Upper Green
| River: | Green |
| Skill: | Advanced |
| Trip Date: | 11/02/2024 |
The trip report below was written by Stratford Douglas and I am posting with his permission since many in the CCC paddle the Upper Green. I will also note that another group organized a clean-up there on Saturday but I do not have detail on their work.
Jon Gerst and I paddled the Upper Green yesterday from Pot Shoals Rd to Gallimore in inflatable kayaks, and some of you are probably interested in what we saw. It was quite beautiful, with some nice surprises and some not so nice. There’s one major safety issue.
The water level was low, noticeably less than one turbine release equivalent. However, looking at the shoals at the put-in, it was easy to see that there was a shallow but viable path through them. (That’s the best I can do for a level measure. Obviously, we need a gauge at Pot Shoals Rd!)
First, the safety issue. It’s a doozy. The river has cut a new channel a couple hundred yards above the I-26 high bridge, below the mouth of Hill Branch. Here’s a Google Map link to the spot, 35.27167, -82.37667. You may remember hearing the sound of the highway while paddling across a long pool, then turning left to descend a riffle next to fallen trees. The river starts a C-shaped bend here.
Now it’s completely different. You can now see as well as hear I-26 bridge traffic from the pool, as you are looking straight ahead down a NEW CHANNEL that the river has cut across the opening of the “C.” The old channel to the left is still there, and still has the majority of the water. DON’T GO LEFT here, particularly in high water. TAKE THE NEW CHANNEL to the right!
We took the left-hand route, and encountered several strainers, two of which required us to get out of our boats (thank goodness for IK’s!). At high water you’re pretty much certain to get caught in a strainer in that big tangle of fallen trees in the river all along the C bend. I can’t guarantee that the new channel is clear of any hazards, but it looked clear from what we could see. You definitely don’t want to go the other way!
Overall, aside from that spot the main difference in the river’s appearance is that there is a lot more exposed rock along the shore, and there are a lot more inviting sandy beaches. There are small landslides and uprooted trees everywhere, and fallen trees line the riverbank in most places. That pleasant slalom warmup at the beginning of the run is mostly replaced now with rubble fields, and there’s a tree all the way across the river shortly before the power line crossing. There are a couple of nice new surfing spots, and the old surfing spots are different.
Bayless’s Boof should be scouted, which you can do easily from the top of the drop on the right. It’s hard to tell how much of the difference was due to the lower water level, but it was different. The usual route on the far left side was not viable. The best route was a bit to the right of that route, and just to the right of that “halfway-down-the-drop” hole.
Wanda’s Hole looked a bit different, but the route was the same. Pinball is more or less the same as it ever was. Other places, you can boat-scout and pick your way down. Obviously, watch out for ever-shifting wood.
The take-out is not obvious. It’s a small beach next to the mouth of a tiny stream, much closer to the mouth of the Big Hungry than the old take-out. I suggest that you walk down to the take-out and scout it out before putting on the river; otherwise you will probably spend a long unpleasant time picking your way through the piles of fallen trees at the take-out. If there is recovery work going on, go paddle somewhere else. Someone has done a heroic amount of work with chainsaw and backhoe to open that take-out trail. Many thanks to whoever arranged that!
If you loved the old Upper Green, as I did, I think you’ll come to love the new Upper Green. It is still beautiful and remote-feeling, with just enough challenge to make it interesting, two big rapids and lots of little features to play in, nice new beaches and rocks to hang out on, and the same old pain-in-the-ass 1 km carry-out that guarantees that you will usually have the river to yourself.