BIG water Ocoee

[Lupe]

A few of us were out to the Ocoee this past weekend when it got hit with ridiculous rain. We were on it on Saturday and it probably was just a little higher than normal (1200cfs is normal) when we put on, but it rained torrentially while we were paddling and basically the watershed started flash flooding. We took off at Go Forth creek which was a sight to behold. Basically, there weren't really any "doldrums" as not long after Flipper/Hollywood Hole (and I don't think there was a hole - just HUGE constant chaotic waves all through there) you could see this crazy water coming in from the right which was Go Forth. It was a CRANKING class VI flash flooding, muddy torrent of water just thundering down the mountain side. Crazy!



We learned that when we took off it was probably already up to 5000cfs and within the hour after we got off it rose past 7000cfs. I wish I had thought to take some video instead of just the still shots. We were actually in a bit of a rush to run back to the put in and then get on out of the gorge because we were staying in Cleveland, and got worried about the road closing and being stuck on the wrong end. All along the road HUGE waterfalls were crashing off the mountain, in places flooding across the road into the river. We stopped and also took some pics of the water coming down the spillway above Hell Hole - TREMENDOUS powerful water! It was really a crazy sight. The river then stayed chocolate brown for a couple days, although by Monday afternoon it was looking a lot better.



Commercial trips aren't supposed to be on the river over 3000cfs, but they all just got caught out there...apparently there was quite a lot of carnage as rafts at Tablesaw were flipping left and right. We know there was at least one injury (not sure of circumstances, but a neck injury), but hopefully that wasn't too serious and everyone else got off with a bit of a exciting, if somewhat scary, experience.

more pics here http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/574867339OJTYPT

When we got to the Ocoee on Sunday, they were releasing from the sluice gate at dam #2 which is a crazy sight as well. What's scary, is I don't even think they ring a bell or anything...so you could be in the middle of making your ferry to the far left above Grumpies and bam they open that gate and you would be so screwed! Three of us (Liz, Jessica, me) decided to go for a high water Nanty run that day instead. Even the Nanty was high - falls were PUMPING big. We took the "B" line which was actually easy and fun, but really hard to see from above.

Monday I decided to get back on the Ocoee even though it was still high - about 3300 all day or about 2.5x more cfs than the usual release. It was nice and fluffy! It was kind of a unique experience too, because rafts are not allowed to put on over 3000 cfs, so I got to paddle the Ocoee with no rafts! (actually we did see a handful of private rafts, but commercial trips had to cancel) :shock:

[A Savage spanke]

A real good friend of mine called me while I was in class to tell me he rafted it at 8 grand, another group did it at 6500. They said it was massive. I doubt those were custy trips, it was probably all guides and friends. Wish I coulda seen it!

[Minna Ulmer]

WOW! What an exciting experience.The videos and pix are great. You girls are awesome! Minna

[A Savage spanke]

Nice Pirouette, Whoever owns it! The Ocoee is my favorite run in a long boat, boof central.

[RomanLA]

Nice pictures! I was lucky enough to catch a couple of rivers at high levels during raft guide school. We also got to paddle a nice creek that doesn't run very often. Jessica...how do you like the Pirouette?

[Jim Krueger]

Thanks for the report Heather, you girls are impressive, as always!
I hope the camping part went OK also in consideration of all the rain...

Jessica, I agree with the others in how nice the Pirouette looks! I don't feel so bad being a die-hard Overflow X paddler :)


Best Regards
Jim Moose

[ckuntz]

Wow! Looked like a wild experience.Nice pics, and video :)
I'm sure pictures don't capture the experience but it looked like fun!
Glad all 3 of you were able to get off the river and didn't get hurt when things got dangerous.

[davehoch]

Wow! Looks like big H2O and big fun. And it sounds like you had quite an adventure. Glad you all got off safely. Thanks for sharing your report and visuals. Learn anything?

[Lupe]

Jim, thankfully we were staying at a motel for this trip, or no doubt our tents would have floated away. I'm telling you, the rain on Saturday was hurricane-like rain - so hard and so steady for so long. It was really weird.

Dave, actually some of the stuff I was going to work on we didn't get to do as much as some of the spots were washed out or changed. I did learn a new way to do a stern squirt, which is cool (but I'll need to practice it a lot more), and diagnosed a couple things with my roll and strokes to work on. Juliet from ERA gives great instruction so I definitely came home with specific things I can now work on to improve different aspects of my paddling.

Mostly I learned I can paddle big pushy water and not be too intimidated by it, which was a cool thing!

[Michele Jackson]

Heather,
What a wild experience! I can't imagine seeing the Ocoee at that level. That's cool that got some "big water" experience. I'm glad your class was productive even though the conditions weren't ideal.

I'm in a nice hotel tonight headed home from our paddling trip. I enjoyed the Ocoee at normal levels the last couple of days. I've paddled "bigger" water than the Ocoee, but the Ocoee still always makes me a little nervous.

MJ

[Jessica]

Hi guys -

Thanks for the compliments on the Pirouette.

I heart the Pirouette. Very friendly and forgiving. And can punch pretty much anything. Oh yeah, and it's fast too. Makes every river feel like a slalom course.

It might just be the new numero uno in my boat collection...

- Jessica

[Cowper]

… and everyone else got off with a bit of a exciting, if somewhat scary, experience.

Weren’t scairt. Just “attentive”.

As the invisible partner on this expedition, if I had to sum up several trips down the Ocoee at wildly varying levels with one word, the word I would choose is “surreal”.

But first, why did I say “invisible”? The first evidence I had of my new invisible status was as we drove shuttle on Saturday morning. After stopping at Rock Creek to pick up a demo boat, “somebody” forgot that they were supposed to give me a ride to the top. So as we pass the take out, I pull in to drop a car, but nobody else pulls in with me. No problem, I’m flexible – so I bum a ride with strangers to the top, with them wondering aloud where my boat is and me explaining that they need to have time for a long story if they really want to know the details. I caught up with my wayward shuttle partners at the top, retrieved my boat, and had a pleasant but uneventful solo run down to GoForth creek at a level only slightly above normal.

The surreal part came as I sat alone in the heavy rain, munching my chocolate Power Bar (see Scott’s “final exam” thread if you want a visual on that), and wondering how much the rain would impact the river levels. I also had time to contemplate that my original plan for the weekend included sunshine and river partners, and today I had neither. Just me, a boat, a river, my Power Bar – “all I need is this power bar…”

My first answer about the rain impacts came with the fact that the surfing wave at Double Trouble was basically washed out; the second part came when I saw the water shooting out at GoForth. I took time to carry up and run the culvert under the highway just to say I did, but wanted no real part of what was going on further upstream on GoForth. Later that day GoForth got even higher and a log lodged in that same culvert, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t there when I went through. As I continued downstream, I got to see some of the raft carnage, and really didn’t feel guilty at all about choosing some conservative lines, like just running a few rapids down the gut instead of trying to catch the usual eddies at a not-usual level.

I also saw some minor Open boat carnage at Power House. Hell Hole was basically washed out, but there were some major exploding waves at Power House. Two open boaters came down and dutifully scouted before making their runs. Only one problem with their plan – as they walked back to their boats, the hydro plant began generating, which stopped flow from the flume overflow, and changed the waves in Powerhouse considerably in about 2 to 3 minutes. So the rapid they ran was not the rapid they just scouted. Both flipped and neither rolled, but to their credit they both performed effective self rescues and rounded up all their own gear.

Day 2 began a little better – Jessica arrived, providing me with a partner and an additional degree of safety. Or so I thought. I made the mistake of stepping into the restroom, and before I emerged my invisibility problem had bitten me again; Jessica had been talked into going to the Nanty with others. So after spending some quality time with DeBo up at the Whitewater center, I once again got to run the Ocoee by myself at a moderately high level; although at least this time I was in the borrowed Pirouette (yes, it’s fun) instead of a demo (a.k.a., “unfamiliar”) play boat.

Day 3 was another step up – Jessica and I got to make two runs. Wow, a partner at last! We even had a new friend, “Mike”, who joined us for that first run. Technically I guess we were still below the 3 to 4 boat minimum recommended group size some of the time, but it was still a major step up from where I had been until now. Day 4, Jessica and I made a final farewell run before heading back to Arkansas.

My only regrets for the trip are that Mike Stanley got “skunked” by work, and DeBo got “skunked” supporting my habits instead of getting in her usual hikes. But at least I caught a snake for her at the take out one day… That seemed to make everything OK… :)

[Susan Tinker]

I'm impressed! What a Bucket List experience! Glad you made it home and with pictures too!

[Lupe]

As the invisible partner on this expedition...

Hey Cowper! Cool! Were you out East, too?

Mea culpa about forgetting to pick you up on day 1 shuttle...but in all fairness, Liz was right next to me and she never mentioned stopping either! (If I have to take the fall, gotta drag Liz down with me).

I do regret not getting to paddle with you at least once. I finally feel like I know the rapids well enough to trust that I could get down the river if I was paddling with you...you know just in case you go "invisible" part way down because you're running crazy hero lines with bonus extra credit eddies and I'm just trying to run some semblance of a traditional route.

Then again, maybe I DON'T know the Ocoee rapids...as now I know them at some freakish high level and I might be all confused at a normal flow. Well, if you'll still have me on some future trip, and if I don't forget you at the take out or put in, then I hope you'll still let me paddle with you in the future!

But hey, since you might be the only guy in Arkansas who has gotten to paddle the 2010 Jackson Fun (on a flooded Ocoee, no less), then perhaps you should share your insights on the new boat!