Pinch Creek

Lat/longitude coords are approximate, from TopoZone.

Trip ReportPinch Creekby Ken Cooper

April 19, 1998Pinch and Glade CreeksTom Snead, Bill Matlin, Ken Cooper

A lot of people I know, myself included, when younger, armed with a new drivers license and the parent's car would spend hours exploring back roads close to home. Sometimes we would get completely lost and find ourselves in a new corner of the county we never knew existed. Eventually our network of roads began to connect and then lead us again to a new adventure, further and further from home. Being able to discover something new, and feeling like you're the first person to ever experience it is one of the things I miss from childhood.

Paddlers tend to do this same thing with small creeks. When I'm exploring a run for the first time it reminds me of my adolescent days driving aimlessly with inseparable friends, expanding our boundaries. Sometimes, while paddling, a tributary will catch my eye. I begin to imagine hiking up a couple of miles to explore what is just out of sight. Most of these are just way too small to ever consider boating. But occasionally you stumble on to one that has possibilities. You just can't stop thinking about what surprises it may contain. You may even purchase topo maps and begin pouring over them during the coldest winter nights.

When I first began paddling Glade Creek several winters ago, just this type of stream caught my eye. Even though Glade was the most challenging thing I had paddled at that time, a tributary about half way down caught my eye. I began to think about the 160' per mile section of creek I had just paddled through just upstream. I began to think about the multitude of 10' drops that still had my heart pumping. I began to think there must be some of the same type whitewater on that little tributary, of which I could only glimpse about 100Â’ upstream from the mouth.'

Glade Creek has become one of my favorite runs and every ti

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