Horsepasture

A great day with the three of us running laps on Turtleback and then making our way downstream in packrafts. At this flow there was time to scout and make your moves, and still lots of fun to be had. No idea what the gage reading was, but FB Rosman was 325 and Chattooga at Burrells was 210.

New wood in the bottom drop of corner pocket. Scout!

Gorges state park is now open, rangers are really nice to boaters as long as we stay respectful....enjoy HP it's an awesome run...the shuttle is nice now...you just park in the grassy ridge parking area and hike to rainbow, then once you reach windy falls the trail brings you back to your car. no need for shuttle now unless you want to run bust your butt and turtle back. the park closes @ 7:30pm but you can always leave through the gate you just can't return until morning. Thanks, Jwall....also the old trail that took you to turtle back is closed...I spoke with a ranger about it and he said they don't want people using it anymore due to conflict with the state forest.

Toby MacDermott runs the top drop of Sidepocket / Thrasher Pike A while John Grace films. Note the double paddles Toby is paddling with as he found one on this particular run

Adrienne Levknecht at the top of Thrasher Pike B.

Toby MacDermott runs the final slide of Highway to Heaven.

Toby MacDermott ducks a log on the Horsepasture, NC. This rapid is below Stairway to Heaven and is often seal launched on the right to avoid this log.

Adrienne Levknecht runs the first drop of Stairstep Falls.

Toby MacDermott runs the second drop of Stairstep Falls.

Toby MacDermott paddling while John Grace shots video.

From Tim on Boatertalk:

The Gauge is on the river left, upstream side of the bridge that crosses the river on Hwy 64 - basically a few hundred yards upstream from Bust Your Butt falls. The landowner (same guy who claims to own the river) has it posted everywhere, but to get a good a read, you need to pull over and quickly run down to the river (trespass a little) and check the gauge. You can kind of see it by leaning over the bridge from the road but its hard to get a good read.

I don't have a lot of experience with the gauge, but here are my thoughts: low would be around zero, but it has been run a few inches lower. I've run it at 4 inches and I thought that it was ideal. It was 9 inches the other day and most of us decided to go elsewhere because of the high water, cold weather and the lack of time. The two guys that ran it reported it to be high, pushy and a little scary. I would consider an optimal range to be 2 inches to 6 inches. It seems to hold fairly well (a day or two, depending on the level) but needs a good rain to run. The Cullasaja is a reasonable proxy to see how much rain fell in the area.

One in our party hopped out at Hwy 281 bridge to briefly check the level. Quarry guys showed up in Gorges St. Park looking for the 'tresspasser' writing down license #'s, acting like jerks. Use caution.

beautiful gorge...Be careful on the river right side of Turtleback Falls. Theres a pothole-cave that starts at the top and comes back out in the falls about 10 ft to the left and 10' below. Swimmers have accidently gone into it head first and popped out feet first at low water. Someone in a boat might not be so lucky...not an easy spot for a rescue. The river left/middle side is more fun anyway! Be safe!

Horsepasture Beta: (from Boatertalk)

Date: Sep 16 2003, 20:01 GMT

From: boat_breaker

This is an absolutely beautiful run but a long day. As one of the other guys mentioned, you park in the designated state parking lot and then take the trail down to the river. You can put in right above turtle back falls and run down to Rainbow Falls...portage around the falls and put in at the base. This is where the fun starts. There are some great drops with incredible scenery. Its mostly drop pool and very doable, but its class V stuff. Then you get to Windy Falls where the river drops about 1000 feet or so. Here you have two options: (1) hike out and back to the parking lot (about a 2 hour hike...uphill!!) or (2) portage the falls and put in below (about a 45 min. difficult portage). If you elect to portage Windy then you basically end up in the lake and you will need to arrange a ride across the lake or paddle for hours to get to the other side where you left the car. There's a guy that will pick you up and get you across the lake for about $10-$20 per person (depends on how many boaters you have).

This is a great run, but it should be respected. Its doable by competent class V boaters but its sensitive because its in or near the Park and there have been recent deaths (non-boaters) on the river so we need to be very careful in order to protect the access.

windy falls portage: begin river left,

jump up 10 foot ledge step, take logging

road up to top of ridge, take ambiguous

trail to right down the ridge, old iron

cable ruins...you're doing good, keep

taking rights on trails back to the river,

smile, cuss, run big

Pictures of Bust-your-butt and turtle back falls can be found at:

http://www.ncwaterfalls.com/horse1.htm

See AW Journal, 1991, Jan.-Feb., Page 24 for the article on this December, 1986 2 day trip all the way to the lake.  https://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/Journal/show-page/issue/1/page/24/year/1991/

Rainbow Falls is a nice 60 footer that drops into a rocky pool below. Rumor has it that it has been run.
This shot was taken durring the summer when Turtleback Falls is a popular swimming hole. Immediatly downstream is Rainbow Falls.
Access to Butt Buster Falls is now off limits due to land owner issues.
Here's a drunken college student riding Butt Buster Falls on an inner tube in the late 1980's. Since then the property around the falls has been posted and people have been arrested for trespassing.

Boyd droppin' in after a fresh rain on Horsepasture Creek.
This is a fairly typical sight in any run down Horsepasture.
Boyd enjoying Horsepasture Creek

I tweaked my back pretty bad. Becareful on the left there is a wall the water pushes into. Really shallow besure to get the bow up.
Big fun, but prob the easiest rapid on the river.

Big hit after first drop, then big haystack into bigger hole.