The 6.5 Rivers Expedition
Saturday April 8th - Little (Sinks past Elbow) 3.5 miles
We left Columbus around 8:30am, hooked up with Big Mike in Cincy at around 10:30. Once we got close to the Smokies, Big Mike got word that the Little still had water in it running around 900 cfs. We drove straight there, calling Matt Wiesenheim along the way since he was in Gatlinburg with his family. He hooked up with us and we all got out and scouted the Meanies and the Sinks. Everyone decided that being our first day on the river, and after driving 9 hours maybe we'll skip the top two. So, we put in below the sinks. I hadn't been in my Diesel for a while, but decided I'd feel more comfortable in it. Upon launching, I decided to warm up with some ferries across the sink flows. I got flipped! Tried 3 unsuccessful rolls, and swam! In a stinking eddie line, in front of everyone who was gawking at us, who are now probably thinking we're all going to die after seeing that. We didn't have a guide, so Big Mike and myself took turns being probes. We blasted our way down to a big rapid (no idea, 3 seperate drops back to back with no straight lines down through it all), got out and scouted it, picked our line, and everyone cleaned it. After that it was like a long roller coaster just blasting down through the creek with a lot of speed. It was the first time I've paddled anything that continuous and it was really exhilerating. At one point when Mike was leading, I was right behind him, it looked like a little drop from river right to the left around a rock and then POOF he was gone. I had about 5 feet before I realized where he went, down a big gnarly looking drop between two rocks. With no time to correct, I dropped off, started to flip but braced, and held it all the way down the drop and then finally flipped at the bottom. Unable to get the Diesel rolled up AGAIN I had to swim, at least this time there was a reason instead of freakin flat water and wimpy eddie lines. Matt came down after me and he too swam, everyone else came out unscathed. Later I realized that was the Elbow, and we should have been a little more prepared for it. Not an issue though,
and we finished up the run in near complete darkness (someone at the sinks said "OH YEAH you can do that in about 1.5 hours", pffft). We put on at 6pm, and at 8:30pm in nearly complete darkness we're still going strong, with only white caps visible here and there. We decided to hike out, and have Matt walk the road down to his truck. They eventually came back, and around 10:30-11pm we were all finally dry again. Not knowing anything else was running, and not wanting any of the Cheoah, we decided Big Creek campground would be good because the Pigeon had been running consistently.
Sunday April 9th - Pigeon (Dam to Hartford) 4.2 miles
Little Big Creek was running, but low. Pin spots and sieves were everywhere so we decided to play safe and run the Pigeon. It was also low, maybe 900 cfs, but it made the run a little more technical than usual, just no push. It was worth the effort, and we headed back to camp at Big Creek. We got word later that evening that the Tellico was running, so we made plans to head there the next day. Had we known Tellico was running today, we wouldn't have been on the Pigeon!!
Monday April 10th - Tellico (Bridge above Bald River to below Jareds Knee) 2 miles
Pack up camp, head to the Tellico. It was about 1.7 on the gauge (2.0 with the f'd up USGS gauge) Got there around 1:30pm and did some scouting. Everyone was timid, but we found a couple guys running Baby Falls and they said they'd give us lines down on their next run. We all geared up, and nervously headed to the put-in. Lots of ledges and boofs going on, at one point we got to this nearly river wide horizon line, and the next to the last eddie was full with boats. There was one last rock, on my approach to it's eddie, the rear of my boat hung about a foot over the edge. I gotta say, when your boat is backwards, hanging off a 9-10 foot drop and you have no idea what is below it, it'll make ya freak out a bit. But I made the eddie, saw the line and boofed over, then realizing anywhere on the horizon line would have been fine, but it still had my heart rate up. We got to Baby Falls, we all ran the left line cleanly and then ran diaper wiper. From there it was mainly CL2-3 boogie water with the exception of a couple nice drops and a couple small pools until Jareds Knee. At that flow, Jareds Knee was still 3 distinct sections. We start coming up to the 3rd drop, the Knee and this time the last eddie was full when I rolled up to it. Now, one of the guys who had been leading us down was on river left below the drop holding his paddle up. ALL GOOD I think, and I as start running to the left the other guide starts screaming "NO NOT THAT WAY NO! NO! NO!" I really had no choice, so I made the best of it, slid up on a rock on the left and boofed over the drop. I guess at higher water this move
would have presented some issues, like the undercut under the Knee, but not that this flow, just an easy boof into the eddie. The standard line looked to be more difficult, but the rest of the group ran it and then it was all CL2-3 stuff to the takeout. WHEW, the most intense 2 miles I've ever done. We only had one guy flip once, and that was the only issue we had, a really incredible day. I'm glad we did the Little before this, it was a nice warm up. Best run ever!! We headed to Turkey Creek over by NOC and setup camp. Tuesday April 11th - Nantahala 8 miles Everyone needed 'stuff' and gear from NOC so we head over there, and decided to do the Nanty since we were there, at this point the closest thing running worth a crap. We were all pretty ragged from the previous 3 days and figured it would be nice to relax. The NOC wave is a big improvement over the prior one, and definitely has good play on it. Chris J decided that he wanted his playboat after getting there, so I had a good 45 minutes on the wave. Geared up, and I hand paddled the Nanty. Woopee you say, but I'm still learning hand paddles and at least it made the run more exciting. The water was a bit cold as usual, but the air was warm and the sun was out so it wasn't bad. After hand paddling Nanty falls, and it felt like a CL2 ripple... I had to chuckle when thinking back to all the times I was scared to death coming down the falls approach, and how I'd hold my breath peeling out of Truckstop eddie preparing for the 'madness' below. Funny how your perspective can change so drastically. Wednesday April 12th - Hike to Chimney Rock ~ 4 miles & French Broad Ledges ~.5 miles
At this point we were nearing exhaustion, and figured a hike would give our upper bodies a chance to recoup. I don't think it sounded too exciting to the rest of the group but everyone agreed a rest was needed. We drove to Chimney Rock and did the loop to Hickory Nut falls, where they filmed part of the Last of the Mohicans at, with a nice 404 foot waterfall. This hike is not for those with the fear of heights, as the trail leads right along the cliff side, and there is some serious elevation. There are some really awesome views, and at the end of the hike Mike and Chris seemed impressed and agreed it was well worth the trip. We then started our drive to Hot Springs, I took a small detour and took us over the the French Broad Ledges. It's a
nice little park and play area, with a nice friendly hole to play in. This proved to be the best play out of the whole trip. Between the hike and the boating, we had spent ANOTHER 5-6 hours beating our bodies to a pulp. We then drove to Hot Springs campground, and collapsed.
So much for resting. Thursday April 13th - French Broad Sec. 9 8.1 miles
Hooked up with Matt and his family again at the Hot Springs CG, and his wife shuttled us to the put-in. Good level, around 1500 cfs. Not a soul in site except a couple rafters and 2 kayakers with them on the side of the river about 3/4 of the way down. Kayakers ledge was one of the more intimidating rapids, but it's an easy boof over the ugly hole. We got to Franks Bell, and realized we were all way too far right, and the river just ended in a slow sieve through a rock garden. We knew we missed the main line, but due to time constraints we thought it was best to just climb over the rocks and keep going. The rest of the run was uneventful, just playful CL2 stuff and the takeout was our campground. I really like being able to walk off the river and be at my tent! After that we headed to the LVM Premier at the Asheville Pizza and Brewing company. Saw some people like Anna Levesque, Shane Benedict and a handful of other pro boaters we've all seen in videos but couldn't place their names. The LVM showed the Green Race, and some other really great footage. We left after that and went back to the campsite.
Friday April 14th - Drive to Frozenhead State Park
Big Mike goes home, Chris and I have an uneventful drive to Frozenhead State Park to hook up with Chris Neglia, Bill Jones and Ken Parish. We ended up in the overflow area, which I thought was nicer than the main area (other than the porta-potty, man, I'd rather go squat in the woods and use leaves) but we had nice sites right along the creek which is always nice. Saturday April 15th - Clear Creek to Nemo ~10 miles
We drive to the visitors center in hopes of finding other boaters, but there wasn't a soul around. We decided to do Clear Creek, and when we got to the bottom some of us headed down to the next rapid and then met up with some people Neglia knew and then we decided to do the next section. Good and bad here.. The river picked up, and there where 3 to 4 pretty decent sized rapids, but the last mile or (Seemed like 400) had a LOT of flatwater. At Whootens Folley, I head down the S-turn rapid on the left and end up in the eddie in middle of the creek, I go to peel out and start heading downstream and WHAM, I'm clobbered by Chris J who knocked me towards the undercut as he blasts by. I'm in my hand paddles, and panicking but after a dozen hard strokes I squeeze by the undercut and back into the flow. Literally, inches here.. I'm considering upping the class of any river by a factor of 2 when certain people are following me! We paddled for nearly 6 hours straight and got off the river at the Nemo takeout. Chris J, Chris N take off to go get their car, and leave Bill and I left to talk to the locals. One guy was there with some kids aged 9-14 who were all sitting on another table drinking beer and smoking (Apparently their mom was on a run to get some shine). We learned how to make a still, how to make corn beer, moonshine, how to cut down pot plants that are 18 feet tall and the effects of meth on the local community. I've heard lots of stories about how bad meth is, but this has affected every person in this guys life, and he's lost friends and relatives to the drug. A really sad story... Don't do meth, ever. Drive back to the campground after a stop at the local Hardees. Sunday April 16th - I'm dead
That's it, game over. I can't physically do anymore. Neglia, Bill and Ken ran off to a small section of Big South Fork. Chris and I drove home.
.... None of these runs were exceptionally hard, but some rapids did push all of our skills a bit and that is a good thing! Every day was blue skies and warm, downright hot towards the end. We boated some of the most scenic runs around, what a great trip.
Last update : 04-08-2008 20:21
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