Chattooga River - June 17-19, 2005
Submitted by Pam Reutebuch on March 16, 2006 - 10:36pm.
By Dave Mullis
Thanks go out to Rembert and Dennis for jumpstarting this year's Section Two paddle of the Chattooga River. Special thanks to Rembert who attended despite fighting off a potentially nasty respiratory ailment.
Folks arrived at The Chattooga River Resort by mid afternoon and most who had signed up made it by dark. Promised firewood which was confirmed by phone earlier was non existent unless you had a lumberjack handy and toilet paper was truly a valued item. Now this is what I call luxury camping.
Nearby mountain bikers had gotten quite a jump on the PP's and were just a hootin' and a hollarin', but turned out to be no problem later on. Everyone's industrious efforts and a firelog or two ended up producing a wonderful campfire and many lies were passed around in the true fashion of a paddling campout.
In
attendance were Joe, Al, Linda, Becky, Brian, Dennis, Nicole, Rembert, Ernie,
Dianne and myself. Due to some clever planning on Dennis' part, tent poles were
forgotten and those two souls were forced to leave the campfire revelry early to
the extreme discomfort of a room at the Chattooga River Resort Motel and where
they likely joined in on the wild and crazy Karaoke festivities going on at the
saloon located there. Back at the campsite, someone finally poked me and
informed me that it was time to crawl to our tents and thus the night was over
for the brave campers for Friday.
I had asked Ernie to wake me in time for a hot shower prior to breakfast the following morning and , true to his word, he tapped on the tent (6:30) to tell me I had fallen back asleep and that the shuttle was about to leave. Nice try Ernie, but I've known you too long, but I did crawl out to the ecstasy of Rembert and Ernie's gourmet coffee, which will wake a dead man. Other's roused and we proceeded to the Bucket T restaurant in Long Creek for an excellent breakfast and some interesting local dialogue.
OFF TO THE RIVER!!!!! Long shuttle, as always on the Chattooga, chat with the Ranger as to potential problems, safety check and lecture and we were on the water. Everyone displayed their ability at ferrying, so down the river we went. The level was slightly above 2.5 (waterdata.usgs.gov) which was ideal and we worked our way through many ledges and a few drops and in a manner that the new folks can be proud of.
We lunched at Big Shoals Rapid, which is the most significant rapid of
the section. Some members opted to portage this, but Dennis, Joe, and Becky ran
it with finesse. Linda wanted to, but her boat lacked thigh straps and she felt
she would lose control in a wave at the bottom and she had to pass. The local
gene pool came into play for our entertainment as a group of good ole boys --
too macho to zip their life vests - crashed and burned all the way down and I
mean in the canoe and then right back out. Luckily none suffered injury that
they would admit to and Thank God, we left them behind.
Ledges and little drops pretty much dominated the remainder of the paddle and Dianne and I sought out a little more action in the water since we felt the crew was now up for it. We caught a couple nice wave trains and little drops and then – Shazam – there was the durn takeout full of bikini clad girls and their Mamas on horseback. Well, I wish we had had the forethought to bring a couple of horses because it's a quarter of a mile straight up to the parking lot. Bless you Dennis for not only sharing your wheels, but your might rolling the Caper up the hill.
Back
to the campground to find ample toilet paper and firewood. Regretfully, the
firewood was building scraps of treated lumber which would have emitted noxious
fumes not too good for us or the air around us. We still had enough fire logs
and wood brought by members to build a fine fire for the remainder of the night.
Prior to setting the evening fire we dined at The Post Office, recommended by
some of the horse people at the take out and I would recommend this restaurant
unless you feel like driving to Walhalla. My steak was the Father's Day special
and was enough to feed three Columbia fathers, but probably one local Mother.
Don't get me wrong about the local people. They are a good, down to earth bunch
of folks in general and we're the outsiders with our city ways.
So, in a nut shell:
Safety First
Must be able to Ferry your boat – Practice this every time you get a chance
in moving water
Bring a Maul or ax and wedge if you plan to camp at SockemDog
Bring fire logs on any WW river trip cause it always rains in the river valleys Bring Toilet paper – on any trip!
Always follow the leader/s and their instruction and never break in line on
the river. That line order is established with your safety in mind.
Most of all respect and love the River – it is a mighty force!
"You can never step into the same river twice"
-- Heraclitus
View Photo Album
Thanks go out to Rembert and Dennis for jumpstarting this year's Section Two paddle of the Chattooga River. Special thanks to Rembert who attended despite fighting off a potentially nasty respiratory ailment.
Folks arrived at The Chattooga River Resort by mid afternoon and most who had signed up made it by dark. Promised firewood which was confirmed by phone earlier was non existent unless you had a lumberjack handy and toilet paper was truly a valued item. Now this is what I call luxury camping.
Nearby mountain bikers had gotten quite a jump on the PP's and were just a hootin' and a hollarin', but turned out to be no problem later on. Everyone's industrious efforts and a firelog or two ended up producing a wonderful campfire and many lies were passed around in the true fashion of a paddling campout.
In
attendance were Joe, Al, Linda, Becky, Brian, Dennis, Nicole, Rembert, Ernie,
Dianne and myself. Due to some clever planning on Dennis' part, tent poles were
forgotten and those two souls were forced to leave the campfire revelry early to
the extreme discomfort of a room at the Chattooga River Resort Motel and where
they likely joined in on the wild and crazy Karaoke festivities going on at the
saloon located there. Back at the campsite, someone finally poked me and
informed me that it was time to crawl to our tents and thus the night was over
for the brave campers for Friday. I had asked Ernie to wake me in time for a hot shower prior to breakfast the following morning and , true to his word, he tapped on the tent (6:30) to tell me I had fallen back asleep and that the shuttle was about to leave. Nice try Ernie, but I've known you too long, but I did crawl out to the ecstasy of Rembert and Ernie's gourmet coffee, which will wake a dead man. Other's roused and we proceeded to the Bucket T restaurant in Long Creek for an excellent breakfast and some interesting local dialogue.
OFF TO THE RIVER!!!!! Long shuttle, as always on the Chattooga, chat with the Ranger as to potential problems, safety check and lecture and we were on the water. Everyone displayed their ability at ferrying, so down the river we went. The level was slightly above 2.5 (waterdata.usgs.gov) which was ideal and we worked our way through many ledges and a few drops and in a manner that the new folks can be proud of.
We lunched at Big Shoals Rapid, which is the most significant rapid of
the section. Some members opted to portage this, but Dennis, Joe, and Becky ran
it with finesse. Linda wanted to, but her boat lacked thigh straps and she felt
she would lose control in a wave at the bottom and she had to pass. The local
gene pool came into play for our entertainment as a group of good ole boys --
too macho to zip their life vests - crashed and burned all the way down and I
mean in the canoe and then right back out. Luckily none suffered injury that
they would admit to and Thank God, we left them behind. Ledges and little drops pretty much dominated the remainder of the paddle and Dianne and I sought out a little more action in the water since we felt the crew was now up for it. We caught a couple nice wave trains and little drops and then – Shazam – there was the durn takeout full of bikini clad girls and their Mamas on horseback. Well, I wish we had had the forethought to bring a couple of horses because it's a quarter of a mile straight up to the parking lot. Bless you Dennis for not only sharing your wheels, but your might rolling the Caper up the hill.
Back
to the campground to find ample toilet paper and firewood. Regretfully, the
firewood was building scraps of treated lumber which would have emitted noxious
fumes not too good for us or the air around us. We still had enough fire logs
and wood brought by members to build a fine fire for the remainder of the night.
Prior to setting the evening fire we dined at The Post Office, recommended by
some of the horse people at the take out and I would recommend this restaurant
unless you feel like driving to Walhalla. My steak was the Father's Day special
and was enough to feed three Columbia fathers, but probably one local Mother.
Don't get me wrong about the local people. They are a good, down to earth bunch
of folks in general and we're the outsiders with our city ways. So, in a nut shell:
Bring fire logs on any WW river trip cause it always rains in the river valleys
"You can never step into the same river twice"
-- Heraclitus
View Photo Album
