Big Creek

Ran Big Creek on 3/6/2011 at 6'. Significantly higher then I've done it before. It felt like a nice low medium. So, I'll have to revise my earlier estimates of low, medium and high levels.

ELF is probably -3 inches
Low is 3ish'
Medium 6 to 8
High is probably 12

Since I know the run, I would try it at 12, I wouldn't recommend it if you haven't done it before. But don't worry, wait 2-3 hours and it will be medium!

This is a micro creek and collects a lot of wood. This weekend the first drop in the first gorge was blocked by wood and had to be portaged. At 6' the water was so high, it made scouting 'Scream Like A Little Girl' very difficult. (best scouted on the left) All drops MUST be scouted due to wood. At 12' I don't think there will be any eddies on the approach to 'Scream' so, be very careful once you are in the middle of the first gorge.

More water makes the second gorge great. The auto boof on 'Big Bottom' is amazing.

This weekend Holly Creek at Chattsworth was over 1000 and still rising when we put on, Mill Creek at Crandal had just peaked over 300. And Big Creek was falling. So again, to catch Big, you must put on shortly after the rain ends. There seems to be only a 6 hour window of runnability on this one, even in the best conditions.

Put it on your radar. Its worth a trip.

Big Creek is a fun class III - IV+ (Vish) run, however don't expect non-stop action from top to bottom. About 1/2 mile into the run is 'The Dunkin' Hole'. After that the creek is continuous Class II-II+ boogie with a couple of Class III's thrown in. After about 4 miles you come to the first Class IV-IV+ gorge. The gorge is about 1/2 a mile long with 3 sweeeeet drops including 'Scream Like A Little Girl'. A fun 10 footer. Then Big creek settles down once again to class II-II+ boogie water. When you see the old rebar/pipe on river right and the river takes a turn to the left, you are at the 'Loop'. This marks the beginning of the second gorge. It is also about 1/2 mile long with a set of great drops. Shortly after that is the confluence with the Ocoee and the take-out. Its a lot of fun and worth doing, but don't expect non-stop action from top to bottom.

Big Creek is one of those runs that start dropping within an hour or two of when the rain stops. Look for about an inch of rain at the TVA Ocoee #1 and #2 gages and at 02385800 HOLLY CREEK NEAR CHATSWORTH, GA. Using 02385800 HOLLY CREEK NEAR CHATSWORTH, GA as an indicator: look for Holly to be spiking above 600 cfs and going towards 1000. Big Creek will start dropping hours before Holly peaks. So, if Holly is dropping, its probably not worth driving up to Big Creek.

The paddler's gage is on the upstream river right of the put-in bridge. If the level is around 6', the creek will fall about 2' per hour, at 0' it will fall about 1' per hour. 0' is a good medium. -4' is probably a minimum, with +4 to +6 as a high. I wouldn't put on above +4 if you havn't run the creek before or if you aren't a solid class V creeker. If you get there and it's too high, go run Go Forth Creek then come back and check the level.

When we ran the creek TVA Ocoee #1 had 1.4' of rain #2 had 1.3' rain. USGS Holly Creek got 1' of rain. The rain stopped 5 hrs before we got to the put-in. Big Creek was at around 3 ft in the early AM. Probably crested 8-9 hrs before Holly Creek Crested. We put on at 14:00 when Big Creek was 0' and falling while Holly creek was 1290 cfs and still rising. At 19:00 when we went back to the put-in Big Creek was -6' and Holly Creek was 1370 cfs and falling after cresting at 18:00 at 1390 cfs. The key to catching Big Creek is to pay attention to what time the rain stopped. The TVA gages are useless for this but the USGS Holly Creek rain gage is great!

Hope this helps! Paddle Safe! -- Rob

Chris Gorman videos Peter Horne as he runs The Dunkin' Hole. It is a fairly powerful 'V' ledge hole, formed by a rock wall on river left and 5 foot ledge on river right. It doesn't look like much in the photo, but a swim would be very eventful! If you have trouble here, it would be best to hike back to the put-in.
Milt Aitken runs The Dunkin' Hole. It is a fairly powerful 'V' ledge hole, formed by a rock wall on river left and 5 foot ledge on river right. It doesn't look like much in the photo, but a swim would be very eventful! If you have trouble here, it would be best to hike back to the put-in.
Sean Thompson demonstrating how not to run The Dunkin' Hole. This hole will recirculate and hold anything that it can grab. It is a fairly powerful 'V' ledge hole, formed by a rock wall on river left and 5 foot ledge on river right. It doesn't look like much in the photo, but a swim would be very eventful! If you have trouble here, it would be best to hike back to the put-in.
Peter Horne takes the next drop below The Dunkin' Hole as Milt Aitken takes a moment to admire the botanical wonders found along Big Creek.
There is a fair amount of wood on Big Creek. And since the creek is prone to flashing it moves around a lot. So, be careful!
Chris Gorman running a Class III eddie hop rapid somewhere above the 1st gorge.
This is the first gorge on Big Creek. Look closely in the background and you will see Milt Aitken running the entrance rapid while Sean Thompson, in the forground, makes The Slot look easy.
Milt Aitken grabbing an eddy on river right below The Slot. As you can see, river left is a tree sieve cluster. Just below the center island is 'Scream Like A Little Girl' a 10 foot water fall with a very sticky hole.
Scout 'Scream Like A Little Girl' on river left. Unfortunatly, the eddies along the river banks are few, so you'll probably have to park on one of the mid stream rocks and wade to shore.
Peter Horne aces the drop at Scream Like A Little Girl. Scream is the 3rd drop in the 1st gorge. It is a 10 foot waterfall with a very sticky hole at the bottom. The river right side of the drop is the sieve-cave of death, which is easily avoided. You can see a view of this rapid from below in the photo 'Big Creek 1G 3D'.
Sean Thompson aces the drop at Scream Like A Little Girl. Scream is the 3rd drop in the 1st gorge. It is a 10 foot waterfall with a very sticky hole at the bottom. The river right side of the drop is the sieve-cave of death, which is easily avoided. You can see a view of this rapid from below in the photo 'Big Creek 1G 3D'.
Milt Aitken, before and after, discovering how sticky the bottom hole is at Scream Like A Little Girl. Scream is the 3rd drop in the 1st gorge. It is a 10 foot waterfall with a very sticky hole at the bottom. The river right side of the drop is the sieve-cave of death, which is easily avoided. You can see a view of this rapid from below in the photo 'Big Creek 1G 3D'.
Sean Thompson watches Peter Horne do the auto-boof at Big Bottom. Big Bottom is the 3rd rapid in the second gorge. It is a clean 6 foot drop with a launch pad. To see a photo of it from below, look at 'Big Creek 2nd Gorge'.

This is a little video of most of the major rapids on Big Creek with some music in the background. All the rapids are labeled in the clip. It has some good carnage too, enjoy :)
...Goto http://filebox.vt.edu/users/cdgorman/index.html for more SE creeking videos

Horrendous cave/sieve on right of drop. Easy to avoid if you're in control. Death if you're not!

This would be a scarey place with alot of water!