Overflow Creek

From: Socemdog (socemdog@aol.com)

Subject: Re: Re: Big Creek (Chatooga Watershed)

Newsgroups: rec.boats.paddle

Date: 1998/04/29

In article frans@mail.tds.net, Strickland wrote:

Oops, sorry Craig. You asked for specific information, not a history lesson.

But it's the best that I could do. I haven't been back!

Actually, you haven't been back, because you found Overflow! ( pppttttuppp! )

Your history is actually pretty good, for such an old geezer as yourself. Have

you been taking some vitamins or sumthin?

I'll try to remember my version - to be possibly corrected by the actual

victims.

Not long after you ran Big Creek, Ken, Alan Singley entered West Fork

history. He had hiked Overflow, Holcomb, and Big Creeks a good deal by then

- as well as the north fork Chatooga Sections 1, Zero, Double Zero, and

Minus 1, and even Scotsman's Branch. One fine day, I believe in 1975, or maybe

1976, he dropped his boating and camping gear off at the culvert bridge, now

famous as the Overflow put-in, drove his truck to the West Fork bridge, and

hiked back up to spend the night. The next afternoon, about 5 miles and 8 or

9 portages later, Alan emerged with wondrous tales of a fantastic whitewater

run, with the improbable name of Overflow Creek. The fact that he *soloed*

the exploratory doesn't surprise anyone who knows Alan.

Alan's spectacular, if somewhat unbelievable, tales fascinated everyone, but

failed to gain him a partner for another descent. Undaunted, Alan proceeded

on another *solo* run, this time with 5 or 6 portages. Finally he convinced

another boater to accompany him, none other than Robert Harrison, an open

boater of some renown. Alan and Robert survived, but, alas, Robert's Old Town

Tripper was finished, thanks to Pinball. If I recall, Robert made about 7

portages on that trip. Should have been eight. Robert's account of that

descent convinced everyone that Alan Singley was not only crazy, but a menace

to society in general, and to paddlers in particular. It was truly amazing to

watch Robert's face as he told us of - the Terror That Was Overflow. This

sufficiently warned everyone, so again Alan could find nobody to paddle

Overflow with him. So, typically, he made the 4th descent solo, this time

with 4 portages. This was sometime in 1977.

That year Diane and I moved to Highlands, NC, situated on top of the ridge that

separates Overflow Creek from the Cullasaja River. I was glad to get

re-acquainted with Alan, who previously had introduced me to the Watauga. One

fall afternoon, Alan and I were settin' around jus' doin' nuthin' (that's how

it is said up there), and he casually mentioned that I ought to 'take a look

at' Overflow. Before I knew it, we were crashing through the rhododendrons

with our boats, just downstream of the culvert. We put in on this beautiful

little gurgling creek, in incredibly beautiful surrounding, and then Alan took

off, with me in tow. I can't tell you how many times I followed this young

giant, sitting up high in his C-1, down some unforgettable adventure into the

unknown, but this was to be the most memorable of them all!

About a mile later, my head was spinning after running some of the most

incredible rapids I had ever done. We pulled into an eddy, for the first time

since the put-in, and Alan said 'what do you think?' I was nearly speechless,

but his next sentence struck me dumb! 'We're starting to get close to the big

drops, so stay close.' 'Big drops?' I stammered, 'What have we been running

for the last mile?' He said nothing, but smiled and peeled out. I got really

nervous when he eddied out in a few yards, and said 'this is a pretty good one

- just stay right and you'll be fine'. Then he took off, and disappeared

over the edge. I thought I'd seen him for the last time. I scrambled out

onto a rock and looked at the horizon line, expecting traces of wreckage, and

finally saw the tip of his paddle waving. Not wanting to be left, I swallowed

hard and . . .

It was unreal! I asked Alan how many times he had run that 15 foot falls, and

when he said 'Once - today', I knew the name of that drop immediately - Blind

Falls.

The rest of the run was like a dream - a whitewater dream. Singley's Falls

waited for another day, and we stayed permanently away from Gravity and the

Great Marginal Monster.

Then you entered the picture, Ken, and now the whole world knows! Well, maybe

its not just your fault. Anyway, Overflow is too special not to share.

So that's what I know of the history. Or maybe I just imagined it. Either

way, it's really quite, uhh, well . . ( pppttttuppp! )

Ken, was the first run we did together on Overflow before or after that

ill-fated Section Zero run? (Is the statue of limitations up yet?)

Socemdog@aol.com Robin D. Sayler Meldrim, Ga.