Labor Day Trippin: Beat The Heat 2008!

[Ryans_Brother]

I'm in. I can drive or ride with others from Little Rock.

-Rick

[L.A.paddler]

Joanna and I are going to try and make this trip. Still a couple of things to work out, but right now we are in. And I have a raft that I plan on bringing as well, and I may need an extra passenger or two.

Terry DeMoe

[Karla]

What time do you expect to be back on Monday, Labor Day?

Karla

[Fish]

Should be in Fayetteville before midnight on Monday. Little Rock by 9:30 or so.

- Fish

[Karla]

Fish, what time do ya'll plan on leaving Ocoee heading for home?

Karla

[Fish]

We'll leave the Ocoee around noon.

- Fish

[sugarmtngal]

I'd like to hitch a ride with someone with my Kendo, paddle, and tent. Not bringing any of my dogs obviously. Do ya'll think $400 will suffice? Just wondering if I happen to raft also, etc.

[Fish]

You can definitely do it for under $400. Let's say $120 for gas (per person), $20 - $60 for camping/motel, $40 - $100 for food (depending on taste and appetite)... That's about $180 to $280 depending on how fancy you want to get. So $400 would give you a lot of extra spending money.

- Fish

[David Mac]

I'm probably leaving out as early as possible Friday afternoon. Our agenda should look something like this:

Early as possible Friday: Drive out until tired / Motel 6?
~1:00 PM Saturday: Nantahala R. / Camp Turkey Cr. :)
~11:00 AM Sunday: Ocoee R., Upper/Lower / Camp ??? :shock:
~8:00 AM Monday: Ocoee R. Lower Quickie / Drive Home
Drag into work on Tuesday / Dream about the river

This sounds like a chance for me to finally make a trip to the Ocoee. A good warm up on the Nantahala, then good guides down the Ocoee.

That's a tried and tested plan - we've done that exact schedule several years. Will have rafts available on all runs, no charge, but tip your guide.

Would liquid refreshment make good tips?

I don't have a very good eddying, been working on it. Would I not need to be able to do good eddying?
Plan to work really hard on my eddies if it rains before then.

I've been down the Nantahala twice before and it's definately a step up from the Cadron and Mulberry runs. Fewer long pools and much pushier. Good eddy catching is a must. You can bomb down most of it without catching eddies in a hard boat, but I wouldn't recommend it.

A duckie is probably just the ticket, even if they do handle like a wet sponge. I don't remember anything on the Nantahala that they wouldn't bump off of or bob over, except maybe the Falls. Even there, the duckie would make it fine, but with some really bad luck, you could fall out and get stuck in the hole.

Don't let that scare you off of trying it though, there will be plenty of people around with ropes and boats to help in the off chance you swim. In the meantime practice catching eddies and making ferries at Rockport.

[Scott]

We'll leave the Ocoee around noon.

- Fish

I think I have heard you say that everytime out there.

Let me fix that statement for you,

We'll put on the Ocoee around noon.

- Fish

[bmartin]

Hmmmmm......a chance to relive a few moments of terror on the Ocoee sounds like a good way to spend a holiday weekend to me. I could take off the Friday before should anyone want to leave from central AR a little early and have the full day of Saturday to paddle, though I would be more of a follower than a leader down these rivers.

[RomanLA]

Hmmmmm......a chance to relive a few moments of terror on the Ocoee sounds like a good way to spend a holiday weekend to me. I could take off the Friday before should anyone want to leave from central AR a little early and have the full day of Saturday to paddle, though I would be more of a follower than a leader down these rivers.

I'm arriving Friday morning, so if you wind up going early, let me know. I'll probably end up knocking out a section of the AT on Friday. If I have any energy left, I may bike one of the trails at Tsali too.

[Ryans_Brother]

Brad,
I could leave early, too. If we left Thursday after work, we could get two extra runs on the Nanty (Fri afternoon and Saturday morning) before the rest of the group shows up at the Nanty on Sat afternoon.

Give me a call or send me an email if you're interested.

-Rick

[Joe Purdy]

Fish, what time do ya'll plan on leaving Ocoee heading for home?

Karla

No offense Fish. I agree with Scott.

Lets just call a spade, a spade...

Here is a realist look at what Sunday will be like.

Sunday, we will drag out of camp approx 10:30 ( very tired), then we drive to the take out. Separate out gear and make sure we have everything we need. Then all load up all kayaks and rafts in to cars, drive to put in. Arrive and unpack, Put on all gear and inflate rafts, forget we left some gear in shuttle rigs. Drive back to shuttle rigs retrieve gear then drive back to put in. Park, then someone realizes they have no paddle... drive back to take out shuttle, get paddle, get drink out of cooler that we also forgot. Arrive back at put-in and everyone has removed their gear now because it's 105*. Everyone puts gear back on, walks down to ramp, launches... it is now 1:30.
Paddle the river. Stop at Double Suck, Recover swimmers from Double Suck, Stop at Double Trouble, Recover swimmers from Double Trouble, stop at Table Saw, recover swimmers from table saw, stop at cats pajamas, stop at Hell Hole... Serious fun though.

This will only make my 4th trip east, but the earliest we have made it back so far is 1:00 AM.
Of course, you will have to plan that with the people who you will be riding with. Your time back may be much earlier or later depending.

I do recommend a Duckie for the Nanty.
I hope we have more than 1 raft for the Ocoee... there are already 8 people rafting both days by my count.

[Fish]

Joe, the last few trips I've made, the biggest factor between getting back at 1AM vs. before midnight has been a looooong lunch stop after paddling the Ocoee. Search your feelings Joe... you know this to be true.

So, if we can wake up just a hair earlier and eat lunch on the road, we'll make it before midnight (definitely still quite tired!). If not, we're generally in Fayetteville by 1 to 2 AM or so... Of course, we hit Little Rock by 11:00 PM in that case... lucky Central Arkies!

- Fish