Section 00, 0, and 1 of the Chattooga in a day, along with other ramblings

I think Adriene is excited about the day.

Adriene said she wanted to paddle all the Upper Chattooga.  Who was I to argue?

For more than forty years it's been illegal to paddle the upper reaches of the Chattooga river (huge thanks AW!), and besides me, no one else in the group had ever paddled the upper sections before so it seemed like it would be irresponsible of me not to go along.  Especially given the perfect levels (about 700 cfs at Burrel's Ford).  As I was chatting with Adriene on the phone it became clear that she didn't really understand that paddling all 15 miles of the newly opened sections of river was going to be a challenge, not because of the hard rapids, but because of the miles, the portages, the hikes, and the rapids.  After I said, "ok its going to be a long day."  She said, "and if we get done quickly we can go do Overflow.  Oh and we want to get an early start so we can get back and cook a nice curry dinner!"

At that point I decided I better brush up on my memories of the run and trails along the river, just in case.  There are some good maps on the American Whitewater page that I started pouring over.

I packed extra water, Snickers bars, fleece, a headlamp, and a little vitamin i.  I knew we would be ok because there is trail along 80% of the run so we could get out no matter how badly we got delayed, but, still... I have done this trip twice before and each time we got off the river in the dark and now that it's legal having to hike in two miles and out nearly a mile to actually be legal makes it that much harder.  So I had a feeling we weren't going to be running Overflow or making a nice Curry for dinner.

Yes we went too far.  AW says if you see the handrail you've gone too far.  :) oops

It was a deceptively cold day.  It was KAVU as hell out there but when we stepped out of the car at the put-in there was ice all over the parking area and it was 28 degrees.  Fortunately we were going to be hiking for a bit to get warm.  The two mile hike in along the Chattooga River Trail is fairly easy but it is uphill the first half and then along the ridge and down to the river the second half.  We had a touch of confusion about exactly where to put-in and we didn't want to ruffle any private land owner feathers so we went a little further down than we had to.  I later read the American Whitewater page for the upper section a little more closely and its pretty clear.  I should have studied harder.  I guess I could say that about college too, but I was too busy sneaking off to go paddling rather than getting to class all the time.

First Falls, a nice little starter slide

The first time I did this section, let's just say it was a little while ago, our group rolled up to the Burrel's Ford take-out of section 0 in Beaz's land yacht of a car, loaded down with gear for 5, there sitting in the parking lot was a ranger.  He looked a little bored but perked up when he saw us drive in.  He knew exactly why we were there and I actually knew the guy because at the time I was guiding on the Chattooga a bunch and saw him at the river often.  

The conversation went like this: 

"What are you guys up to?" 

"Ummm going kayaking?"

"You know this section is illegal don't you?" 

"Ummm yes.  What happens if we get caught running it?" 

"Its a $500 fine."

"$500 dollars per person or could we pay it all together?" I was trying to decide if that would be worth the risk.  

The ranger smiled and said, "$500 a person",  and turned away to talk with some other folks.  We schemed in the car about what we were gonna do.  

The ranger walked back over to us and said with a very deliberate tone.  "If. I. catch. you. I am gonna fine you $500 dollars.  You guys have a good day", and he walked away.  

"THANKS", I said, trying to keep my excitement somewhat controlled.  He had given us the green light without having to say it.

Log Jam Portage

Slide in amongst the Log Jam

The Upper sections of the Chattooga have a bit of an ominous feel when you first get out there.  When we used to run them in the past it was unsettling because you were sneaking around and where we put in you paddled in on a tiny river/ creek, ducking through the rhodos all the way to the lip of the rapids.  From the new put-in, the first thing you run into is a huge log jam that you have to portage over, down, and through to a seal launch amongst the logs and rocks.  These sections just aren't  "normal" in the southeast.   We are used to our river runs being accesible, well manicured, even the portages on most of our runs are fairly easy but here on the upper you start with a fairly long hike into the Nantahala National Forest, portage through a log jam, the rapids have wood in them that is illegal to remove, and you know at any one time you might have to hike several miles to get to a road or phone.  It gives it the feel of a remote run anywhere in the world not the well lapped routes of the Southeast.

No Kayaks is a stupid name.  Can't we come up with something else?  How about Exit from Log Jam?

Dropping into the Alleyway.

After you get through the initial worries of the hiking and portaging the log jam and immediately get into a couple of cool drops you settle down a little.  The river is spectacularly beautiful.  It is classic southeast creeking.  If you are from the south you know it well: thick rhodo along the river, moss-covered boulders, and sweet, tight, whitewater.  But all the time, in the back of your mind, you feel just a little uneasy.  Logs, a few sieves, and the remoteness keep you on your toes.  Though the rapids aren't difficult, some of the consequences are, and the potential for a long walk out in the dark and cold of winter remind you to keep moving downstream.

The Waterfall in the Alleyway

When I was a kid I went to a camp in Highlands N.C. at the very top of the Chattooga watershed.  My brother and I worked for a decade there, at The Mountain.  We hiked along most of the upper reaches of the river along the upper Chattooga, Overflow, Holcombe, Big Creek and many others.  We paddled our first rapids on the West Fork and Section 2 and though I only lived at the river for a few years as a raft guide I still call this place home.  I love the fact that the first times I paddled most any of the upper Chattooga drainages I didn't realize that I was floating through places that during the hot summer months as a kid, I swam under those waterfalls, and through the potholes.  Now when I return to the Chattooga I get to touch Ellicott's rock,  jump off of Singley's, and slide down Big Bend falls in a different way.  It's good to be home again.

My brother at the put-in for section 2 of the Chattoga (1980), just a couple miles from our take-out the other day.

Oh damn, I got distracted from the story of the river the other day.  Sections 00, 0, and 1 of the Chattooga are very cool.  The character is similar to the sister tributary, Overflow, but the rapids are much more spread out.  There are long stretches of mellow water with easy rapids.  Along those mellow parts stretch miles and miles of trail and lots of folks camping and fishing along the river.  We had only positive interactions with anglers.  I have to admit I was prepared for the worst with all the verbal sparring in the different forums over the re-introduction of paddlers to the upper reaches of the river.  The day was long but we made it to the take-out just as the dark was getting thick enough that I needed to pull out my headlamp for the last couple hundred yards.  The trail put the finishing touches on our energy reserves and a happy exhausted crew posed for the obligatory team paddling photo which by chance was taken by one of the very folks that made this run possible the equally tired and happy Don Kinzer, thank you.

If you head over to do the Upper Chattooga:

1.  The AW page has good instructions on how to get to the Put-In and Take-Outs of all the sections. Read them more carefully than I did.

2.  The trails are not totally obvious, read the hiking directions on the AW pages.

3.  Pay attention to Don't Go Left.  You can go left but its stupid and a little sketchy.  Going right looks horrible with the wood that is there right now but it is fine; go straight over the hump on the right side.  You will probably spot the rapid if you look for a fairly innocuous drop maybe a half mile down from the Log Jam with fairly large wood coming in from the right that looks like it will make the right side scary to run.

4.  Trails run along most of the river.  Study them and you'll find your evac plans aren't too bad.

5.  If you aren't comfortable running on beta from others scouting don't try to do the whole thing.  

6.  Section 1 is really nice, mostly scenic but there are some good rapids and there is wood involved.  The last "Rock Gorge" is a really sweet section of whitewater.

7.  The easiest hike out trail is a couple hundred yards down from Lick Log Creek.  You can hike directly from the confluence of Lick Log Creek with the river but it's more difficult.
8.  On January 19th it got too dark to paddle without a headlamp at 6:19 pm.

Corey on the right side of Bull Pen Bridge rapid.

Yonton dropping into Super Corkscrew on Section 0

Snowy in Rock in the hole in the wall.

Adriene heading into one of the final drop, Harvey Wallbanger

6 hrs, 15 miles of paddling, 3 miles of hiking, an awesome day.

Here is a link to the rest of the photos from the day.  Click Here

Make sure to get out and do this somewhat unknown classic.
Shane

10 things you should know about Overflow

The last 6 months have been crazy.  Liquidlogic and our brotha brand Native Watercraft have moved our entire manufacturing facility and offices from Greensboro to Fletcher NC, near the Green River.  Its kind of like moving from one house to another except the moving truck is a tractor trailer and instead of one truck it took us 50 tractor trailer loads to get everything in the building.  I have had the pleasure of designing new offices, helping design the manufacturing floor plan, helping train new staff, integrating new manufacturing plans, and I am definitely getting pretty good on a fork lift.  All that has been on top of the normal stuff so to say the least its been a fun busy time. A different sort of Class 5 which has made it difficult for me to take off and run much other than our home run the Green.

However... the other day it rained cats and dogs.  It rained enough that I knew things would be super high in the morning but that they might start dropping in during the afternoon.  I had convinced myself I would be fine just going to work and not worrying about it but as the day wore on my leg started that twitch thing.  The boatingbeta flows page was on constant refresh and Overflow was looking like it would drop in perfectly, if I left right then.  Fortunately Yonton was ready and on call for a paddling adventure.  We loaded up my van with boats, gear, and the motorcycle for the shuttle and we were off.

10 things to know about Overflow

1.  The shuttle road is longer and a little rougher than you think.
2.  The mud on the put in trail is slicker than snot.
3.  The right eddie in Hemlock is a bitch to get out of while you wrestle rhodos.
4.  There is a new tree after 7 Car Pile Up. Watch the video.
5.  The left hump boof at Round About is awesome.
6.  Gravity is much harder at lower water.  Fortunately we had a sweet level of 1.3579341
7.  If you haven't been on Overflow there is an initiation.  If you have its your job to initiate.
8.  The Twilight mini gorge is one of the coolest sections of whitewater you'll ever run.
9.  The Great Marginal Monster is an awesome iconic rapid.  Go left on the drop below it.
10. The motorcycle shuttle is awesome!

It was a perfect fall evening, enjoy the video.

Sometimes you forget how good a river is...Overflow from Shaneslogic on Vimeo.

Shane

Liquidlogic Company Trip on the Chattooga: 21 miles of pain and pleasure

This is our super tough looking R and D photo. Damn Ryan you weren't supposed to smile.

Organizing a paddling trip for folks that you haven't done a paddling trip with before can become quite a cluster f@*k.  We started out with tons of people all fired up to go but then the soccer games, beer fests, birthday partys,  and bowel issues among other things, started to whittle the crowd down to a few hearty souls.  The group that you see are the few and the proud.  We are the R and D department of Liquidlogic and Native kayaks.  It came down to the 6 of us. Betsy is an honorary member because she has to put up with my dusty ass every time I come home from the shop.

Here are all the photos from the weekend.



 We put on the West Fork of the Chattooga a couple miles above the confluence with the North Fork of the Chattooga and paddled down through Section 2 and into the beginnings of Section 3 on the first day.  The water was high so within 4 hours we had easily floated the 10 plus miles.  On day 2 we paddled the rest of the way out of Section 3 which was another 10+ miles.  If you have followed my blog at all or read through some of the stories there is a good chance you have seen a Chattooga overnighter post before.  This one was really cool for many reasons.  It was a bigger crew of folks from the factory that came along. We covered a bunch of miles which made it a little more adventurous, which was evident by how sore we all were coming into work on Monday.  The weather was perfect.  Really it was the first really incredible spring weekend this year.  The food worked out great.  We had a great camp site, and everybody paddled so well that we had no problems through out the entire trip.  We didn't even have a single flip or swim or frying pan sink to the bottom of the river.  It was awesome!  The best part was hanging with folks from the factory playing with the toys that we make every day.



Here is the crew.




This is Ryan testing out the food safe qualities of the Remix XPs hatch.  He is also the guy on the left in the group picture who didn't get the memo about it being a goofy serious shot.  He was sporting a seriously nice stache for the trip as well.  He is our do it all master in R and D.  He is the one that figures out how to make the little springs, levers, and pulleys work.  He builds prototypes of all the different ideas we have for parts and pieces on boats and helps do all the sanding shaping and polishing of our final models. Its one thing to have an idea, its something all together different to figure out how to bring that idea to reality.  Thats what Ryan can do.

Bryon is the head of R& D he makes the whole thing happen from organizing and designing all the different parts and pieces of our boats to doing the actual CAD (computer aided design) work on the kayak designs. Bryon and I have been working together designing boats for 10 years with Liquidlogic and a little bit during our times at Perception kayaks before that.  Bryon and his brother Aaron started and created Lidds Helmets and The Sin and Drain squirt boats.  I still have a Sin that I will never relinquish.  On this trip Bryon was advancing his skills as a martini maker and I have to say they were delicious.  Its not often that you pull up to camp on an over night kayak trip to the sound of a shaker mixing a frosty cold tini.











In the shot below is Betsy.  She's my girl.  She is a Dr. of Art.  That is cool.  She paddled a long time ago but only sparingly.  In the last few years she has started paddling again.  Its fun to watch her find her way through the trials and fun times of learning to kayak all over again.  This weekend I think she may have started to see that she's got some skills.  I could see the confidence growing in her as the miles went by smoothly.  Here at Second Ledge she nailed a sweet little boof and paddled away with her hair still dry.

Sam is the neat guy.  He is a perfect offset for me.  I roll up in dirty clothes smelling like I paddled all last weekend and didn't necessarily wash any clothes or myself for that matter.  Sam rolls up with the car spick and span, clean clothes, and his goatee trimmed up perfectly.  I like the way he rolls it just ain't me.  I feel, wish, and caress my way into kayak designs and Sam helps clean up all the loose ends, tuck in the edges, and dot and cross the t's and i's.  During this trip I was slamming stuff into my boat with trash compactor bags and he was neatly packing in pristine dry bags of accurately measured capacity and volume to fit the allocated compartments of the craft at hand.  It was sweet to see Sam find a comfort and control of a vessel that he helped create.

Keith is another jack of all trades.  I am pretty sure that Keith has worked in just about ever capacity there is in making a kayak.  Sometimes I see him welding a mold back together or cutting a frame work apart.  Other times he is working with the sewing department on pattern work to make the outfitting of our kayaks look and function better than any other kayak manufacturer on the planet.  The thing that Keith does that is amazing is that he looks all through the world wide interwebs to find the bits and bobs that we need to make our kayaks function.  We all think about the shape of the hull and how the outfitting feels but very few of us think about every screw, nut, and piece of webbing that goes into a kayak.  Keith does that every day.  If its in a Liquidlogic kayak, he probably found it, bought it, and tells us where to put it.  Oh and he also works with a guy called the goat man.  I don't know what else to say about that.  Oh AND he paddled 11 miles with a watermelon on top of his kayak.

I have been doing overnighters on the Chattooga since I was a teenager and once we started Liquidlogic 10 years ago we have done regular company or family trips.  When I was a kid we used huge Blue Hole canoes and loaded them down with gear.  They were great for hauling but not as dry and maneuverable as a kayak.  When we started Liquidlogic we built a day touring kayak called the Pisgah that had a couple hatches and it was good for gear as well and very dry but moving it through whitewater was pretty difficult because one of its main design features was tracking in a straight line.  That doesn't work so well for whitewater.   The Chattooga is where the Remix XP design was initially conceived and now it is a permanent part of my quiver of boats.  Notice the Habachi strapped to the rear deck.  Good fun.

In any case you get the idea.  It was a really good time.

Thanks to the R & D team for a great weekend!

Cheers

Shane

Whitewater Clinic with Johns Hopkins University

I just finished an awesome clinic with Johns Hopkins University.  We paddled for four days on a different river each day.  The water levels were great.  The skies were clear.  It really was a perfect long weekend of paddling.  We paddled the Green, Chattooga, French Broad, and Pigeon Rivers.  This is my third year working with this group and each year I am a little hesitant because the rivers are going to be cold and the weather is horrible for people to be learning to paddle.  But each year this group shows me that the passion for learning can over come any thing.   These guys are so fired up to paddle and learn more that by time we start our first paddling session I am ready to go and paddle all day long and teach these guys because they are so excited about the whole thing.

It is hard to not be stoked when folks are having this much fun.

We even let Canoes come along.  Nice Save!

Setting up for Bulls Sluice!

Nice Line Paul!

Thanks to Green River Adventures and Johns Hopkins University for having me be a part of this great session.  I hope we get to do it again.  Its a great way to get spring started.

Cheers

Shane

Now I need to get whitewaterinstruction.com going again.

Giant Slalom on the Green River

Jeff "Freight Train" Payne givin'er

This is my favorite form of racing on whitewater.  I love the technical nature of paddling harder rapids with gates hung that make you paddle places you might not have or even wanted to paddle necessarily.  In fact setting the gates makes a rapid that you may have paddled a hundred times a totally different problem because you have to look at it and paddle it in a different way.

Checking out the lines

Gate 1:  Go over drop backwards to the left,  Go into the parking garage on the right.

John set up a great course on a river that most of us know so well we can point out one inch water level differences on just about any section of the river.  The fact that he set up some moves that many of us had never done before was awesome.  Let me give you a run down.

Adriene focused in on Gate 1

The starting point itself was somewhat unknown.  The race started just below the Pencil Sharpener drop in a crack in the rocks.  Many of us have started here a time or two but its very unusual.  The thing that makes it more unusual is that its 5 strokes from there that you are dropping through the notch of Gorilla and headed for the first gate.

Yours truly feeling good about first gate little did I know what would happen next.

The first gate is the one that had every competitor focused, and a little nervous.  It was hanging in an eddie.  No big deal right?  The only problem is that this eddie was 3 strokes from the top of a big drop that lands on rocks, between rocks, and finishes in a river wide hole.  Top that with the fact that rumored changes in the currents around the drop that is Gorilla were leading to many creative lines including numerous backwards runs through out the spring and summer so far.  It was awesome to watch the focus come over every ones face at the start line.

Nice race bib rescue by Nate.  Thanks!


The next gate was the one that evaded the most paddlers.  It was placed just downstream of the speed trap below Gorilla and near the right hand wall.  The current coming out the hole is pushing hard into the eddie on the left thus making hitting this gate on the fly very difficult and nearly impossible to get from the eddie if you miss it the first time.  This gate lead to my demise on my first run.  I came off the drop in perfect position to move towards the right side of the hole and thus stay right as I came through the hole, but just as I was hitting the hole I angled a little too much to the right and the hole stopped me dead.  I had a millisecond to try to pull through but I didn't get a good stroke then I felt myself dropping back into the hole.  I tried to line it up for a good back ender that usually pushes you out of the hole.  I was hoping it would also drive me towards the gate just below but my freestyle background kicked in by accident and I threw my body back more like a loop than an ender and unfortunately I stuck it and proceeded to side surf, do another end, and then get pushed up against the wall where I gave up while face surfing and flailing roll attempts.  At any rate this gate was tough and in a second many paddlers were given 50 second penalties for missing the gate.  I was given a good solid ounce of humility.

Heres the beat down video from John Grace and LVM.

Shane Benedict caught in a rare moment of carnage from Lunch Video Magazine on Vimeo.

Now after a little set back like that there are a couple ways it can go.  It can all go down hill from there or you pick yourself up and go for it again.  First of all I was bummed because I knew I could have done well in this type of event.  After the down river part of the race I was in 4th and I knew my strengths were in the Giant Slalom.  So that was a bummer and of course I was not that psyched about swimming at all but after getting it back together I knew I had to go back up there to do my second run and see if I could actually make it to the bottom of the course :).  I was tired from the swim and my arms still felt the stress from the down river race.  So sitting at the top of the race course and looking back down the throat of the notch was not very high on my list of things I wanted to do but it was that thought of knowing it was something that I could do that gave me calm in that moment.  My second run went very well and it ended up tying for one of the  fastest runs of the slalom course.  


Here is the video of the 2nd run.





Shane Benedict cleaning up his run #2 in 2010 Giant Slalom. from Lunch Video Magazine on Vimeo.



That was a good feeling. 

So it was a crazy day.  The excitement of competition.  The nerves of challenge.  The expectations of performance.  The failure.  The dose of humility. The challenge of refocus and finally the contentment of pushing through.  It was a great day.  A different day than most but a great day.

Adriene coming into Gate 3.  You can see Gate 1 and 2 behind Lil A.

The Scream Machine gate, gate 3, was placed further left than most people run that drop.  It wasn't a scary spot but it did make for some shaky runs down Nies'.  The fast line was to go left of the gate then use the pillow currents on the left shore to push you across to the river right line at Nies' which lines you up for the 4th gate below the boof on the right of Nies'. 

Toby "Budget" McDermott riding Frankenjefe III into Gate 4.


The 5th gate was all the way on the river left side of the river from gate 4.  The tricky part about this gate was that it was possible to hit it while going downstream but it was very tight and only a couple people were able to clean that line.  It was much easier to clean going upstream from the eddie but the trade off was the speed downstream.

Sprinkle, smooth as ever, trying to sneak by the tricky Gate 5

After the 5th gate we had to drop down through Power Slide and keep it lined up for a tiny finish gate between the rocks in the middle of the river.  This proved to be one of the hardest parts of the course where numerous paddlers spent 20 or 30 seconds trying to line up the final move to stop their time. 

Dropping into the final move

Great day with great folks on the river.

There was also a sprint race as the start of this event.  Which seeded everyone for the slalom portion of the event.  We raced from Big Hungry (the put in) down to Chiefs' rapid.  It was about a 10 minute race and it was brutal.  The scores from the two slalom runs were 50% of the score and the sprint race was 50% to make the placings for the entire event.   Congrats to Pat for paddling beautifully and winning the event.


The entire results are here. 

 LVM Green River Giant Slalom Results

Here are a bunch of shots from the event.  Thanks Betsy!

Thanks for pulling me out of the drink Nate!
Shane

The Pilgrimage to Oh Be Joyful Creek

Oh Be Joyful creek is a pilgrimage for paddlers every year.  It has all the makings of mecca for paddlers.  If the season in the Crested Butte valley were a couple months longer there would be 100s of paddlers moving in for the summer but because the season is only a few weeks long it has the feeling of a carnival camp with new members rolling in daily and a frantic pace of paddling and partying up and down the valley.   Camp itself is an awesome scene.  Its a beautiful spot directly at the base of the Oh Be watershed with the Slate River flowing by.  Just upstream is Daisy creek and up the valley from camp is a fantastic view of the mountains of Gunnison National Forest and the snow pack that promises the next days adventures.

If you haven't paddled continuous fast pace stuff your first time on Oh Be can be disconcerting at best.  As you walk up the run, earning every turn, you see lots of slides and fast paced whitewater.  The 9,000 foot elevation makes the eddies look very small and the holes look bigger but as the light headedness dissipates and the first run is under your belt the butterflies calm and you become more comfortable.  Most folks do a few laps on the first walk up from camp.  Two things happen during the session.  You as a paddler get more comfortable and the river begins to rise.  The morning runs are often a little bonier and the evening runs can get downright juicy.  And as the paddlers come down off the mountain side the excitement is intense.  The stories are of all kinds.  First timers are jacked with adrenaline and excited about how fast and long the last slides are or how sick their line off the big drop was.  There is goodness for the old pros and the setting itself is different from just about any river you will ever paddle.  There are stories of whoa from missed lines, tortured gear, and drowned vehicles that didn't quite make the trip across the Slate river.  This year in the first 36 hours we were in the area 3 vehicles were stuck in the river while trying to cheat the hike up to the put in.  I did climb into one rig that was stuck mid river to have dinner and a couple shots.  It was a pleasant mid river camp spot but expensive I think.

The Glorious Ride Across in the Morning.

The Unfortunate Aftermath in the Evening

Even putting in on OBJ is a different experience.  You have a couple choices.  One option is to put in above a drop called Ankle Breaker which is fun but it does land in 3 feet of water (not many people do this).  The other option is to put in, I kid you not, 15 feet and 4 to 5 paddle strokes above a good 15 foot drop that they call the 18 footer.  Fortunately you are well warmed up and light headed from the hike up the valley, or holler as we call it here in the Appalachians.  From there the river is pretty much non stop with small eddies and lots of willows overhanging the banks.  We coined a new phrase this time up..."willow turns".  There are times instead of doing eddie turns you have to do a "willow turn" to stop and set safety.  Here are a few shots and a slide show as well as a link at the bottom to 100 shots of our stay at Oh Be Joyful.

Cheers
Shane

Put In Above the "18 Footer"

The 18er

The 8 footer

Grace Stylin' the Big One

Headed back to Camp