Cumberland, Martins Fork, |
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| Name | Range | Updated | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| CUMBERLAND RIVER NEAR HARLAN, KY | 2000 - 8000 cfs | 00h33m | 365 cfs (rc= -0.3 ) |
Original Trip Report from Boatertalk, edited to current:
Toby mentioned to me about 7 years ago, this creek up in KY that hadn't been run. Martins Fork.
He said he had hiked it and it looked good. I scoped it on the map, but forgot about it for a
while and then Karl Whipp mentioned it to me again. A month later, Keith, Tony and I scouted it,
and reallized it was pretty good, with great water quality, good views, and a short stretch of
serious and quality class 5 before "flattening out" to class 3-4. That was a little over a year
ago, and just this December, 2008, I finally found sufficient flows to go out on a hunch.
A normal plateau run affected by pine plantations and mining wouldn't hold water, but this run is
different. It is on the edge of the cumberlands overlooking the valley ridge and gets alot of
rain. It is high elevation for the plateau, and the watershed, which is around 8 square miles,
hasn't been massively logged, if at all, and has remained relatively untouched for most of human
history. It is also protected by Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. So all that rain
gathers in the bowl, and runs flat for around 8 miles before dropping to the valley below. The
most abrupt drop occurs in a mile or so. The run drops slower than comparable ones on Walden
Ridge, and holds better, runs more. So I caught it today at a good low level. Perfect first
time level. I hiked 2.2 miles up an old jeep track to the put in above the gradient. I paddled
1.6 miles that dropped 450 feet, with the steepest mile being 320 feet, and the stacked 4/10 of a
mile at the top averaging 540 feet per mile.
First, to the aesthetics. The water quality is better than some smokies runs. It was SO clear.
The forest and canyon in general were very unspoiled. Overall, it meets and possibly exceeds the
pristine qualities of really clean plateau runs like North Chick and Island Creek. The rock is
horizontally bedded sandstone, just like further south. The entirety of the run herein described
is withing the boundary of Martins Fork WMA.
The first drop is a slide of 12 feet, then the creek drops into the hardest rapid, The Holding
Cell. This is the only one I walked on the whole run. It is class 5+ for sure, but totally
good. Photo quality and safety mandatory. The next set was a series of ledgy drops within this
continuous bedrock minigorge called The Catacombs. There were three tight drops of class 4+
difficulty, all stringed together. Even at low water this run blends quickly. After this was a
quality boulder series with non stop moves of 3-5 foot drops, then the big one, Harlan County Two
Step. Here the creek bottles up against the left wall and drops 7 feet into a cauldronous
corridor before dropping down to the right off a 15 foot slot/falls into a mandatory meltdown and
a little bit of a hole. This is the highlight rapid and really photogenic. This also marks the
end of the really steep stuff, but the next half mile is still pretty solid. Right below a trib
comes in adding a bit of flow, then boulder gardens kick start the lower. Soon you approach a
long blind rapid where undercut overhangs exist on both sides of the creek. You definitely don't
want to touch the banks here at The Unforgiven. Tight and fun, this one runs out into some low
angle bedrock slides around some midstream monoliths. Next is a great 8-9 foot boof on the right
that is just perfect. From here the creek tones down to normal class 3-4. I limboed one log,
but didn't have to get out. There are a few slot boofs in the 5 foot range here and there, and a
few ledges of the same height. Then right above where I took out was a really long and fast low
angle bedrock slide that took 4 or 5 turns before pooling up. This lower "paddle out" was not
boring, but a great ending with good stuff to the end.
I would say it is kinda like Little Clear Creek in TN on crack. And it is definitely the hardest
and best run in KY(that I know of)! The section above where I put in has never been paddled, and
would likely be many miles of beautiful and tiny class 2-3. There is a clean 15 foot waterfall
further up in the headwaters, but I am not sure where it is located. Access would be up near the
Hensley settlement, and LOTS of rain would be required to float the stream that high up, but it
also might be a pretty good little overnight expedition, as when you got to the steep section you
would want the water to drop. Good place to spend the night and paddle out in the morning.
-Kirk Eddlemon
The Cumberland at Harlan is just a reference gauge to give you an idea of what water is looking like in the area. If it is 2000+cfs and rising, there is a good chance the creek is running. There is also a streamgauge right below Martins Fork Lake that reads in stage. Martins Fork was run when this gauge was around 2.5 feet. However, the Lake is over 10 miles downstream from the run and the gauge being below the lake creates some speculation on how useful it may be in predicting flows up on the whitewater section. Click here to see this gauge: amazon.nws.noaa.gov/nexhads2/jsp/interactiveDisplays/createChart.jsp
Also, here is a link to the lake level graph, which in suite with the gauge below the dam, can give some insight into what the lake system is doing: amazon.nws.noaa.gov/nexhads2/jsp/interactiveDisplays/createChart.jsp. And here is a link to a rain gauge at the same location: amazon.nws.noaa.gov/nexhads2/jsp/interactiveDisplays/createChart.jsp Look for 2 inches in the winter or 3 inches in the summer, but after good soaking rains and recent high flows, it can be done on an inch of rain. This was the case on the first full descent.
Finally, there is a way to visuallize the level at the bridge on the road that turns off hwy 987 and heads to the put in. There is a footer on the bridge, www.americanwhitewater.org/content/Photo_detail_photoid_42191_ , and when it was first run with adequate flows, the water was 1-2 inches below the flat part of the footer. This was a good low level. If it is even with the footer to 2 inches above, this is a solid flow. More than 5-6 inches above the footer will take this creek to the next level, and considering the continuous, blind, and undercut nature of the creek, the risk of coming around the corner to strainers would increase the risk of the run significantly.
| Name | Range | Updated | Level | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CUMBERLAND RIVER NEAR HARLAN, KY | |||||||||
| usgs-03401000 | 2000 - 8000 cfs | 00h33m | 365 cfs (rc= -0.3 ) | ||||||
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| When | River/Gauge | Subject | Level | Reporter |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cumberland, Martins ForkCumberland Gap National Historical Park to route 987 [KY] |
Harlan County Two Step
|
n/a | Kirk Eddlemon |
No guide books for this stream. If you know of a book that describes this stream please contact and advise the StreamTeam member for this run. | Mile | Rapid Name | Class | Features (Legend) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.0 | Put in slide | III+ |   |
| 0.1 | The Holding Cell | 5.1 |   |
| 0.2 | The Catacombs | 5.0 | |
| 0.3 | Approach to crux | IV+ | |
| 0.4 | Harlan County Two Step | 5.1 | |
| 0.6 | Unforgiven | 5.0 | |
| 0.7 | Big Boof | IV | |
| 1.3 | Suprise Slide | IV |
Clean twelve foot low angle slide. Get out right below to scout the hardest and most consequential rapid on the run.
Right below the put in slide, the creek drops down this complex and serious drop. The entrance consists of fighting to get left up onto a shoulder where one boofs 8-10 feet back into the center into a big cauldron with an overhung hydraulic and boily room. Keep driving downstream and out over a drop that kicks off a rock and lands in the pool below. There is a gap between the drop and the rock, so safety and a convicted boof with speed are necessary. Make this crux move left of center away from the sieve on the right.
After a brief stretch of class 4 boogie below the holding cell, The creek drops into a tight bedrock section of three serious and quality drops. The first is a tight jumble that focuses the paddler against a narrow 4 foot slot agains the right bedrock wall, avoiding the channels to the left that are full of wood. Then the creek rounds a bend and drops through a bedrock corridor and slides off to the right over a 6 foot clapping drop and right into some bad undercuts. Drive straight through heading left and avoid the mess to your right. Then line up for the third walled in drop off a 5 foot ledge left of center against a wall through a hole and down a flume into the pool below.
Here the creek bombs down several s-turning slot drops, culminating in a 6 foot boof down a center channel. Quickly eddy right and begin scouting the big daddy of the run.
This is the biggest and best rapid on the whole creek, and has classic written all over it. The creek bundles up energy on a left to right line, berthing a few 3 foot drops before bottling up and driving off a 7 foot boof through a narrow slot into a boiling room where half the water breaks left into a crazy eddy, and the other half breaks right into a narrow slot that raises up and then drops over a 15 foot vertical slot falls that lands in a big pool. You could catch the eddy, but I would think the less time in that boily place the better. Be prepared for little boof opportunity on the big final plunge, and expect some downtime and or hole surfing. It is plenty deep though, and I think the key to the rapid is a solid entrance boof, followed by a stable and momentum conserving landing. In the pool below, the side trib you crossed on the hike in joins the river, and the creek gains volume.
Below the big pool, the stream runs through a little bit of class 3-4 boogie before overhanging walls close in and the bedrock reappears. Get out and scout this one for wood and your line. The creek begins to run down low angle bedrock at high speed through some overhangs. Then a downstream right to left ledge/curl throws right into a bad undercut on the left. Come in late on the left driving right and thread between this and the undercut on the right, then once through, driving left again away from another badly undercut boulder on the right. Then the creek splits, go with the flow on the right down some more fun bedrock. This is a fun but serious section.
Shortly after Unforgiven, and on a right bend, take the inside right line and drive off a beautiful 8-10 foot boof into a soft landing. This is the best boof on the run.
Below Big Boof the creek runs through quality class 3-4 with a handfull of good slots and ledges, and things start to wind down. Just when you think it is over the creek rounds a bend and speeds down a low angle slide that goes around maybe 4 bends and is up to 100 yards long. This is a blast, and then the takeout is 300 yards below this last hurrah.
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River Links
NWRI - Cumberland, Martins Fork Cumberland Gap National Historical Park to route 987 (mobile)
User Comments
but it looks like a pretty challenging run at a good level. I couldn't find the put in, but i
walked up the river bed from the take out, which was a beautiful walk. The rhododendron, hemlocks
and the river was picture perfect. I can't wait to paddle it.