All Smiles on the Ocoee
| River: | Ocoee |
| Skill: | Intermediate+ |
| Trip Date: | 07/22/2011 |
Trip participants: John McDonald, Amy Rae Fox, Wendy Krause, Wes Dodson, Kevin Kizer, Stefan Schmidt, Richard Lind, Fast Fred
Special celebrity guest appearance by: Rick Steeves
It may seem to be hyperbole to claim that any one particular paddling trip is your most favorite of all time. You’ll always remember your first descent of that new and scary river, or that expedition to exotic and faraway lands. You’ll always have those long lazy days enjoying the companionship of friends both old and new. And those Weeks of Rivers where many of those friendships probably began and were cultivated. Whether they are cold winter creek runs, the first embracing warmth of a springtime day spent amongst the blooming trees, the much needed escape from the sweltering summer heat, or splashing your way downstream with that first hint of a chill in the air as the resplendent colors of fall paint the river valley before you, you know one thing – all days on the river are great days. But after 10 years in a kayak and almost 250 days on the river, I do believe I can now name a favorite trip.
I couldn’t wait to return to the Ocoee. As long as I’ve paddled, I’ve been a river runner, feeling some inexplicable ennui towards playboating. You’ve probably seen me in my RPM or GT or Diesel sitting in an eddy while others play. Earlier this year, however, I decided to overcome my playboating apathy and eventually showed up at Week of Rivers with a shiny new red and black Fuse with which to play. My two Ocoee trips at WOR did not really afford me much opportunity to test out my new boat, as they were more focused on shepherding newbies down the river. So I posted a trip and assembled my crew and headed out to Tennessee with visions of gerbils spinning through my head.
Three of us had decided to thumb our noses at the working world and enjoy an extra day on the Ocoee by heading out Thursday night and paddling Friday. Amy and Wendy had run this river at Week of Rivers for the first two times just a few weeks earlier and were excited to return for more fun. We put on the river about noon, just after a flush of rafts had put on. The girls had planned to meet me at the lower put in below Grumpy’s, but then saw me walking down the concrete ramp towards the river completely alone with not a raft in sight, and figured if they were ever going to run Entrance, now was the time.
It was a good thought, but a rock guarding an eddy above Grumpy’s gave us a rather wild start to the trip as we had our first swimmer right out of the gates. Fortunately, other than some impressive bruises, our swimmer was fine and ready and raring to continue on down the river.
The rest of the run was a blast and drama free, though the girls tried one-upping each other for applause from the onlookers with back-to-back combat rolls at Slice-n-Dice. Eventually we made our way down below Diamond Splitter to the playspot called Gerbil Stuffer, which would quickly become my favorite play spot on the river. Whereas I used to suffer a slight letdown after the fun of running Tablesaw, I now began eagerly paddling down below to spin myself dizzy in this hole.
Down below Cat’s Pajama’s, we saw a group of girls from a summer camp getting out of their boats and jumping into the river at the mystery move spot. None of us had ever tried, so we figured it would be worth a shot. And it was surprisingly fun. I think I took the prize for longest time spent submerged and greatest distance underwater, but Amy and Wendy had some impressive mystery moves too.
Usually, once you get through Powerhouse, the fun of the day has ended. But when we got to the public takeout, a bit of goofiness overtook us. We tried Hands of God and hand rolls and all kinds of other stupid fun stuff, culminating with me standing up in Amy’s boat with she and Wendy clinging to either end. I hung on long enough for Wendy to snap a picture before losing my balance and plunging into the water. We made our way to the campground, a bit tired but grinning ear to ear. And the weekend hadn’t even started yet.
On Saturday, we were joined by a few familiar faces. Kevin and Stefan had met us at the campground on Friday night, and Richard, Fred, and Wes were all waiting for us at the putin. Stefan would be running the Ocoee for the first time. The only time I had paddled with him before was at WOR on his first trip down the Nolichucky, which he styled, so I felt pretty confident in his skills.
The raft traffic was a bit heavy in the morning as we made our way down the river. Everyone had a pretty smooth run with only a few out of boat experiences. After one swim at Flipper, one of our boats was broached on a rock on river left near where you would begin the Watauga move. After looking at it for a while, our friend Annabell from NOC paddled over to it and made a rock star rescue of the boat, rolling twice in the process of extricating it from the rock.
I had contemplated doing the same thing, but was very appreciative of her efforts, as I could now try the Watauga move. I came so close to it on Friday and was sure I could catch that eddy on this effort. And, lo and behold, I did, surfing high across the wave and crashing through the hole to make it into that top eddy. My first successful Watauga move ever.
And then it was Tablesaw time. Often, I’ll go paddle down ahead of everyone and get out to shoot some video at this rapid. And, feeling confident we’d get everyone down without needing too much in-boat assistance at the bottom, I proceeded with my plan. What I didn’t know is that I was going to be capturing a combat roll clinic on video. Wendy, Richard, Stefan, and Amy all flipped towards the end of the rapid but pulled off clutch rolls.
Below Tablesaw, there was once again much gerbil stuffing, with Wes jumping in and making it look way too easy. And once again we could not resist the fun of trying mystery moves at Cat’s Pajama’s.
It had been a long run, but several of us planned to make one more trip down the river. No Steevesian feat, mind you, but there were still several hours of water and daylight left to use, so why not? Of course, as is tradition between laps for us, we drove up to Goforth Creek to eat a nice picnic lunch in the shade, complete with cold drinks, cold food, and maybe some salami too. After lunch, five of us decided to give it another go, including myself, Kevin, Stefan, Richard, and Fred.
The second run, once we got by the glut of rafts at the putin, was more of the same fun. Fred showed us some new lines, playspots, and described a lot of attainments that I figured I’d have to save for another day. I notched another successful Watauga move and continued to spin around in Gerbil Stuffer for a while before moving on downstream.
After our second run was complete, Stefan was so exhausted he felt as if he’d fall asleep at the wheel, so Kevin had to take over the driving while Stefan dozed. He had two pretty clean runs on his first day on the Ocoee, and after the adrenaline rush wore off, he was beat.
All this fun and we still had one more day left. On Sundays, we usually like to get moving fairly early so that we can be ready to go more or less when the water turns on, have our fun, and be able to hit the road early enough so we can get back to the Triangle at a decent hour. Unfortunately, Amy needed to sit this one out, as she was feeling a bit sick. She took a nap at Goforth Creek and would consider joining us on the river there if she felt up to it.
Sunday’s paddling sure started with a bang. A flip above Grumpy’s resulted in a swim through Grumpy’s, and a rather epic boat and paddle chase ensued. There was more carnage in Gonzo Shoals and Double Trouble. As we waited below Double Trouble for our swimmer to get back in the water, I looked up towards the top of the rapid and saw a very familiar sight. White full-face helmet, blue Fun.
Ordinarily, it would be no great surprise to run into Rick Steeves on the Ocoee. But the last time I had spoken to Rick about this trip, he had lamented that he couldn’t join us due to a wedding he had to go to this weekend. Unbeknownst to us, he had figured out that a detour to the Ocoee on the way home wasn’t that much out of his way. And so, here he was!
Rick joined us for a little while, at least until we got down to Goforth to check in on Amy. I found her snoozing in the back of Wendy’s car. She was feeling ok but overslept the rendezvous time, and didn’t want to make us wait for her to gear up, so she sent us on down ahead and told us she’d meet us at the takeout.
We had one last swimmer at Tablesaw, but otherwise the weekend came to an end without much drama. After we got down through Powerhouse, I realized that Stefan, on his third Ocoee run, had aced it with a dry hair day. Impressive.
When we were all packed up and eastward bound, I realized that I have never had such an enjoyable time in three days on the river. The paddling was fun and the company even more so. We were able to introduce one first-timer to the river, and watch a few of our few-timers get more and more comfortable with one of their new favorite whitewater runs. And even I learned a few new tricks myself as I continued to get more comfortable in my playboat.
Thanks to everyone in the group for joining me on such a memorable adventure. Let’s do it again sometime.