I graduated!

I have not been able to boat a lot in the last while since I was finishing up my Master's degree at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina. I am happy to say that on May 10, 2008, I graduated from Western Carolina University with a Master of Entrepreneurship degree.

Little River Canyon

After last weekends events on Tallulah, I just had to get back on the water. Adam called me on Friday and said he was planning to do Little River Canyon on Saturday and Sunday. I thought a while and couldn't decide if I wanted to go or not. Part of me said yes and the other said no. Friday night rains brought a little more water to LRC and I decided to go and am I glad I did.

Adam, Joey, Matt Wallis, and Matt from Atlanta all gathered at the put-in for the Suicide Section for a run down to the old Chairlift. The day started a little nervously for me but I put it all together and started boating. The river level was just under 0ft which made Avalanch kinda scrapy so I walked it. I had a perfect line at Cable Falls and decided to walk Pinball since most of the river goes under a rock. I had a great boof at Roadblock and an OK line at Humpty Dumpty. All in all, I am very glad I made the trip to Little River Canyon today. The warm temperatures and sunny skies made a great day of boating with friends.

Till next time, pray for rain!

Tallulah Weekend

This weekend brought dam released whitewater on the Tallulah River at Tallulah Falls State Park Georgia. Anton rode down with me to meet up with Adam, Joey, Spence, and John & his girl friend (Sarah?). Saturday brought the release of 500cfs of whitewater into the gorge. After descending nearly 700 steps, we reached the river to put-on just 30ft from the first class IV rapid. After an interesting moment in the first rapid, we reached the main event...Oceana Falls. After scouting for a while, we all fired it up with good lines. The rest of the run was just good fun with friends and good lines.



Sunday brought more whitewater action with Georgia Power releasing 700cfs. My run of Oceana Falls didn't go so well this day. I entered the drop fine but flipped at the Thing and ran the last part upside down sliding on the rock slide and into the hole at the bottom. I got pushed into the left corner pocket eddy, tried to roll but was unable due to the rock shelf I was getting pounded on. I couldn't get my paddle into place.

I picked up all the pieces and put back on to run the next rapid "The Gauntlet." The Gauntlet is a long class IV rapid that is full of boulders and holes to dodge and ends right above Bridal Veil Falls which has a keeper hole that has almost drowned a few boaters. I've been running Tallulah for nearly 5 years and this rapid always puts me on edge due to the consequences of making a mistake. I've had dreams about what the outcome would be if I were to swim this rapid and over Bridal Veil Falls. Well...on this run, my dreams almost came true. I entered "The Gauntlet" fine and had a good run. But, as I dropped off the final diagonal ledge, I went for a little surf but managed to get free...But in the process, I flipped. I attempted 3 rolls but was unsuccessful. I pulled the skirt and began to swim for my life toward the left bank. I knew what was downstream and I knew I wanted nothing of it. I grabbed a tree on the left bank but couldn't hang on due to the swift current. Anton was in an eddy on the left and tried to get to me but I was pulled under and missed his bow. I resurfaced just upstream of Bridal Veil. I began to panic as I knew what was about to take place and I heard Anton yell, "Grabb the rock!" which was the rock at the lip of the falls in the middle of the river. I clawed at the rock but it was too slick to hang on and I began to slip. I was getting closer and closer to the lip. But then, my foot hit a rock and I got a grip on the boulder I'd been clawing at. I wedged my foot against a rock while gripping the boulder. The force of the water was trying to pull me loose but I hung on with all I had. I knew if I let go or I slipped much further, my life could be gone...I could drown in the hole that lurked below. Adam and Joey began to throw ropes but they were just too short. Anton came over in a small eddy on the other side of the boulder, climbed on top, and came over and pulled me up on top of the rock. I was so glad to be on the boulder up high and dry. I just sat there for a minute while Anton, Adam, and Joey put together a plan to get me to bank. We got a rope to the bank and I grabbed hold while Joey pulled me to the bank. I was so happy to be on shore but I must admit, I was a little shaken up over the chain of events. I knew if I had gone over Bridal Veil Falls I could have drowned. My boat and paddle made it down Bridal Veil and I walked down the bank to retrieve them and thank those that had helped. After getting my thoughts and gear together, I continued downstream to have safe lines through the remaining class IV rapids.

I am thankful to all those that helped and I am especially thankful to God for putting that boulder in the middle of the river for me to grab hold. Tallulah is finished for this spring as Georgia Power only releases water five weekends a year. I will return though in November as they release water the first three weekends of that month.

Till next time, pray for safe lines and, of course, for rain!

More Rain for more Plateau Creekin'

This past weekend brought another exciting weekend for plateau creekin'. After watching it rain all day at work Friday, I headed to Island Creek in the Obed Wild & Scenic River area for a late run. Myself, Anton, Tera, Tony Robinson, and Jim met for a 6pm run with the flow being around 0.5ft on the bridge gauge. It was an excellent fun run and we almost went for a second run but it was so close to dark we decided otherwise.

Saturday brought more action. Myself, Anton, Tera, and Jim all headed to the Tiny Piney. This was a personal first descent for everyone in the group. With the White's Creek gauge at Hwy 27 reading less than 2ft, we ran it with plenty of water. We all fired up the run's 2 class IV drops; Stairstep and Baby Gorilla. Just below Baby Gorilla is a rapid that has unsuspecting undercut-sieves. Jim had an exciting moment there with the guidance of Anton but all turned out well. The rest of the run was beautiful with cascading waterfalls dropping off the gorge walls into the river. It is one of the prettiest plateau runs I've ever done. At 11 miles long, we knew we would be on the river for a while but with good current we finished it in less than 5 hours.



After getting off the Tiny Piney, we decided to head to Wartburg to run Little Clear Creek. We put on around 6pm with the flow being on the upper end of low. We all had great lines and were tired since after both runs, we had paddled 14 miles in one day.

Sunday morning, I had to work and hadn't planned to go boating. But Tom Rennalls called and said a group was going to Ramsey's and the Greenbriar. After doing what I needed to do at work, I got my boat and head to the Smoky's to find Tom, Doug, Mary Ann, and others at the Greenbriar getting ready to start their second run. By this time it was after 3pm and I suited up to finish a 3 day weekend of boating.

Till next time, keep praying for rain because it appears to be working.

Crooked Fork Action

Today, East Tennessee boaters were left with only a few options. I, like many boaters, chose Crooked Fork. Crooked Fork is a tributary of the Emory River near the Obed Wild and Scenic River in Wartburg, Tennessee. It was running a good level at 4.65ft on the Hwy 27 stick gauge. We decided to run both Upper Crooked Fork which starts at Hwy 27 and Lower Crooked Fork which ends at Camp Austin just up stream of Oakdale, Tennesse on the Emory River. There was 9 boaters in our group today that consisted of myself, Tom Rennalls, Tera, Robert Bone, and several other boaters from the Asheville, NC area. We ran into about 20 others boaters, many whose faces I know.

We made our way down stream to the first major rapid, LaMance Falls. This 20 ft waterfalls has a very narrow landing zone as most of the falls lands on a rock shelf at the bottom. It also has a little entrance rapid that is waiting to knock you off line putting you closer to landing on the rocks at the bottom. After scouting for a while, Robert Bone and G fired it off.

G Boofing LaMance Falls (photo by Tom Rennalls)

We headed on down stream to Upper Potter's Falls. I went first taking my usual line off the center of this 15ft waterfall. I missed my usual flake rock that usually launches me and I fell off vertically, pencilling, and going over the handle bars on landing. A quick roll later, I was trying to figure out what has just happened. Not satisfied with my landing, I went back up to try it again. I missed the flake rock again and fell vertically but resurfacing fine.

Tera Running Upper Potter's Falls (photo by Tom Rennalls)

Brandon Hughett Running Upper Potter's Falls (Photo by Geoff Kohl)

Several others ran the Upper Potter's Falls uneventfully until someone went off the falls and got pushed behind the curtain. After a few tense moments, a few of us paddled through the falls to find the young lady swimming with her boat and paddle behind the falls. With the use of ropes, we retrieved her and and her boat and continued downstream for an uneventful paddle out.

It was a great day on Crooked Fork with plenty of water, lots of sunshine, and paddling with lots of friends.

Till next time, pray for rain!

Back in Action!

Over the last month, I haven't gotten to paddle that much due to illness. I fought the flu and other sinus & respiratory illnesses for nearly 5 weeks. It sucks to be sick especially with these types of illness as they don't go too good with cold water and cold air temperatures.

I did, however, do some paddling (probably when I shouldn't have). On Sunday March 3, 2008, I met up with Jim, who is new to the area, to paddle Big South Fork of the Cumberland. We ran from the Confluence down to the O&W Bridge. We only saw two other people on the river with it running at 3,300cfs which I must say is a fun level. It offered big water action, large wave trains, and stout eddy lines.

On Sunday March 9, 2008, I headed to Tellico Ledges. It was a warm sunny day which was perfect with me starting to get well again. I met up with Todd Scott, Anton, and Ken Strickland to make a run from the ledges put-in down to Turkey Creek. I had some good boofs, good laughs with friends, and just an amazing day. It felt great to be back on the river and back in action with friends. It was probably one of the best days I'd had in a while.

This coming weekend promises water with scheduled Cheoah Releases and this year's first Ocoee Releases. There's also a forecast for rain so we'll see what the weekend brings.

Till then, pray for rain.

The Creeky Part of Little River of the Smokies

Today brought another personal first descent for me. With the Little River gauge still showing 3.2 ft at Townsend, Caleb and I decided to see what the Elkmont Hike-Up section of the Little River would be like. Surprisingly to me, there was plenty of water though it didn't look so at the takeout bridge. Upstream, we found a more narrow channel and some good gradient. Overall, there are only 3 class IV rapids and a lot of class III rapids on this run but they are all fun. We had some wood to deal with but almost all of it was sneakable. Gary came along to document the run for me by taking pictures and video. This would also be my maiden voyage for my new Jackson Mega Rocker.

As you can see, there were several other boaters hiking this run too. The trail is an old railroad bed and is fairly level with only a slight grade.

I tried out my NRS backpack today too for the 2.3 mile hike. After a few times of adjusting, I finally got it dialed in. Checkout the reflective tape on my drytop...I'm fired up!

There's me getting ready to put-in. This will be the first time this Mega Rocker has hit the water.

Caleb running the Melting Pot.

Me running the Melting Pot. The large boulder behind me is severely undercut but was not hard to avoid.

We all got out to scout The Scrambler. We all tried to boof into a river-right eddy but most of us missed and ended up running the middle. At lower water, the middle line would be full of pin potentials. This day brought plenty of water though and some good lines.

The Hike-Up Elkmont Section of the Little River of the Smokies proved to be a fun class III-IV river that will run when everything else is gone. On this day, the area levels were:

Little River Gauge at Townsend 3.2ft in the morning and 3ft in the evening.
Treemont (Middle Prong of the Little River) wasn't running at all.
The West Prong (of the Little Pigeon) was 0.9ft and is only one drainage over the ridge.

There was plenty of water and the run was padded really well. I'll be returning to this run again!

Till next time...Pray for rain!