After a day of work on the river Saturday a few guides and myself took the 3 hour drive to the Ocoee River in Tennessee. We showed up about midnight, drove around till about 1 AM looking for a vacant campsite in the Ocoee National Forest, and finally got a set up about 1:30 AM. We hung out for a while and despite the humidity/heat finally got to sleep around 3 AM.
We woke early to meet up with a few friends around 8:30 AM who had been down the day before. Landon, Worth, Worth's brother, and I -who were in kayaks- put on about 9am as they had to get back to town early Sunday afternoon. The guys in the raft were to follow shortly behind us. I'm glad we put on early as the Ocoee is one of the most popular runs here in the south and it gets busy with commercial rafts.
I had a super fun run, class three with only a few holes you gotta look out for. Near the end of the run is a play wave called Hell Hole. Hell Hole was the site of the 1993 World Rodeo Championships and is located right next to the power plant above powerhouse rapid. A super fun wave that was a little on the high side but with a good pile. Def would not want to swim at Hell Hole and down powerhouse.
We played for a bout an hour till the other kayakers had to take off and when they did I was ready for a break. After a 20 min break I got back in my boat and surfed for another hour till the guys in the raft showed up. I paddle the rest of the mellow stretch with them to the take out. We had a quick lunch, hopped in the truck and headed back to the top for another run. I decide to drop the guys off up top and drive back to Hell Hole to surf some more. I probably played for another good 3 hours while the guys took another run then picked them up at the take out after they went by me at Hell Hole.
By about 3pm we had gotten two runs in, more than a few hours of play boating, and had a super fun day. We got in the truck to come home, stopped in the nearest town for some dinner, then made our way the Nantahala River and the Nantahala Outdoor Center. The NOC is centered around a whitewater play wave and I was able to catch the last half hour of play before the water was too low released by the dam. The NOC is the site for next years US Freestyle Team Trials, which Missoula just hosted a few weeks ago.
Finally, exhausted and tired of being in the car we made it back to Banner Elk about 10:30 PM Sunday. It was a long drive but so worth it. Super fun river with good energy! Hope to make it back there.
Sorry, no pictures as I forgot the camera...
Peace from the South! Riz
By about 3pm we had gotten two runs in, more than a few hours of play boating, and had a super fun day. We got in the truck to come home, stopped in the nearest town for some dinner, then made our way the Nantahala River and the Nantahala Outdoor Center. The NOC is centered around a whitewater play wave and I was able to catch the last half hour of play before the water was too low released by the dam. The NOC is the site for next years US Freestyle Team Trials, which Missoula just hosted a few weeks ago.
Finally, exhausted and tired of being in the car we made it back to Banner Elk about 10:30 PM Sunday. It was a long drive but so worth it. Super fun river with good energy! Hope to make it back there.
Sorry, no pictures as I forgot the camera...
Peace from the South! Riz
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