The Hammer dropping in to "Wet Willy." PHOTO: Jason McClure. CAMERA: The Hammer.
Living and working in the Southeast for 5 seasons, I have had the privilege of paddling many incredible sections of river, a few of which are considered so classic, that people from all over the world travel to access these legendary runs. The Green River Narrows, Section 4 of the Chattooga, The Horsepasture, The West Prong of the Little Pigeon, and The Little River Canyon are just a few runs I've been lucky enough to enjoy from the vantage point of my Habitat 80.
The Raven Fork, located just northeast of Cherokee in Great Smokey Mountain National Park, is a run that lives on in whitewater lore. With an average gradient of almost 600 feet per mile, it is the epitome of a Class V creek. Basically, every rapid is as big, or bigger than Gorilla on the Green. Needless to say, this is not a run to be taken lightly.
After a great day on Big Creek, I decided it was time to tackle The Raven. Jason "Freaky Stick" McClure and I loaded up, and headed to Bryson City to meet the man who would show us the lines. If there was one person I wanted showing Stick and I down for our first time, it was The Hammer. Known to most as Craig Parks, The Hammer had logged countless Raven Fork descents prior to this day, and after driving past the bridge gauge, he assured us the level was perfect. (9 inches)
We arrived at the take-out, which happens to be the property of Emmanuel, the keeper of the Raven Fork. This guy is awesome, super friendly, and very generous. The paddling community is permitted to use his property as a take-out, and in return, he only asks for Bud-Light. What a deal! Hanging out with Emmanuel makes any Raven Fork experience complete, and his hospitality is hard to beat.
Four wheel drive is essential to accessing the put-in of The Raven, so we loaded in to Craig's truck and headed up a gnarly road, only losing our boats and paddles a few times. Gearing up, the butterflies started to settle in, and I knew it was on. The hike in to the gorge was pretty, with little white flowers covering the forest floor. We descended the last 500 feet or so to the river bed, and looked down in to Anaconda.
View from the put-in. PHOTO: Craig Parks.
Anaconda is the introduction to The Raven Fork. The water channelizes together and drops through a seivey, slidey, holey, super narrow rapid, before ending about 50 feet below the put-in. Craig decided he wasn't running Anaconda, and Jason and I followed suit and opted for the seal launch in to the very bottom of the rapid.
Headless Horseman is right below this first rapid, and is very similar to Anaconda, without the huge sieves littering the left side. Instead, there is a giant rock which sticks out over the bottom of the drop, making a move to the right mandatory. We all had great lines, and breathed a sigh of relief, having gotten a rapid under our belts.
Freaky Stick checking out Anaconda. PHOTO: Craig Parks.
Me running Headless Horseman. PHOTO: Craig Parks.
A big slide finishing next to a big undercut follows, and then you arrive at Razorback. Another extremely class V drop consisting of a spine which pushes the water left in to an undercut, a sieve, and a log (doesn't get much more class V than that) and finishes with a low angled slide which normally has a tree at the bottom. Luckily for us the tree was gone, but Craig thought the rapid looked funny, so we seal launched in to the bottom of the rapid and ran the slide.
Below Razorback is Hail Mary, which most people portage, and after walking around that we arrived at Jedi Mind Trick. The river pushes right here, and most of the water ramps in to a big ledge hole or on to a big rock shelf, where the water splits and goes right or left. We ran the right which was a slide in to a 4 foot ledge where all the water slams in to a wall, compresses, and is redirected back left. A very cool rapid.
Jason running the bottom of Jedi Mind Trick. PHOTO: Craig Parks.
Another short portage just below Jedi puts you right above a huge rapid called Mortal Kombat. At this point, we had run enough big rapids to breathe a slight sigh of relief, as this rapid is pretty straight forward. This was probably my favorite spot on the river. A giant, cheeah pet looking boulder on the right, with a tree growing on it, makes this part of the river absolutely magical. Starting just above that boulder, you drive over a big hump, and fly down in to a short pool, before driving over a flake just under the huge boulder, and running the final 15 feet in to a ledge hole, which pushes you off to the right. SICK BRAH!!!
My line, boofing the hump at the top of Mortal Kombat. PHOTO: Craig Parks.
Coming off the flake at the bottom. PHOTO: Craig Parks.
Mortal Kombat, view from the bottom.
Wet Willy is just below Mortal Kombat, and at first glance, the right line does not look runnable. Sliding over some shallow rocks, you drop off a super vertical slide, get some air, and land just below the shelf on your left and rock on your right. Whoa. This is one crazy rapid.
Freaky Stick at the top of Wet Willy. PHOTO: Craig Parks.
Freaky Stick at the bottom of Wet Willy.
Just when you think it can't get much bigger, you arrive at Big Boy: a 35 foot waterfall, much of which lands in very shallow water. Craig had run this drop a few times, and although it looked really good, we decided to be conservative and skip it this time around. Dane Jackson, Clay Wright, and Jay Mahan caught us at Big Boy, and we all had the pleasure of watching Dane style the drop.
Dane melting in to Big Boy. PHOTO: Craig Parks.
The portage around Big Boy puts you just above the biggest rapid on the river: Mike Tyson's Punch Out. This rapid is absolutely massive. It starts with an 8 foot boof, which lands on rocks, a move to the right, using the compression coming off the wall to shoot you back left, out to the middle of the rapid, then you pretty much hang on as you fly down a big slide and through a massive compression coming off the right wall, which is just above the final 15-20 foot vertical sliding drop at the bottom. I got spun around and ended up catching an eddy on the left, before running the bottom. Wow, what a rapid. Below is a video of Craig running Mike Tyson's.
Below Tyson's is Harjes' rapid, where, apparently, Chris Harjes dislocated his shoulder. It's not a super tall drop, but we decided to sneak it on the left, which put us right above "Caveman." The final rapid of significance, "Caveman" consists of three ledges, back to back, and ends with one of the greatest boofs known to man. Moving left at the top, you stay left through a hole and drive left to slide over the rock shelf which puts you above the final drop. After a stompin' boof, and a little bit of boogie water, you arrive at the final portage, known only as "The Mangler."
Some super fun Raven boogie exists below the portage, and then the river turns in to class III for half a mile or so, before you arrive at Emmanuel's. We had some cold beers waiting for us, and of course some great company with Emmanuel and his son Kevin. They even have a dog that can climb trees! Crazy..
Emmanuel.
This was definitely one of the greatest days of my paddling life. Being in the Raven Fork Gorge is pretty surreal, due to not only the huge class V rapids, but the incredible landscape as well. These things combined with a few good friends makes the Raven Fork an experience unlike any other. I can't wait to go back.
Big Creek, a beautiful class IV/V run located in the Northeastern section of Great Smokey Mountain National Park, runs in to the Pigeon River near the border of North Carolina and Tennessee. This classic Smokey's run, consisting of steep boulder gardens in a lush green river bed, is one that should not be missed.
A big storm rolled through our area on Friday night, dropping more than 2 inches of rain in some places, and leaving many rivers flooded. Saturday, while working the Nantahala Open at ERA, I was constantly checking gauges to see what the rivers had in store for the next few days. I opted not to party too incredibly hard, and woke up the next morning to find beautiful sunny skies and many great whitewater options, the best being Big Creek.
Hiking up the trail.
The Smax Brothers, Sam and Max Ovett, and I loaded up and headed toward Asheville. Turning on to I-40 and proceeding to the put-in, we found crystal clear water and an optimal level just below 3 feet. We parked, geared up, and started the hike up, not entirely sure where we would be putting in.
After about 1.5 miles, we arrived at "Midnight Hole", a beautiful 10 ft. ledge surrounded by huge boulders on either side. We dropped our boats, and hiked up further, looking for "Action Alley," which I knew was the steepest section of the run. It is not a suprise that we didn't find it, but we did scout out some other rapids, and decided next time we came, we would hike up much farther, and run the entire section.
Putting in just above "Midnight Hole," I was happy to have brought a dry-top, because the water was freezing cold. We rallied off the 10 footer, and started picking our way downstream. I was out in front, reading and running some boulder choked drops, when the river split, and then a middle channel formed and converged back with the main, right channel. I drove over a horizon line, only to dry out slightly, and drop down next to the ledge. Below me was a tree on the right, and 2 horizon lines, the second one being quite a bit larger than the first. I eddied out on the left, to make sure the Smax Bro's had no trouble avoiding the tree, which they didn't, and we all ran the first drop and hopped out on the left to scout.
Above Midnight Hole.
The big horizon line turned out to be an 8 ft. boof in to a tight mini-gorge and finished by dropping over another decent size ledge. Another big horizon line loomed in the distance. Wow, I thought, what I have gotten these kids in to? After watching a few boaters run the first drop, we all fired off it, enjoying pretty stylin' lines (if I don't say so myself).
We watched this guy stomp out the first drop. Nice paddle.
Sam Smax running the first big drop of "Action Alley."
Max Smax running the same drop.
Looking back upstream.
Now we had a few ledges between us and the next horizon line, and as I proceeded downstream Sam Smax decided it was time for some surfing. Following a little too closely, he backed off only to slow himself down for a nice meaty hole only 50 feet or so above the looming horizon line. Sam fought hard, but he was no match for the hydraulic. Luckily for all of us, he managed to get himself to river right, in to a nice slow moving, shallow pool. We regrouped, put out throw ropes away, and walked down to scout the next drop. Another 8 footer or so, landing on a rock shelf, next to a veritcal wall on the right, and finished with a double tiered ledge at the bottom. Awesome! I left the boys with my camera, and they managed a few awesome shots before running it themselves. (The landing is surprisingly soft.)
My line at the final drop of "Action Alley."
Mark Miller.
So it turns out that this super steep section is "Action Alley," and, with the exception of some surfin', we all ran it without much thought or trouble. Pretty cool, considering the Bro's had never seen or run anything quite this steep before. Then again, they do work at ERA. Well done boys!
Below "Action Alley" was some super fun, read and run class IV+. After portaging across an island in the middle of the creek, and just downstream walking around a river-wide tree, we arrived at the take-out for Upper Big Creek and put-in for the Lower. We decided to keep going, and rallied the Lower, which consists of mellow class IV, and is a perfect place to get accustomed to technical, Smokey's style whitewater.
Max on the Lower.
Thanks to the Smax's for joining me on what turned out to be a real adventure. Maybe next time I'll read the guidebook.
