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.