Yellow

From Boatertalk:

Yellow River last night - longish TR New

Forum: BoaterTalk

Date: Aug 13 2004, 20:54 GMT

From: peterelkon

Yesterday Metro Atlanta got pounded, particularly in the Ocmulgee watershed, and the Yellow came up to about 1800 cfs at 6PM when X and I put on. X will remain nameless for reasons that will get clearer.

I had been avoiding the yellow for the last couples of decades because Gwinnett County put in a sewage treatment facility just above the section we ran, and I don't like paddling in nasty water. However, I have been informed by members of the Biology dpartment of Oxford College (part of Emory U.) that the Yellow runs pretty clean these days since Gwinnett change the system used to treat the water. There's Caddis Fly larvae in there again, an indicator that the water's clean.

There's that, and the fact that all the parking lots in Gwinnet County make the thing really flash...

Anyhow, we meet at the bike park, run the boats upstream, and put in. The first bit is flat, but moving at 8-10 mph, quite respectable, and we blow through what is usually about 1/2 hour of flatwater in about 15 minutes, and get to the first set of rapids, a few hundred yards of waves and holes - fun playing, and there were still a few eddies for repeat rides here and there. At the bottom of this stretch is the first of two real rapids, a set of ledges. The first has a very visible horizon line, and X was nice enough to remind me of the need to stop and scout. Should you choose to do this, I'd suggest you do the same, as the ledge has steep sections and not-so steep sections, and holes that move around depending on the level. You don't want to be in the wrong place unless you have gills, and if you're in the right place, it's easy. After the first ledge, you can either cut left around an island, or go straight. We were about to go around the island when X said 'Let's go right,' and then, the words that everyone wants to hear: 'Watch out for the rock on the right, and paddle hard!' By this time, I was already heading to the last ledge, there were no eddies left, and all I could think was 'Why did I decide to do this?'

I could see the rock on the right, now. On a thirty foot wide creek, a bus-sized object is hard to miss, at least visually. I could also see that I was on a ramp, headed directly for a five-foot foam pile with a hole at the bottom, the afore-mentioned rock on the right, and a small cliff on the left. Nowhere to go but the hole. If there had been time for violent fantasies involving X, I would have had at least one, but I was too busy stroking and wishing for a bigger boat. I took heart from the fact that X was no longer in sight, and if he got through, I could too. Paddle like heel, lean forward, get the bow under the foam, grab the red greenwater, lean back, and....foam, dark, then, YES! AIR! To repeat what I said to my partner in the eddy is a violation of the user agreement.

More flatwater and boogie water followed, until we came to Annistown Bridge. Did I mention that X lured me into this with the promise of 'Western Whitewater?' What he meant was: 'a series of drops with big nasty holes that you might not get out of until the river drops.'

As we were scouting, Will Gosney wandered up, to see wht might be going on. X decided to go first, to demonstrate the viability of the first drop. I watched him, thinking: 'Nice ferry, but isn't he a few feet to the left of where he said he was going?' The first drop has a hole in the center, with tongues on the left and right. I think he had his eyes on the hole, 'cause that's where he ended up. After his first 360, Will asked: 'Is he doing that on purpose?' Hoping X would do his usual pull-something-sweet-out-of-his-nether-regions, I kep my peace. After a couple of unintendoes and a few more 360's, when will asked again if this was on purpose, I said 'No,' and Will unpacked the rope. A few more rotations and X got an ender on the top of the foam pile, flipped and came out. Unfortunately, he lost his wind and his grip on his paddle at the same time. There are rocks down in where he landed, too.

Anyway, he swam. Hard, because he only had a little room before the next series of three big holes. Will threw the rope, but X didn't even look for it. I went for my boat, and put in below where X got chundered, and went on after his boat. I caught up with him as he was in the water below the rapid, floating after his boat. He had hopped in to try and catch up with it. He wanted me to go back and get his rope, because his boat was hung in a tree. Did I mention the river was up in the trees? When his boat came loose and started floating downstream, we decided to switch jobs, so I chased his boat through a small rapid. It only cartwheeled once, so I didn't feel too bad being the only boat on the river above Jackson Lake. I caught the thing, got a line on it, and found a hole in the trees in which to dump it. Pick it up, start to turn it over on my deck, and, for the first in in many years of boating, a fish the size of my forearm jumps out of his cockpit right at my face!

Eventually, Jeff, er, X, managed to walk down the bank after getting his rope from Will. We ran the last few waves in the dark, got out, and went home.

Lessons learned:

Set safety on river left at Annistown Falls at high water. All you have to is cross the bridge and walk back down the other side, and that's where the swimmers go.

Watch out for fish in boats.