Bear Creek
Hwy 129 pull off by bridge to Canyon View Rd takeout(Cloudland Canyon)
| Difficulty | V |
| Length | 3.8 mi |
| Avg Gradient | 270 fpm |
| Gauge | Lookout Creek Near New England, Ga |
| Flow Rate as of 1 hour | 186 cfsbelow recommended |
| Reach Info Last Updated | July 12, 2005 |
River Description
Gauge Description:
The local gauge on the bridge upstream from the put-in - downstream river right side. 9' min, 12'--18' optimim, 20'-2' high but commonly run (watch fishbowl and revelations).
The cfs gauge listing is for Lookout Creek, just downstream of Trenton, Ga. Bear drains into lookout creek. The gauge is less than two miles from the Bear takeout.
Information from local expert, Ron Stewart, Box 1337, Chatanooga, TN 3740
Bear was first run by Ron Stewart and Doug Wellman in the early 90s.
Significant rapids are:
1. Edward Scissorhands - constriction with sharp shelf off right (get up on left)
2. Surreal Pillow - right sneak at med flows, portage best when low - trees block channel
3. Fishbowl - hidden piton center of 1st ledge, big hole below over 20'
4. Snakepit
5. Knockin on heavens door - leads into
6. Stairway to Heaven - faster than you may think. Eddy left and early to scout. Portage
by walking IN FLOW down left (slick above waterline). Numerous accidents here -
compressed vertabrae, skull fractures, broken ribs, elbows, etc. Big fun, big bounce.
7. Cosmic trigger - watch for new logs, run right
8. Big Bang - Far right boof to shallows - hard to line up launch pad w/o scouting. Far left
run at very high flows or portage river left by jumping into pool.
9. Reveleation: 3 drops - big hole and pile-ups at high flows. Set spotter or space out.
10. Momentary Lapse of Reason: big boof! Sketch crack w/ piton at low flows
11. Armageddon: watch for trees in runout, super-technical but by now . . .
Daniel's Creek enters from river left - hike up river left trail1/2 mi for 4-5
additional drops when levels are over 15' and logs permit. 30'er has not been run.
12. Pinball Wizard - Mucho technical drop with changing log
...River Features
Put In
Surrealistic Pillow
From Daniel Talley:
'That one picture with the tree in it is from
Surrealistic Pillow. This is after Edward
Scissor Hands and the first large rapid that
you come to. We run the far right crack that
ends with a ten foot drop, which is what the
picture shows.' Center line blocked by log
and undercut, left too rocky. Often portaged
when low - pins in right crack happen.
Stairway to Heaven
3-step 45' drop with the 2nd step 15'er landing on flat rock. Super-fun but back and rib injuries common. Head injuries when people flip, too. A common story you hear about Stairway is that people scout the drop and say 'no way am I running that!'. At which point they start to look at the portage. Then the hapless boater quietly gets back in their boat and starts to psyche up. Walk up and out river left to Cloudland Canyon picnic area if needed.
Big Bang
This used to be a mandatory portage but is
now commonly run against the river right
bank with boof as shown. The landing area
is very shallow.
Only portage is to jump off river left into pool.
Momentary Lapse of Reason
Big easy boof above 13' ; nasty f-up flake
in channel when low. Memorable piton to
skirt-pop to right wall overhung rock grovel
move when boof gets blown.
Armageddon
Take Out
Trip Reports
Log in to add a reportHeard several boaters made an 11'' run Nov. 2006, some new wood in lower but all avoidable at that level on that day. Major windstorm later in month so be aware..
Heads up for locals; there is a piton rock in the
second ledge in 'snakepit' (just below
Fishbowl) and the right exit rock is now
undercut since 2004 hurricanes. Consider
scouting. Tree below Surrealistic sneak. And
a left slot between Big Bang and Revelations
has a nasty pin rock in it now - drive left or run
the center ramp instead.
CW
from Boatertalk:
Bear 20'' 4PM - usual suspects (brad, todd, mark, brent, lane, bryce) doing laps. New
Forum: BoaterTalk
Date: Dec 08 2004, 8:25 GMT
From: ClayW
Finally made it down and it was every bit as good as remembered.
There's 'new' wood in the surrealistic sneak (runnable?) and an 'new' undercut on the right in the rapid below Fishbowl (Snakepit) and above Knockin on Heaven's Door. Meltdowns in Cosmic Trigger, Corey ran left at Big Bang, then surfed Revelations (on my directions). Logs in left channel at Armagaddon (still) but squeeky clean down from there.
65 degrees - in December? Love this season!
Clay
AW negotiated access to the Bear in 1995. Support AW for keeping classic steep creeks like the Bear open!!
The river left channel is now clear of trees, but back when it wasn't this was the only line in center. Boulder on right is severely undercut.
Stairway run, 'back in the day'. (get those old-schooler arms down, Jascomb).
The boulder drops just below Momentary Lapse of reason on Bear Creek, Ga.
From Daniel Talley:
'That one picture with the tree in it is from Surrealistic Pillow. This is
after Edward Scissor Hands and the first large rapid that you come to. We run the far right crack that ends with a ten foot drop, which is what the picture shows.'