Chattooga, Chattooga, and More Chattooga
| River: | Chattooga |
| Skill: | Intermediate |
| Trip Date: | 03/23/2012 |
I first posted this trip in January because my daughter had the Friday off from school and I knew that the Chattooga pretty much always has water in late March. A wet start to January became a very dry February. I got lucky when a trip in early March was blessed with some rain the night before but the week before this trip the Chattooga was at 1.6 – much too low to paddle Section 3. The weather forecast looked promising but I was worried that the growing list of people signed up for the trip would be disappointed with no water.
It rained about ¾ of an inch in the Chattooga headwaters early Friday morning and the river was slowly rising as we met to make plans for the day. We had 9 folks – 3 of us with dual FPC/CCC membership, and 6 folks from just the CCC. Based on the experience level of the group and the river level of 1.5, we decided to paddle section 3.5 (Thrift’s to Woodall). We set shuttle and got onto the water around noon. We had warm temperatures and cloudy skies most of the day with some occasional showers early in the day.
I agreed to lead the group, and we set one of the stronger boaters in the group as the sweep boater. We moved down to the first rapid and practiced catching eddies and surfing the wave at the bottom, getting warmed up along the way. The group divided itself up into the players and the eddy chatters as we made our way down to Bull’s Sluice.
At Bull’s Sluice, everyone got out to scout while I ran the double drop line. I got out and climbed back onto the big rock on the right to discuss the single drop line with several folks considering how they wanted to run the rapid. My daughter surprised me by stating that she wanted to run the rapid for her first time – a surprise because she had said she had no interest in running the rapid at the start of the day. We looked at the entrance to the rapid and talked about the need to stay far left, what could happen if you missed the line to the right, where to swim towards if things went wrong, and the line through the single drop slide on the left. I reminded everyone considering the rapid that success in the entrance rapid was key to a successful run at Bull’s Sluice.
We set safety, and I could feel my stomach knot up a bit as Alyssa and another teenager in the group followed me up to get in our boats and run the rapid. I knew both of them had the skills to run the rapid successfully but worried because I have seen several uncomfortable swims at Bull’s Sluice. A few moments later I found myself navigating the entrance a bit further right than I had planned. I caught the eddy and looked upstream to see my daughter and the other teen in the group were even further right than I had been. I nervously watched as they both caught the eddy, a bit closer to the right edge than I had hoped but we were all safely in the eddy. I caught my breath (and let my pulse drop a bit) before reminding them both of our intended line through the single drop slide on the left (about 5 feet off of the rock with a bit of right angle). I peeled out, ran the drop, and paddled into the eddy below to watch them both follow me with success.
We got out and relieved our safety team so that another group could run the rapid. As they left for their run, I heard the advice, “You can’t be too far left in the entrance.” A few moments later I watched as the leader of group two went far left through the entrance and into the eddy above the drop. The first person behind him was a bit further right but easily made the eddy. The second person got caught by one of the entrance drops, surfed right, and then flipped. He rolled up but was then very far right and almost immediately flushed over the far right side of double drop where he flipped and was surfed upside down into the usptream side of Decap rock. After one or two seconds the boat flushed out, and our second downstream safety made a perfect rope toss to the boater for a quick recovery of paddler and all gear. We were all reminded why Bull’s Sluice is rated as a Class IV rapid and why it is a good idea to set safety at decap and below the rapid.
We took a quick break in the eddy below, let everyone’s pulse rate return to baseline, and then continued down the river. We quickly found ourselves at Screaming Left turn, which everyone negotiated successfully. We took the far right line at Rock Jumble, and soon found ourselves at Woodall Shoals.
We all gathered in the far right eddy above the rapid and I explained that we were going to take the sneak around the hole at Woodall. I explained that we would start far right and it was important to drive left into the eddy below to avoid some branches poking out on the far right of the drop. We had some excitement when one member of the group did not drive left and got stuck on one of the branches but he easily hopped out of his boat, and over the branch.
We all gathered in the eddy and I told everyone to move out of this eddy towards the left of the river, and then catch the eddy on the left at the bottom, which was the take-out. I then peeled out of the eddy, and glanced over my shoulder to watch the group behind me enter the rapid. I turned around to find myself headed straight onto a rock where I was stuck very briefly – my daughter was following me a bit too closely and then found herself dried out on a rock shelf behind me. The person following her was hot on her heels and then reacted by taking the far right line which scared me a bit because I knew there was a badly placed rock at the bottom of the far right. I worked my way to the bottom of the far right to see the boater against the rock, with water forcing her against the rock. I kept eye contact while continuing to move towards her a motioning her to keep trying to push herself forward. I knew that I could get to her in 20-30 seconds, and hoped that keeping eye contact would let her know I was focused on coming to help her. Meanwhile, our sweep boater saw she had taken the right line around the rock and followed her. As he passed, he grabbed her bow and tried unsuccessfully to pull her free. He kept hold of her bow and she then yelled out “One, two, three!” On three he pulled on her bow as she pushed herself forward and off of the rock. I have to give credit to both the sweep boater for maintaining awareness of the group and the boater who stayed calm and helped in her own rescue. We were all excited to be at the takeout but not excited about the walk uphill to the parking lot. We unwound shuttle and agreed to meet the next morning at 11 at the US 76 bridge.
It rained again early Saturday morning, and the river was at around 1.85. We decided to paddle Sandy Ford to Thrift’s, and I hoped that the early morning rain would bring the level up a bit as I waited for the rest of the group to arrive. We set shuttle and got on the river just before 1 PM with a group of 17 folks. We had a mixture of seasoned Section 3 paddlers and folks new to this section of river. We also had a mix of FPC, CCC, and FPC/CCC members; old friends, new friends, plenty of variety to choose from. I was again in the lead, and we set 2 strong boaters as sweep, with a couple of seasoned Section 3 folks in the middle to help provide guidance.
We made our way down to the eddy above the Chattooga Narrows, and I explained the rapid and told everyone to catch the eddy on the right after the second drop. We peeled out and one by one ran down to the eddy and waited for the group to assemble once again. One member of the group got caught in the swirly water below the first drop and bailed out, but quickly swam to shore with all their gear, making it a very uneventful swim. We sat in the eddy for a few minutes and admired the spectacular scenery. The Chattooga narrows is simply a beautiful place.
We slowly made our way down the river and again collected the group in the eddy above Second Ledge. I explained that the key to Second Ledge is coming off the drop with a bit of speed in the right place. I then paddled off the drop and into the eddy, and we signalled folks down one at a time, allowing each person to clear the drop before the next. Everyone had great lines, and some great photos, too.
Below Second Ledge the river slows down to easy Class II rapids for over a mile, some of which is quite bony below 2.0 feet. We didn’t have an ideal level but aside from one shoal that simultaneously hung everyone up, the group kept moving without incident. We were soon at Eye of the Needle, an exciting rapid where most of the river necks down between rocks on the richt bank. I led the group through with a crummy line that exacted a roll. My daughter copied my line and had a roll, but the rest of the group opted for the dry hair option. We stopped to eat lunch, and my daughter and I walked up and ran the rapid a few more times until we were satisfied that we had conquered it into submission.
We continued down through 3 more miles of fairly tame Class I and II rapids, with a couple of unexpected but uneventful swims in relatively easy rapids. Rollercoaster finally came and re-energized the group with its fun waves. Soon after Rollercoaster we got out on river left to scout Painted Rock, the last significant challenge of the day. One member of the group went ahead and caught the mid-rapid eddy. They then signalled the best line down for the group, and everyone followed with varying degrees of success. I am happy to say that no one allowed the rapid to live up to its name by painting their boat onto the midstream rock at the bottom of the rapid. We gathered everyone up in the eddy below and proceeded to the takeout without further incident.
Contrary to the normal rules for large groups, there were only a couple of swims, no real carnage, and the group moved along at a fair pace. It was a group of 17 that felt more like a group of 6 at the end of the day. We unwound shuttle and proceeded to Humble Pie to start the utter destruction of large quantities of pizza.
I awoke Sunday morning feeling pretty pooped after 2 days but excited for one more day! As we met at 10 at the 76 bridge, the level was just below 1.8 and our group of 7 for the day debated between doing Earl’s Ford to Sandy or Thrift’s to Woodall. We finally settled on Thrift’s to Woodall, and set shuttle, picking up an extra member along the way. We were on the water and surfing at the bottom of the first rapid by 11. We went slowly at first, stopping to play quite a bit as we slowly made our way down to Bull’s Sluice on a sunny spring morning. I ran the double drop again while the rest of the group Scouted and portaged. I got out to find that my daughter had decided she was too tired for a run of the Bull. We had few folks that opted to make their first descent of the single drop line, and I drug my boat back up to lead them down. We set safety and after Friday’s swim I made sure to emphasize that they needed to be certain they could run the entrance without any problems and that they needed to get as left as possible.
This time around I hugged the left bank through the entrance and caught the eddy to wait on the 4 folks following me through. The first 2 guys stayed on my line but the third went too far right, flipped, and washed over the ledge. I looked downstream at our safety who indicated that everything was okay as the next two members of the group joined me in the eddy above the drop. The swimmer quickly self-rescued and pulled up on the bank to dump his boat. We rested for a bit and I reminded everyone of the line again. I peeled out, ran the drop, and caught the eddy below to watch. Everyone then ran the drop, with good lines by all. My daughter got some really good pictures from the scouting rock above. The safety and camera crew hopped back in and we proceeded on down the river. We made our way to Screaming Left turn, where I was happy to see more there was enough water to run the Toaster Slot move. I explained the traditional line, then ran the Toaster Slot, and signalled from the eddy below. Everyone then came through the rapid, with one combat roll after the first drop and another after the second drop, but no carnage. We continued down to Rock Jumble, stopping to surf the wave above and paddling laps through the elevator move along the way. We opted for the more challenging river left line on Rock Jumble, resulting great lines by all but one member of the group who decided to practice his roll at the bottom for fun.
Next up was Woodall Shoals where I strongly emphasized the need to move from far right to left through the first drop to stay away from limbs at the bottom. We ran the entrance drop one at a time, with great lines by everyone. From the eddy I explained that everyone needed to work their way to river left. I took some additional time to emphasize the need to give a bit of space between each boater through the rapid and pointed out the need to stay left of the large rock on the right. Everyone made it through with success and I soon found myself in the eddy surrounded by 7 other smiling faces.
We trudged our way up the hill to the parking lot, said our goodbyes, unwound shuttle, and all made our way home. Thus ended a 3 day weekend on the Chattooga with some great friends, some old and some new. I look forward to seeing everyone again soon!