Personal First Descent of the Cheoah
June 20, 2009

Article and Photos by Fastfred Ruddock

The worst part of this adventure was Thursday morning when dropped my bike in the front yard. The fall was okay but picking my bike up in the mud caused an injury to my lower back. I had enough sense to visit my doctor in the afternoon and he cleared me to paddle since nothing was broken. He also said he had seen me in much worst shape. I'll be going back for another checkup Wednesday.

Friday I tried to take it easy and ran the Upper Green before roll practice on the lower green by the cabin. I think I did fifty or sixty rolls. Saturday morning I woke up and my back was really sore; I suppose I over did roll practice Friday.

Saturday three of use put on at the dam to run the Cheoah at 1000 cfs without scouting any rapids; Scott Sarrells and Chris Grindstaff had each previously run Cheoah several times. I ran in the second position behind Scott. Cheoah began much like the Upper Ocoee with class II and III rapids in a meadow like river with small shrubs and grass. However the pace picked up and the paths through the wood became constricted. Craik’s Ledge was the first feature of any significance; we all nice lines and clean boofs.

Below Joannes Grocery we stopped briefly to pick up a three more paddlers. I got out of my boat to stretch as my back was beginning to hurt again. I was still running second in line as we continued down the river. The Rapid Above the Pipe (IV), Swinging Bridge Rapid (III+) and God’s Dam (IV+) were all run smoothly by our entire crew. Some of these rapids were constricted with many trees in addition to having few eddies. I often could not see very far ahead because the path through the trees had twists and turns.

During Takeout Rapid (IV+) our probe took a bad line running left to right rather than right to left; rather than hitting a hole perpendicular several of us hit the hole sideways and flipped. This area was rather shallow and swift. I was drug along the rocky bottom trying to setup; I was able to attempt an offside roll but ran out of air and had to punch out. I caught the first available eddy with my boat. Scott recovered my paddle; thanks Scott. We had a total of three swimmers. One swimmer elected to call it a day and takeout. My lesson learned was to allow more space so I could choose an alternate line in case the probe took one I did not like.

A couple of the swimmers lost their boats and it took a while to rope them in and extract them from Strainers. Another group coming down had a swimmer headed straight for a nasty strainer but Scott saved him with a stern rescue and got him into a midstream eddy. After some fancy rope work Billy Joe and Bruce got all the boats and swimmers safely to shore. I observed these feats from the midstream eddy.

The fun continued with Typical Upper Cheoah Scene (IV) and Yellow Creek Rapid (IV).Next we encountered Land of Holes (IV) then the river lightened up The Deadend Pool (I) and The Easy Stuff (III) before the Forest Service Bridge. We did not get out to scout Bear Creek Falls at the bridge but Scoot told us to catch the river left eddy above the falls. We passed Rod’s Hole (III) and ran Entrance to Bear Creek Rapid (IV+). The entrance rapid was fun; the only anxiety was the fact the falls were so close. There was some confusion where to eddy out. I was mildly abused by a three foot ledge and hole during the confusion. About fifty feet from the waterfall we all five made the eddy. American Whitewater says Bear Creek Falls (IV+) is about twelve feet tall. I did not look down until after boofing the lip but it looked more like fifteen or sixteen feet as I was free falling. I had a nice landing although my line was off by about four or five feet to the left. We all gathered safely in a river right eddy below the falls. Chris ran the creek line but everyone else ran the big drop on the left.

Below the falls we ran to the right of the island. The Rapids Below Bear Creek (IV) were pushy with big waves and holes. One member of our group flipped in front of me and took a nasty swim. I was unable to catch the attention of our probe so I followed the gear down stream. Scott and Billy Joe were able to recover the gear in a midstream eddy behind a large boulder. This recovery operation took a lot of time. I ferried over to the river right bank where I could help by pulling the swamped boat to shore. While waiting on the swimmer I could really feel my back tightening up and getting sore. I elected to take out and save the last two rapids Tapoco Lodge Rapid (IV) and Yard Sale (IV) for another day.

The Cheoah River has many long continuous rapids with big waves and holes. This river has some serious boogie water. The majority of the run is read and run. I ran the majority of the run as the number two boat. Some of the top sections however consist of narrow paths through the woods that demand focus. It is a good idea to have an experienced group leader to pick the right paths in those constricted areas. Had I scouted the river first it may have reduced anxiety but it also would have reduced the fun and adventure of a first descent. Don’t take this as a recommendation not to scout. I recently took the Carolina Canoe Club Advanced Clinic First Decent taught by John Zadrozny and Lisa Birskovich. I think this clinic helped me make better decisions as I read and ran the river. Running the Middle Ocoee five times and the Upper Ocoee twice also helped prepare me for the Cheoah. This river is now one of my favorites; I will certainly return to run it again.

My only injury from this run was a blister on my right thumb!

More information about the Cheoah Rivers is available at American Whitewater.