Cheoah River

Not far from the grocery store put-in, the rapids on the Upper Cheoah are some of the most difficult on the river, especially because of the trees both in the riverbed and clogging most otherwise usable eddies. Once you see the water diversion pipe, prepare yourself for the vicious lowhead dam that follows immediately below. At this water level, the dam is difficult to avoid and quite dangerous. Power far right or left over the drop.
This is one of the top drops at Takeout. As you can tell, its difficulty lies in the pushiness of the water, the size of the holes, and most importantly, the TREES! Because of these factors, Takeout at this water level is nearly unreasonable.
This thicket of trees is the only respite between the first part of Takeout and its bottom ledges.
This image gives you a good feel for the middle and bottom part of Takeout. This rapid consists of four mega-holes, several of which are visible here. Complicating matters further, trees stud what would normally have been the main line through this large rapid. The riverbed opens up on the Cheoah significantly in the section following Takeout.
This ledge represents the entrance to Takeout and consists of a nasty riverwide hydraulic. We would have run a sneak river right, but as you can tell, there was a forest in our way.
This is a typical scene on the upper part of the Cheoah. I can't stress the tree-problem enough. They are everywhere!
This is a typical rapid on the middle part of the Cheoah. This middle section opens up considerably from the tree-infested upper part. It's about five miles of rapids like this: big, pushy, very similar to Upper Gauley rapids but much, much more continuous. This section, although difficult, is not as demanding as the tighter upper two miles, largely because of the lack of trees.
The entrance rapid to the big drop on the lower portion of the river is just as difficult as the drop itself. It is very long and pushy, and suprisingly steep abounding with large waves and holes. The horizon line downstream is the big drop. At this water level, hug river right from the very top of the entrance rapid; the left 3/4 of the big drop is not a fun place to be.
This is a shot of the lower part of the entrance rapid to the big drop. Prepare to power far right at this point.
This is the biggest vertical drop on the Cheoah, about 10 feet, found not far upstream from Tapoco Lodge. The lower two miles of the Cheoah drops over 100 feet/mile, which at a level of 6.8 (or around 2600 cfs), represents a whitewater experience not often found in the Southeast.
This is a complicated drop at 6.8 ft. Whereas lines open up far left and center at lower water levels, the only line this day was far right. Most of the water from the entrance rapid above pours directly into the center/left, either place not a pleasant one to be (notice the river left, center, and right-center keepers). This is only the first drop (and easiest) of a rapid that lasts at least another 1/4 mile.
The fun only begins at the big drop. The next set of rapids, combined with the drop, form the most demanding part of the entire river. Continuous Class V whitewater rages through several enormous holes. One of which you can see through the trees here.
This is a photo of the final hole in the set of rapids below the drop. At this level, they combine to form one HUGE rapid. This particular hole can be found at the bottom of the righthand channel and was the subject of lots of scouting that weekend.
The rapid alongside Tapoco Lodge is one of the river's best; it funnels into a great playspot almost parallel to the lodge. Below it, enormous waves continue until under the bridge.
After the river crosses under the bridge, it drops into a steep, beautiful mini-gorge that rushes into the lake about 2/3 mile from here. Strong rapids continue all the way to the lake and alongside them, several outstanding playspots.