Dagger G-Force

Molly “Out of the Box” Cumming – Houston (Wed–Sun) –Dagger Ego & Pyranha H3 (demo)

Charlie Laws – Chattooga River (Wed, Fri) – Wavesport EZ

Dave “The Mexican Wave” Mitchell – San Marcos (Thur – Sat) – Dagger Kingpin

Chris from Ringgold, GA near Chattanooga (Thur) – Dagger G-Force

Gary Studwell – In a Van Down By The River (Thur – Sat) – Necky Chronic

THE END (finally).

Bruce Litton