Chattooga section IV 2004 photos

[dangermouse01]

Nice rainy day, looking thru my computer, came across some photos from somewhere on the Chattooga section IV from back in 2004.
I am the one wearing the white helmet.

Nice little sequence set.

Same trip up North, but a different river.
This is on the Nantahala, me gracefully going over the falls before the NOC take out. A perfectly executed wet exit on my part.

DM

 

[Kayak Jack]

Burt Reynolds taking the pictures on the Chattooga?

 

[bearridge]

Been there.....blown out on both sections, but I only blew out on Section IV above Woodall Shoals. That wuz it fer me....kinda like that day I drifted off frum the fellas who wuz gwine ta show me how ta git down the Ocoee 'n found myself in Gonzo Shoals. Blew out twice there 'n seen the handwritin' on the bank. THIS AINT YER DAY.

I dont know if they go back ta 2004, but the NOC haz the pichurs they take all day long. If ya recall the day ya run the Nantahala 'n know bout what time ya'll come thru, ya kin see more pichurs.

regards
bearridge

Government, even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, and intolerable one. Thomas Paine

 

[swamprat]

Been there myself, both places. Managed to stay in the boat on section IV. But theres a picture on the noc site of my feet going thru the top hole at nantahala falls( I was busy looking for fish with my face) with my pretty canoe following right along behind. :lol:

 

[Too Busy]

A group of uf from work used to go to Nantahala every year. WAAAAY back in '88 I was up there with my skinny little girlfriend, a couple of buddies and their gf's.
We lined up on river left, passed by billboard rock and went perfectly into the chute going over the falls.
Well it wasn't perfect because we T boned another raft that was caught in the hydraulic at the base of the falls. My skinny little girlfriend catapulted out of our raft and landed in the one we hit. :shock:

 

[bearridge]

Dang good run! Ya git style points fer a run like that. :mrgreen:

There iz some old calendars in a box at the office. One of these days I aim ta see when I first went up that way. I figger it wuz May '85, mebbe '86. Back then John Burton 'n James Jackson worked fer Payson. Some more of the guys who brung back olympic medals frum Barcelona a few years later did too. I didnt teach none of 'em any paddlin' tricks (back then I jest wanted ta keep the water under the boat), but I did show 'em what happens if ya dont keep an eye out fer those dang racin' poles when yer comin' thru the Falls. Most of the folks in canoes 'n near bout everbody in a kayak wears a hard hat. I wear a hard head....usually under a cap with a farm implement sign 'er Seagrams 7. That racin' pole hit me dead center....rite tween the eyes. I never even seen it comin'.

I aint seen a pole hangin' cross the river in a few years. I figger they slide the poles over ta the bank when they quit racin'......so nobody will knock theirownself out at a really bad time. :wink:

regards
bearridge

Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go. Oscar Wilde

 

[Too Busy]

The last time I was up there they had taken all the poles out until 50 yards or so past the takeout at NOC.

I used to love trout fishing up there, but you didn't want to get caught on the wrong side of the river when they opened the gates on the dam. It was a long walk to find a safe place to cross.

 

[bearridge]

They leave some gates out down there. I presume that iz where the trainin' goes on....but most of what I see down there iz rodeo moves. We took out on river left jest below the ole bridge a few times. Our group had one 'er two who could screw up a one car funeral. One of 'em nearly lollygagged around til he barely missed a trip down Big Wesser so we quit pullin' out down there.

Swamprat used ta flyfish the area, but more the little creeks comin' off the Blue Ridge Parkway......IIRC. The Lost Mine Campground wuz a fish camp before Payson brung the Boy Scouts frum Atlanta. John 'n Miz Ann bought it the year before Payson bought the ole store 'n cafe. I miss that ole store with the wood burnin' stove 'n floors rubbed smooth by years of feet. It had gas tanks with the ole time glass tops. I loved the look of the ole cafe 'n the friendly, older, local women who waitressed in there. The Yuppie look iz okay, if they hadnt tore down the ole store 'n cafe.

regards
bearridge

Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us. Bill Watterson

 

[Kayak Jack]

Tell us more about the recovery of the skinny little girlfriend?

I look aback on a couple of those and think, THAT'S the one I shoulda married.

 

[Jimmy W]

On my one paddle down the Ocoee River, I never did turn over or swim, but I had a raft end up on top of the stern of my canoe. I hit the upper hole in Double Suck rapid too slow and it stopped me. I was trying to paddle out of the hole when a raft came through and landed on top of my canoe. The people in the raft thought that was a lot of fun. They did push me out of the hole and I got the canoe out from under the raft without turning over. I did have to stop to dump water after that, but it seems like I that I had to dump water after almost every rapid anyway. That one trip convinced me that paddling the Ocoee solo in an Bluehole OCA was too much like work.

Jimmy

 

[bearridge]

I give Bubba my beer before I set off. I dont figger I will do it no more. Copper wire boys beware, this iz 5-6 minutes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftQbht9RTkI