Chattooga

After getting up early and watching every gauge we could think of spike, Taylor Sobczak, Sammy Lockwood, and I decided to head to the Chattooga. We met at the whitewater shop and kicked around ideas. We knew the level was spiking hard, but at that time, it had only come up to around 2’.

I convinced them to do Sandy to the bridge because I figured it would probably only get up to around 3’. It was also for this reason that I chose to paddle my Dagger Medieval. It was raining so hard that we wore our dry suits to load boats and run shuttle. As we hike down Sandy Ford none of us could believe the amount of water flowing through every depression in the topography, and the gushing waterfalls that are normally just wet rock slabs. This walk is when it really occurred to me how high this river may be and made me yearn for a larger boat. Sandy Ford was unrecognizable, there was way more water than any of us had ever seen, and I really started to get nervous.

I knew that the narrows would be where we truly understood what we were up against. I went for the traditional line through the start of the narrows, and I narrowly missed a massive hole. I watched a Firecracker get tossed around in said hole. He escaped and we eddied out before running the second part of the rapid. After nearly getting back-endered in what I thought was a clean line, we got through the second part of the narrows and quickly floated down to second ledge.

We made the good decision to scout, and with great difficulty we were able to lay eyes on it. The main line was dropping into a hole with the boil line probably 10 feet from the ledge. That wasn’t going to work in our low volume boats, but I spotted a line on the far side of the river, probably 60 feet from the bank we were standing on. It looked ok, a break between bad looking holes that would be smooth as long as you were on line. By the time I got back to my boat I noticed all the waves in the middle of the river were now larger and some of them had turned into holes. The river was still spiking hard, and my line now looked a lot less inviting. The ferry to that side of the river was incredibly hard, but I turned my boat downstream in time and was able to ride a massive wave through a part of second ledge that is typically dry rock. We enjoyed big bouncy waves and holes before deciding to scout Eye of the Needle.

There were two lines that looked ok, both involved tight moves dodging serious pour overs on both sides (at this point the rock the usually directs all the water to one side was large pour over that looked like a serious beatdown if you entered it). On top of this, as far as the eye could see there were large waves and holes not unlike something you’d see on the Olympic section. We decide to portage because of the remoteness and potential of a very long swim and the loss of a boat very far from civilization. We then enjoyed flying through massive waves and enjoyed some good surfing and big eddy lines.

We scouted Painted Rock and I was glad we did. The rock in question was completely underwater and creating an ugly looking hole. The normal line on river right had its own bad looking hole so the line we ran was middle left driving as hard left as we could to steer clear of the painted rock pour over. That was a fun ride! From Thrifts to the Bull was more of the same big water, you can go places that are normally completely dry and you will pass eye popping holes constantly. By the time we got to the Bull, it was at 4.5’ so we portaged made the ferry to the beach. We were thankful to have made it off the safe.

Overall, this was a fun but scary day. At one point I heard my friends yelling at me, they were alerting me to the 50-foot tree that was in the river next to me. We all eddied out and got to watch it wrap around a rock. It sounded like thunder. This is no place for those unfamiliar with the Chattooga and yet most of the lines are completely different than those at normal flows. This is a big water run, and a swim here could end very badly.

Ran Sandy Ford to the highway at 1.66. This is definetly on the lower side of whats optimal for this run but I would do it again at this level. Run was clear of dangerous wood in all of the rapids.

Went to the Chatooga to run Sandy Ford to Bull Sluice. Was very scrapy in the flatwater and at Bull Sluice, all other rapids went well. The flake at the double drops line on Bull Sluice did not have a lot of water running over it which caused one of the boaters on the trip to get stuck right at the lip of the drop.

Ran yesterday. Internet gauge at 1.85ft. I guess that means the gauge at the bridge was probably 1.7ft. It was a fine level for our first trip. Rapids still had plenty of water. Scraped a couple places in the wide shoals but not a problem at all. We portaged eye of the needle. Just didn't like the look of it. Ran everything else. We observed no wood in any of the main lines from Sandy to Thrifts.

Interpretive signs at US 76 river access that serves as Section III take-out and Section IV put-in.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zj6cseVu4-Q

The strainer / logjam at the Narrows has apparently been removed from the Narrows. Main log is now on river right on the ledge below the narrows (Narrows Ledge).

A high water trip with the Southeast Chapter of the River Management Society celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.

A week ago, 4/20/15, there was a large tree, very bad strainer, at Dick's Creek Ledge at 3.5 feet on section 3 that obscured any route over the ledge. Be sure to scout before running.

Jay Davis running Bull Sluice

Did this section Earls Ford to 76 Bridge July 6th 2012 and the water was running at 1.25ft Our first trip on this and water was runnable for smaller boats. George ran the Probe 12 most of the sections, Steve ran the Bell Prodigy for the first time some of this section. Ran this with George, Steve, Debbie, Mark, Sam, Isabel. I dropped Bull Sluice on the Probe 12 perfectly. Looking forward to doing this again soon.

The map is misleading, the put in is not at 28 but actually Earls Ford. If you put in at 28 and take out at the Bridge then you would of just paddled section 2 and 3, that is 20 miles and 7 hours of paddling.

9/2/2013
Put in at Sandy Ford and took out at Bull Sluice. Great day on the Chattooga. water was running at 1.68FT We took the Probe 12, Mini Max, Avon Ranger and Alpaca. All boats worked great except for the Ranger, the water was a little to low. Ranger went over Second Ledge sideways, lost all its crew with no casualties. The Alpaca lost one on Eye Of The Needle with a broken paddle blade, no casualties. Ranger went over Bull Sluice and lost one, no casualties.

Chrisler

Put in at Sandy Ford and took out at Bull Sluice

Looking for the best line.

Eli

Avon Ranger just a bit off center.

River Management Society field trip to the Chattooga River.

After running this section with my kayaking team this weekend, I can assure you that this is not a 13 mile run. The drive from bridge to bridge is 17.2 miles. The river is estimated to be slightly longer than that, somewhere around 18 miles. Fantastic day trip as long as you plan for 18 miles.

Also, there are more rapids that this page suggests as well. I didnt get a full count but it was an awesome day and the rapids were extremely fun.

I will post more info the next time we run this.

By the way, we ran it at 1.35ft and it was only bony in about 2 places. All around excellent river and when all other rivers are below runnable, the chatooga is hangin in there strong.

Tyler Holt running the Single Drop of Bull Sluice at ~1.8 ft on the USGS gauge

The USGS keeps a staff plate (gage) maintained below the old gage house. This is tied to the internet data. It is a little further walk then what is below the bridge but the trail is clear.

Ran Earls to Sandy today. Strainer in Rock Garden is gone.

South Carolina

dicks ledge @ 3ft

There was a strainer blocking the rive right line at the bottom drop of Rock Garden. There was a cheat immediately to the right of the drop, it was barely open at 2.25

We ran section 3 Saturday 11/14/09 - the tree that was across the bottom of the Narrows when we ran it two weeks ago is now gone, so you're good to go.

Stu Thompson running the slide

Log sits atop entrance to narrows rapid with a strainer on left of run, and base of tree across right of run

Bull Sluice @ 8 plus feet

Boofing the left line

Bruce Fleckensteinrunning Second Ledge

Robert and Sarah being raft guided by some very drunken doogies
Where are the dogs????

this is the tongue part of bull sluice around 2.4 feet in late may '09. the hole at the bottom is a huge smack in the face but as long as you have decent speed you will blow right through. if you run this side be sure not to be too far river right or you will hit decap and too far left will flip you on the rocks at the top

the bull was massive...

single drop on bull sluice for the first time

The island above sandy ford has a large log jam on the right side. It looks passable on the far right. You cant miss it. We went left of the island at 1.4 or so and it was way too bony. The right side is too fun to miss.

A highly reccomended section is earls ford to sandy. Leave a vehicle at Sandy ford and put in at earls ford. It is a great way to spend 2 hours after a day of work. The shuttle takes 5 minutes. If you play some you can liesurely do this section in 2 hours and you get some great scenery, isolation (during the week), and have some fun rapids to play on.

Probably better to run this when the USGS is over 1.5. Pretty bumpy @ around 1.3.

I love chutes
Chris lapping it up!
Warren flipped his boat & ate a rock before he decided to swim.Smart guy!
Chris actually using whats left of his brain.
Look out!
Look at that concentration
Chris getting swallowed

Running the slide at Dick's Creek.
Nice auto boof...

Boofing second ledge on the chattooga

Carlos hitting a great boof on second ledge!

A perfect line results in a perfect hit.

Look for this fun little slide to the river right of the large center rocks at Eye of the Needle. Unrunnable at lower flows, but a fun sneak route over 2 feet. We ran the Eye, then portaged back up the rocks on river right and hit Sideshow.

A nice warm-up for a great day on Section III.

Missed the boof at 2.75ft. Photo catches the boat beginning a 180 spin after the nose caught rocks during the drop. Bow first at the top, stern first at the bottom. gatoraud.com

John's first ride on the bull!!!! For more visit
http://www.lithiumkayaking.com

Eye of the Needle a few days after the hurricanes... :-)
The hairy ferry at painted rock @ 4.2 ft.

ayeiiiiiiiiii!