Rapid of the Day

[Big Daddy D]

We'll begin with one from my home state. Today's rapid is: Bottleneck in Little River Canyon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrHzBTnZiOM" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If you've run it, share your experiences, favorite lines, video, etc.

Tomorrow will bring another day and another rapid.

[Fish]

I've run it several times. Most memorably after a winter run with Lazer and Hahns down the Suicide section, we decided to go all the way down the Chairlift section rather than climb the mountain at Chairlift. The day was cold and so was the water, and I bruised my ankle by T-boning a random little rock somewhere above Deep Throat. I was chilled down and ready to see the take-out, but the level was pretty high and we were making good time. I was basically on autopilot by the time we got to Bottleneck. I'd run it several times before, but with less water, so I didn't even slow down - just went for the line. I remember coming over the top and knowing I was not in a good place at that level. Big hole hit me like a flyswatter and I experienced about 15 seconds of maximum churn as I navigated from one side of the rapid to the other using the hole to slingshot me across - upside down the entire time. Pretty sure I was going to swim eventually and too tired and way too cold to put up much of a fight, I just hung on waiting for the ride to stop. Another ten more seconds and the world quit spinning and the roar started to fade, so I reached up and managed to find air with the paddle blade. Hipsnapped the boat up and came paddling downstream about where I should have originally been if I had run the rapid on a good line. Thankfully no big drops before the takeout. I think I thawed out about two days later.

A great rapid.

- Fish

[Eric Esche]

Ran it maybe a dozen times. First back in 1972 in a Lettman MKIV kayak with a bunch of ORGT folks. Later in Hollowforms. Never ran it when it wasn't COLD. Don't know lines as we didn't have any guide books, and I'm not sure many of the places that have names now had names back then. Pictures I remember. We just took turns being hole bait if we couldn't scout. Remember someone, maybe Clint Thompson or Dave Flannagan taking 8mm movies as we got to see them at the next ORGT meeting. Had a bunch of 2 man kamakaisie rafts along, so it was early 70's as Tech got rid of those shortly after. Ran it higher and lower and was just faster at higher with holes about the same and fewer visible rocks. I thought it more dangerous at low water because more entrapment opportunities, and things were blinder and harder to see. Always worried about wood in blind drops and around corners when low. Ran it high in a Perception Sage C1 and took a scary rocky swim when I got sucked back in a hole and got sucked out on lower half behind a big rock in the center that you had to drop into from the right. Went over 4 drops before I could grab a rock on river left and then lucked out as paddle and Sage floated right to me. Ran it clean in my open Mad River Endurall on next trip, surprising everyone including me. Did a lot of back ferries and up stream ferries and rescued three kayakers. If you lost a paddle in Little River Canyon you stood a good chance of not seeing it again on that trip if ever. What always made me nervous is I saw more Norse paddles get broken there than on the Chattooga and it seemed that there was never a good spot to set rope.

Eric

[Lazer]

I've run it several times. The highlights are my first and third runs.

First run was in Oct 95 after Hurricane Opal. I was still paddling my Dagger Genesis back then and we paddled the upper two and chairlift sections to finish the trip. I got offline in the crosscurrents in the entrance and somehow made it into the eddy on the right (marked with a red oval in the photo below) while backstroking. Then was able to make it through unscathed (we won't talk about the earlier rapids of the day )

The third trip was a classic. I'm sure that if you talk to any of the others in the group from that day, you'll hear the same story. Circa 1998 or 1999. A group of us ran the entire canyon minus the falls at the top on our way out to Tallulah. A personal first descent for all of us on the Suicide Section and I was the only one who had been down the upper two and charlift sections at that point. We had made it pretty good with Ray providing some entertainment at Cable Falls.

Bottleneck does have some danger to it along the river left side some undercut and pitons to avoid, but the main line is pretty safe, although it can flip/swirl and generally but flushes into the pool below. If you have a good combat roll, you can take the trashin and not swim.

Again I was the only one to have run this before in our group at the time. I was leading and worked down through the entrance and snapped into the above mentioned eddy (marked in red below) Apparently no one saw me enter the eddy, I turned to face the drop and watched one by one as the lemmings passed. Each one did a double take at the drop then me then the drop. Each one wandering how and why I was sitting in that eddy (from upstream, you can't see the eddy until it's too late to catch it. You have to know it is there and go for it. Each one looked back toward the hole and dropped in with a 'Oh @#$^' and then took what it gave em. Some flipped, some didn't but all made it through with a big smile on their face. Although a few choice words were thrown in my direction later For reference, we had a higher flow as most of the rock in the middle forming the ledge had water coming over it 1400-1600 cfs range



Photo credit of the rapid from AWA

[RandyJ]

Sweet! When do we leave???

[Ryan Viser]

I'm with ya Randy, I'd like to have a go at that one. You know, it doesn't look so bad. Except for the part where you have to drop sideways 4 ft. into a churning hole :twisted:

[okieboater]

take a look at the line Lazer wrote about.

looks like if a person was on their A game and hit that hidden eddy on river right with the red spot. That would set you up for a much more manageable line on the last drop.

[Ryan Viser]

Ooohhhh, nice eyes! That would be a nice little eddy. You would just want to make sure not to get down near the bottom of that eddy and get sucked into that little slot.