Finally...Slickrock Creek

Slickrock Creek is located in the Joyce Kilmer Wilderness Area near Robbinsville, North Carolina. The put-in is at the end of National Forest Trail #41 which is 1.5 miles over the mountain from Big Fat Gap. The takeout is at the boat ramp on Calderwood Lake which is also the Cheoah River takeout.

I've been wanting to get on this run for several years but never could get the proper rain amounts or I had to work or couldn't get a crew together or something. On November 11, 2009, everything came together. The area received nearly 2 inches of rain the day before and through the night. Tellico rose till it peaked at 7.8ft at 6:00am. All the tributaries in the area had lots of water including Bear Creek which dumps into the Cheoah River with a waterfall. The tough thing about running Slickrock is that there are no gauges on this river and it's tough to get a visual. The only way is to paddle down Calderwood Lake over a mile to the mouth of the creek to take a look which we didn't do. Based on all the water in the tributaries and ditches and with Tellico high, we decided to gamble that there would be enough but not too much water in Slickrock.




Steve Krajewski and I started hiking at Big Fat Gap at 12:00 noon. We knew this was a little late but we were armed with a headlamp and we knew there was a well maintained trail along the river too. We decided if we ran out of daylight, we'd hike out to the lake and paddle to the car with my headlamp. After hiking 1.5 miles down the side of the mountain on FS Trail #41, we arrived at the put-in at 1:00pm.

The level looked OK at the put-in. Just remember, a lot of tributaries add to the creeks volume just downstream.

We paddled down some class 2+ and class 3 till we came to the big attraction...Wildcat Falls. This is the first drop which was very runnable.

This is the second drop which had a bad boil approximately 10-15ft out from the base but was feeding everything back into the falls.

This is the 3rd and 4th drop. The 4th drop was the largest and was basically a horseshoe shaped falls. I've been told those that run this plug the hole and go deep and pop up downstream. I just wasn't up for that today and we decided to portage.

We encountered several logs but only had to portage 3 or so times. This one was a no go.

Here, I am entering one of the easier class 3 rapids. It's an S-turn around a rock.

As you can see in this picture, there was a log in this drop just under the surface. We both tapped it. This rapid would be unrunnable at lower levels.


There were several areas along the run where the gorge would narrow down and the blind drops just kept coming. We boat scouted most everything. I think we got out to look only a few times. There were logs hidden in some rapids but all went well.

About a mile above Calderwood Lake, there is another river wide 15ft waterfall. The left side looked the best. The right side had a horseshoe pocket. We ran it on the left side.

After reaching the lake at 5:30pm (official sunset), we discovered a problem. There had been so much rain in the area, that all the dams in the area were dumping 3 full gates of water. Calderwood Lake is a very narrow lake. Slickrock Creek dumps into Calderwood Lake about 2 miles below Cheoah Dam. The downstream current on the lake was unbelievable. We had to paddle up the lake 10ft off the bank to get to our car at the boat ramp also known as the Cheoah take-out. At 5:55pm, we arrived at the car as it was getting dark.

Slickrock Creek is a wilderness whitewater run that has been seen by only a few kayakers. Reports talk about an extensive hike. However, I'm not in the best of shape physically and didn't have any trouble hiking my boat down a well maintained trail off the side of a mountain for 1.5 miles. You must be prepared to boat scout rapids and make quick decisions on the fly. If you attempt to scout every rapid, you'll never make it out. It's really non-stop whitewater. You will need good water levels or you'll encouter more obstacles and mandatory portages. There were several rapids where we paddled over underwater logs that were good to go but, at lower water you'd never get across them. Have plenty of time to enjoy this run. We made it car to car in 6 hours. However, if we'd ran Wildcat Falls, we would have needed more time to setup safety and to scout. We kept moving to make sure we got out before dark. And finally, be sure to take a headlamp. There is a well maintained trail along Slickrock Creek. If you get caught in there by darkness, just hike out to the lake. Then, paddle to the boat ramp.

Slickrock Creek is one of the finest wilderness runs I've ever paddled. I can't wait to go back next time.

Till next time, keep praying for rain because it's working!

Raft the Big South Fork of the Cumberland

For as long as I can remember, my father has always talked about wanting to take a raft down the Big South Fork of the Cumberland. Being a native of the Big South Fork area I suppose had sparked that interest. I grew up in Robbins which is only a few miles from the put-in and take-out. I didn't realize what was in my backyard until I moved away to Knoxville and got into whitewater kayaking. Wanting to help my father achieve his dream meant finding the perfect time to accomplish the task. Over the years, it had been difficult as it was either too cold or the water was too low. Today, Sunday, April 26, 2009 was the perfect day. Water levels were around 1200cfs and the air temperature was well over 80 degrees with not a cloud in the sky. What a perfect day to go rafting down the Big South Fork of the Cumberland. I borrowed a raft from a friend along with with paddles, pfd's, and helmets and headed out for our adventure. The participants included my father Carlie Hughett Jr, my two newphews Cody and Josh Hughett, my brother-in-law Nicholas Botts and his girlfriend Joanna. Steve Krajewski came along also with his kayak to be our safety boater. We would put-in at the Confluence of New River and Clear Fork and our take-out would be the O&W bridge. We would paddle about 4 1/2 miles.



The first big rapid was Double Drop which we decided to run backwards...well...we made that decision when we clipped a rock on the right and we spun off the drop backwards. We had a good recovery and we ran the rest of the rapid fine. Next up was Washing Machine which sent the bow high into the air. Then finally, the Ell would finish the big three with a great line. Other rapids were to follow like Punch in the Nose, Honey Creek Rapid, Ass Kicker, and others. We had a great day on the river. I am extremely excited that I was able to help my father fullfill his dream of running the Big South Fork of the Cumberland in a raft. It will definately be a time I'll never forget.

Till next time, pray for rain!

Easter in the House of Tallulah 4-12-2009

What a great place to spend a beautiful Easter Sunday on the river...Tallulah Gorge State Park in Tallulah Falls, Georgia. Anton Stevens, Tom Rannells, John Eskew, and myself met up for an Easter run on one of the South's crown jewels. This would be Tom's first run of the gorge.

Tallulah Gorge, Photo by Anton Stevens

Put-In, Photo by Anton Stevens

Oceana Falls, Photo by Anton Stevens

Over the years, Tallulah has dished out it's share of beatings and this day would not be any different. Tom's "Last Step" would prove to be more than a baby step and the Gautlet didn't let up for him either. Overall though, we all had good lines and sunny warm skies on this Easter Day.

Our Stunt Boater...Tom...on the last rock at the lip of Bridal Veil Falls. I know this rock well as it was a last resort for me last year, Photo by Anton Stevens

Till next time, pray for rain.

The Return to Cain/North Chick! 3/27/2009

The first time I had ever paddled Cain/North Chick was about 5 years ago. It was probably the most challenging run I had ever paddled. Adam Goshorn, Todd Scott, and Mark Woods were along for what would be a very strenuous day for me. That trip included me running all the rapids including Vortex on Cain Creek but I ran the sneak at North Chick Falls. After putting on late in the day and blue angeling almost the entire run, we made it to the takeout as it was starting to get dark. Adam and I have talked ever since that day that someday we needed to get back in there to see what we blasted by. Well Friday, 3/27,09, was my day to make by second descent of Cain/North Chick. Adam had to work and was unable to come but there was plenty of folks along. Tony Robinson, Justin Cullars, Tera Wilson, Robert Keeble, and three paddlers from Indiana were along for the ride. Several others from Knoxville were also on the river in a seperate group. The level was perfect at just over 800cfs.

Brandon running North Chick Falls. Photo by Kemper Begley.

I had forgotten just how beautiful Cain Creek is. With it's sliding ledges through the woods and it's big drops, it just kept going and going. I ran Big Splat but decided to portage Vortex. We paddled on down to Drain Pipe and I saw some very interesting lines. My favorite was when Tera had a tango with the entrance drop, rolled up at the top of Drain Pipe and launched off the drop blind. Venturing on down North Chick, we dodged massive holes and saw some good carnage of other paddlers. We all fired up North Chick Falls but my line was probably the worst. I flipped in the landing and got pushed into an undercut ledge and was unable to roll up. Yes...I swam. We ran the main lines of all the rapids. I even ran the hero line at Cyclops. I am very happy that I got to run Cain/North Chick once again and can't wait to go back. It's a long challenging run but well worth the effort.

Here's a Facebook video that Tera took of me running Big Splat on Cain Creek.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1645624&op=1&o=global&view=global&subj=1468250667&id=741873363#/video/video.php?v=1123604051387&subj=1468250667

Till next time, pray for rain!

Little Clear Creek and Crooked Fork 3/16/2009

After running Little Clear Creek at at juicy level on 3/15/09, myself, Steve Krajewski, Ken, Mary Ann and Doug headed to Little Clear Creek for a lower level run at 1.8ft. It was a much less pushy level but still a lot of fun!Brandon running the first drop of Triple Drop. Photo by Doug and Mary Ann.

Brandon running the third drop of Triple Drop. Photo by Doug and Mary Ann.

Brandon seal launching Novicane. Photo by Doug and Mary Ann.



Brandon running Oh Yeah! Photo by Doug and Mary Ann.




Brandon flying off Oh Yeah! Photo by Doug and Mary Ann.



Brandon landing after boofing Oh Yeah! Photo by Doug and Mary Ann.



Brandon running Boofalicous. Photo by Doug.


After a great run on Little Clear Creek, Steve, Ken, and I headed to Upper Crooked Fork. We put-on at LaMance Falls at 5.5ft and paddled down to Potter's Falls. It was a great level and we had great lines off Potter's Falls. That was all the day light we had and we headed home.

Till next time, pray for rain because it's really working!

Island Creek and High Water Little Clear Creek

Today was a good day for plateau creeking. With a lot of plateau creeks flooded, I headed to Island Creek to see if was running. To my surprise, it was running just below 0.5ft on the put-in bridge gauge.

What starts as a calm, mellow creek turns into a fun class 3 continuous whitewater run after the first mile or so. Photo by Steve Krajewski.

Island Creek was a zoo with so many boaters, many of which I knew. We briefly scouted Compound Fracture and all ran it with descent lines. This is Brandon entering Compound Facture. Photo by Steve Krajewski

Kemper completing Compound Fracture. Photo by Steve Krajewski

Jim entering Compound Fracture. Photo by Steve Krajewski

After running 2 laps on Island Creek, several of us headed to Little Clear Creek. We were told it was too high and pushy. We decided to put on anyway with thoughts that we could hike out on the adjacent trail if we got in over our heads. The level was 2.7ft on the put-in gauge. Triple Drop was very pushy and fast but runnable. There was so many rooster tails and water flying, I had a complete whiteout upon entering the second drop. The rest of the drops were good to go. I'd definately run Little Clear Creek again at this level but not sure if I'd run it much higher.

Till next time, pray for rain!

Johnnies Creek Fun

It had been Spring of 2006 since the last time I had paddled Northern Alabama's Johnnies Creek which is a tributary of Little River Canyon. The last time I was there was shortly after my shoulder dislocation. That was when I had my famous shoulder strap to keep me from redislocating my arm again. Up until Saturday, I had never paddled Johnnies above 0" on the put-in bridge gauge. But on Saturday, February 28, 2009, I paddled it at 3" above 0.

I was a little nervous at what I might find on this whitewater gem this day. I was expecting massive holes and out of control rapids. But upon further inspection, it was a very manageable level. Lines opened up more clearly as the boulders that I used to dodge were all covered and the famous slides of Johnnies went from being scrappy to being down right fun. There were a few holes to contend with but most were avoidable and some rapids even had alternate lines to avoid the toughest parts. The main event though had to be the Big Slide. At levels below 0", the Big Slide was a scrappy, bouncy slide to the bottom. But on this day, it was a smooth FAST blazing ride that I didn't think would end. Let me say that again, it was a FAST ride to what seemed to be a never ending slide. I portaged the class V Gorilla Constrictor but think I will run it another day with similar water levels.

After running Johnnies at 0" and below and now +3", I don't think I ever want to run it at 0" or below again. This run needs water to make it fun. I can't wait till the next time it rises to 3 or 4" again!

Sorry I didn't get any pictures. I was having too much fun on this non-stop whitewater creek. But you can look at some low water pics on American Whitewater at http://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/River_detail_id_2897_.

Till next time, pray for rain!