Doe

Dennis Huntley kayaking Doe Gorge, seen here at the top left of Body Snatcher Rapid, in the Spring of 2013. Photo by Greg Nance.

Body Snatcher Rapid looking from the top.

Roy Cimmins peeling out of the setup eddie above Toaster Slot

Roy Crimmins below the 2nd drop of Body Snatcher approaching the final drop

This is the tree that has fallen across river right after bear cage rapid approx. 5-550 ish?

Ran Doe today not quite sure of level, I would guess around 500-550ish.. Bear Cage rapid is still a mandatory portage, also the next rapid after bear cage is now a mandatory portage. Portage is easy and quick on river right. It's the rapid where the river bends to the right and the house is sitting on the left of the bend above. Today, at lower water there was some wood visible, but all avoidable. The right line at top of Bodysnatcher has a tree down, but i think you could still squeeze by it if you chose that line. There is one more river wide a ways down on left. Low water was no problem ducking right under. higher levels it could come into play. Great day on the river! will post picture of portage 2 by house soon. Tyler F

Here's the new start to Bear Cage. Seal launch into the top. You can see the hula tree down to the left

This the river right entrance to the first big rapid on the run.

Great day to go boating!! Went down the Doe River Gorge today. Water level was around 360-380 and it was a treat to go down this river. Water level was great. Water did not seem too pushy but manageable. We scouted the major rapids to make sure there were not any strainers. There are a few trees down across a few spots, but not on the rapids and the trees that were down were easily visible. Spring is here and its time to go boating!! Oh lordy, I'm getting all worked up and excited now I'm gonna go teach my junk a lesson!

me able to brake one off in Dave's big ass. tree blocking the river eary in the run yay!!!

**********Per the landowner at the put-in, park in the turnout area only, DO NOT park in the tall grass, this is feed for his cattle. He was very nice about it & we don't want to lose access to this put-in over parking. Be mindful of other boaters & leave as much room as possible. Thanks.************

Nov. 30, 2005, Mark Stover and I ran the gorge. This was the day after a storm very briefly put the water up over the +1foot mark on the 19E bridge gage, and it moved some wood. Not far below BearCage rapid, a good sized tree covers the whole stream. I'd call it a mandatory portage. Just look for it, and it shouldn't be a problem. If you slide into it, I think it would be a big problem.

Post Francis/Ivan wood report - the rains have been good for the Doe, cleaning a lot of debris & trash out. Of note are:

1. The tree at Toaster Slot is gone - Toaster is open for business again!!!

2. The far left entrance to Bodysnatcher is clear of wood again. The next entrance just to the left of the large rock at the top of Bodysnatcher seems to have gotten a bit wider and steeper too.

3. There is one very larger nearly river wide strainer in the right hand corner just before the DRG Camp. In the same place that used to be really clogged with wood, then was totally clean for the past several months. It's a large tree that blocks the entire river except for about 3 feet against the RL bank. Plenty of room to scoot by, but keep an eye on the tree.

Enjoy!

We ran this on Saturday, 6/26/04. The level on the TVA gauge was 1200 cfs that morning. The bridge gauge was +3' on our first run and +2' on the second run. Wood has moved around (as usuall) since my last run. There is a large log tetering on top of the rock at the first significant drop. This is the one that has a slot to the right against the rock wall. This log will move downstream during the next high water event. There is new wood at Toaster slot across the left and middle slot. It was too high to tell if the large log that has been there has moved. The right side was clear. A couple of rapids have changed since my last run. The right side of Flagpole is significantly different. There used to be a narrow slot in the middle. We would boof one of the rocks forming the slot. Both of the rocks forming this slot have spread apart making a much wider shoot down the middle. At the levels we ran it, there was a lot of push to the right against the move you want to make left. A smaller rapid changed right above the Doe River Gorge camp. You go left around a small island instead of right. the right has filled in with rocks and sand.

3-7-04 About 500cfs and -8'' on the Hampton Bridge. There is still a log across Toaster Slot, the rapid was clear along the river right bank. There was still wood in the far left slot at the top of Body Snatcher, the far right slot was runable. At Flag Pole the log across the bottom of the river left channel was still there, but the right channel did not have any wood.

Just to follow up on Chuck's comments below, we ran the Doe 12/26/03 @ 400 cfs. The far left entrance to Bodysnatcher is blocked by a large log and some other junk, however there is a tight slot move just to the right of this that should be much easier with more water. The right side of the island at Flagpole is runnable now at lower flows, the 4 ft drop at the end is no longer there. Finally, the major wood jam just before you get to the camp that required hugging & scraping along the right bank is completely gone!

Made the run on November 22, 2003 @ 400cfs with a couple of friends. Here is the wood report:

Bear Cage: There is a large tree(1ft in diameter) across the entrance on river right. At this level we were able to limbo underneath. Another 6in or so of water and it will be impossible.

Body Snatcher: There is small log jutting out to river right from under the large boulder in the center. It's blocking the slot on river right. At higher water it might be covered. At this level we saw no clear safe passage around the boulder, so we haul boats up on the boulder and seal launched into the pool below. The rest of Body Snatcher was clear.

Flagpole/Escalator: There is a log/tree(9in diameter) blocking the last ledge/drop on the river left channel. It's wedged in between trees on the island, so it's not going anywhere anytime soon. You cannot see it from the top of the rapid. We ran the river right channel after shore scouting.

I'd still suggest scouting the drops. This was our first time running it, so we might not have run the traditional lines and missed something.

Glad to see such a nice write-up on one of my favorite runs. I have been running it for eight years and still enjoy every trip. In fact, I am getting ready to leave work and run it this evening! My humble opinion is that the Doe Gorge (500-1100 cfs) is a step up from the Lower Little. Try it at 2000 sometime and you will be in for a wild ride! I would take people down the Lower Little that I would not take down the Doe Gorge. I have always put the Doe between the Ledges Section on the Tellico and the Watauga Gorge in terms of difficulty. Just another opinion. Take it for what it is worth. There are a few rapid names in your write-up that we (locals) refer to with different names. What you refer to as 'Escalator', we have always called 'Flagpole'. Also we refer to 'Slot Drop' as 'Toaster Slot'. Thought you might want to know.

Falling into a seam on a typical drop on the Doe. Clutch roll required, this river is shallow until it's around 1000 cfs.
John lining up to head towards the slot drop on the Doe. Both slots (left and middle) are clean but the left is REALLY tight, head towards the middle.
John gets closer to the slot, he's right on line.
John disappearing into the middle of Toaster Slot on the Doe.
Side view of the middle slot drop on the Doe. Alan keeps his paddle parallel to his boat. Holding it perpendicular will cause it to get stuck in the slot.
John entering Body Snatcher through the far left river side.
Alan catches the eddy behind the boulder as soon as he enters the rapid on the river left side. From here he can ferry over and run far river right working back to the middle, or just boof off a center ledge.
Alan boofs off the center ledge, the better choice at higher flows.
Alan is midway through Body Snatcher. From here he will curve towards river right and catch a big eddy before running the final drop of Body Snatcher.
Alan dropping over the last ledge of Body Snatcher. Aim towards the left side of the drop to avoid the hole that develops here at higher flows.
Daniel Fosbinder prepares to boof the final drop of Body Snatcher, shot from below the drop.
Daniel Fosbinder boofs into the final drop of Body Snatcher. You want to land with a slight left angle.
John midway down Escalator, a long, rock-filled rapid.
John on line, headed for the final boof rock in Flagpole (aka Escalator)
John catches air off the final boof at the bottom of Escalator.
This is the reason you enter Escalator on the far river left...a diagonal hole will surf you to far river right, and the rest of your run down Escalator will suck.

Front view of Toaster Slot on the Doe at low water. ALWAYS scout for logs!
Daniel Fosbinder midway down Escalator (or Flagpole).

Found this at the upper put in not the gorge. These are the recommended levels. They differ a little from AW.

Photo courtesy of and copyright by Julie Keller.