2025 Easter Trip

A brief summary of the Easter Trip:

We had about 16 people who went on one trip or another. Weather was sunny with temps in the 80’s.

Friday was the Laurel Creek/South Holston run. Level was 480. I’ve run it lower in the past but this was the first post-Helene trip. There were new channels opening up. What were dry flood channels now had water running down them and stealing water from the standard lines. I would suggest a new minimum should be 55p-600 cfs for Laurel Creek.

Saturday was the Puckett’s Hole section of the Clinch at 860 cfs on the Cleveland gauge. This run didn’t flood during Helene and was unchanged. Lots of great surfing waves and fun maneuvering. Beautiful scenery and clean water!

Sunday we went to a new run…..the Clinch from St Paul to Carfax. Same level as Saturday. Not a lot of rapids but some of the ledges approached Class 3. The highlight of the trip was the opportunity to see Miller Falls. At 100+ feet high it is the second highest water in VA and is only visible from the river. The takeout was sub par, with us having to hoist the boats up 30 feet of railroad gravel fill and over the tracks. Ugggh!