Saluda, North

Has anyone else ran this from Route 89 to the Saluda river? I'm looking at some maps and it looks like we would put in on Keeler Bridge Rd. I've ran a section of this run, putting in on Hwy 186 and taking out on Hunt's Bridge road. There is a decent Class II/III rapid below the confluence of the South Saluda (We've always called that one 'Butt Crack' because of a nasty little crack in the drop that all the beginners seem to get sucked into and get pinned or flip). I'm not sure why you want want to paddle back upstream to take out like the map shows, instead of taking out on Hunts Bridge Rd. Next time I run it, I'll take some Pictures. It's a good beginner run, although LOTS of flatwater on the Saluda river. Not sure about the South Saluda section though.

I paddled the North Saluda from Hwy 11 to hwy 183 at Saluda Lake. This was part of a Foothills Paddling Club trip back in about May '96. It is a pretty good stretch of Piedmont type river particularly the last half. I remember it took us about 6 hours to make the paddle and some people barely made it in before dark. The last few miles were on teh Saluda after the confluence. The lower portions of the North Saluda and parts of the South Saluda are similar to the whitewater section of the Tyger. The upper few miles below hwy 11 is a small stream/river. Good local paddling stream, particularly if you have a whole day to run. Nothing was real hard. It has been years and that is about all I remember. The paddle could be made much shorter by putting in a some point below hwy. 11.