Hiwassee

TN Upper Hiwassee Huge Fun & Water today New

Forum: BoaterTalk

Date: May 17 2003, 3:53 GMT

From: oletncreek

Tn area has just last week had a 30 yr flood so chk AWA page on Upper Hiwassee and dam was ripping. This is a drys section like on the NEW River in WVA(water bypasses stream bed in a pipe).I had run this section in the 90's a few times but never this BIG!(FRIDAY)! The first big rapid I call Hollywood Bowl has a big ledge drop hole @ the bottom w/ alot on pullover holes on the horseshoe shaped ledges as they drop down. We found a rock eddy to get out an scout @ top in the middle below an island. The must make moves worked for me but my less experienced friend washed over a pullover and then dead right into the hole @ bottom. His sub7 backendered up and flipped and he swam in the long wave train. I picked my way around and cheated the bottom hole in the woods river right so I could chase his bod and boat.After recovery the rest of the run is boat scoutable and the shore is in the trees anyway so no shore to walk on. Unlike the regular Hiwassee this section squeezes down from 100yrs wide to less than 20yrds in some rapids so all kinds of boils and funny water swirling around. Cool but scary like the bottom of rapids on the GRAND CANYON. A section called the NARROWS has walls on both sides and very funny water w/ a hole to trick by.

By all means run this section - avoid HELLHOLE and see a new run w/ big water that only happens every 30 years. The OCOEE and such will be there all summer!

Oh the main pain is the shuttle- LONG! We had my girlfriend run shuttle so we didn't have to go back for truck.The forest service road off hwy 30 towards Ocoee to Lost creek campground is the most direct route but the 17 miles took 1 1/2 hr to run from bottom to top. You can go around to Ocoee-turtletown but very long.