Tellico Weekend
| River: | Tellico |
| Skill: | Intermediate |
| Trip Date: | 03/09/2013 |
I had posted a trip for the first weekend in March hoping we would have a combination of warm weather and good water on the Tellico. Looking at the river level the Monday before looked promising but the weather forecast was calling for highs in the upper 30s and lows in the mid-20s with snow for the weekend. I kept checking the forecast but by Wednesday it actually looked less promising. I decided to postpone the trip, hoping for more favorable weather.
The second weekend in March found the Tellico at just under 2' and holding fairly well. We arrived Friday night and it was still a bit chilly for camping but not too bad. Saturday I met Jeff, Jack, and Ben from the Johnson City area along with Bill from near Greenville, SC at Ooosterneck Creek to figure out logistics. While I was there, I saw Larry Ausley and company who were on their own trip. It was the opening weekend of ALF, so there were more canoes than you could find at a canoe factory. Just about perfect. We drove up to the put-in to find it full to capacity, and continued on up the road to the picnic area just above.
We got shuttle set with the help of Bill's wife Sue, and were on the river around noon. The skies were clear and it was warming up nicely. We had 6 total in the group – 3 first timers (Ben, Bill, and my daughter Alyssa), and 3 repeat descenders. We used the short stretch of river above the normal put-in to get warmed up and were soon at the first ledge, which everyone ran without incident. We continued on down the river through the second ledge, and on to the third ledge, called "autoboof". I ran it and hit the autoboof but must have given faulty instructions because everyone else missed the autoboof too far left. We kept going, and were quickly at Cry-Baby just above the falls. Everyone ran the rapid fine, and we were then in the eddy just above the falls. I described the line I wanted everyone to take and then went ahead to be ready at the bottom. As I eddied out, I saw Larry on the bank above, camera at the ready to capture Alyssa's first run of the falls. I anxiously waited, watching our group drop the falls one by one, waiting to see Alyssa at the bottom. After a tense minute or two (seemed like an eternity to her dad), she came screaming off the falls, with a great line. At this point, I noticed a couple of folks in the group had already run the next rapid, Diaper Wiper. I gave instructions to the rest of our group and told my daughter to follow a few boat lengths behind me. As I dropped down the slide, I noticed one member of the group out of his boat in the eddy in the middle of the rapid, and another member of the group out of his boat at the bottom of the rapid. I reached the bottom, and eddied out. Bill soon followed behind me, but my daughter and the last member of the group were still at the top. Bill stayed at the bottom as safety as I climbed back to the top. My daughter was still in the eddy at the bottom of Baby Falls, and the last member of the group, inspired by our performance, was portaging Diaper Wiper. My daughter made a new best friend who she followed through the rapid in exciting fashion. A few minutes and one paddle less later, we were all safely at the bottom. We all stopped to catch our breath before resuming our trek on the Tellico.
Next, we were passing Bald River falls as it emptied into the river from the left, and were enjoying the Class III boogey water in this stretch. Soon we found ourselves getting out to scout Jarod's Knee. I pointed out the lines through this long, complex rapid as we watched canoes and kayaks navigate through the maze with varied success. We made our way back to our boats and got back in, ready to eddy hop our way through the rapid. I caught the first big eddy, and gathered the group together. Peeled out, and just missed the fun ramp boof to the left, but still had a good line. I glanced back to see Alyssa following just behind me and continued on through the next drop into the wave, and then right and down to the last larger eddy before the knee. The eddy was already full so we continued on down through the flake boof above the knee, and then through the knee itself. I was then at the bottom, and saw Larry once again on the bank taking photos for us. I eddied out and watched my daughter immediately follow, hot on my tail. We continued down through the run-out, and caught the eddy just below. I waited a minute or two while all but 2 of the group joined us. I got out and scrambled up the bank to find that one in our crew had swam and then self-rescued about halfway through the rapid, while the other member of the group waited on him. They were soon peeling back out to finish the rapid, and then we were all in the eddy at the bottom.
We all took a big sigh of relief, and then continued down through the first couple of miles of the Middle Tellico, playing our way through the rapid under the bridge, little ledges, Bounce off Boulder (BOB), and a bunch of other fun easier Class III rapids. We were soon at the cars, ending another interesting and fun day on the Tellico. The Johnson City boys went back up on a successful paddle recovery mission, and then called it a weekend. Alyssa and I returned to our campsite to find Larry and his crew setting up camp just a couple of campsites down from us. We joined them in town to destroy some grub at the Telli-cafe. We made plans to join forces with Larry the next day, and called it a night.
The next day, Bill, Alyssa, and I met Larry and his crew for a much smoother lap on the ledges than we had the previous day. One crew member did manage to make a sacrifice to the swim gods at Diaper Wiper, but it was otherwise a carnage free experience. We bid Larry and his group a farewell at the ledges takeout. Alyssa, Bill, and I again continued down through a good stretch of the middle, taking time to catch little eddies, surf little waves, and have big fun along the way. I really enjoy paddling the Middle Tellico because it gives me time to really take in the fantastic scenery. Crystal clear water where you can examine the river rocks ten feet down, small streams cascading into the river from waterfalls on either side, huge boulders stacked on one another in interesting formations, and more are all around you on the Tellico. We saw a news van headed up the river to cover the Open Boat race on the Upper Tellico, and were glad we had started the day early to avoid the crowds. We were soon packing up gear and saying goodbye to Bill and Sue.
Alyssa and I enjoyed a beautiful drive back over the skyway – blue skies and mids 60s. The scenery was even more beautiful than usual with snow still on the tops of the mountains as we drove through. We stopped several times to enjoy the panoramic views. Another great weekend on the Tellico – hope I can make it back there soon.