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.
It's not possible to explain Ecuador in a blog post, so I'll just tell you about my experience. I was privileged enough to spend 7 weeks in this amazing country, from Christmas until the middle of February. I paddled 37 out of 49 days (if I was a baseball player, I batted .755, which ain't too shabby). I ran 11 new rivers in 4 different regions of the country. I am 1 of 10 people to ever run the Cofanes River, near the border of Columbia. I only got sick once. I did not shit myself (I was told it was an inevitability). I partied one too many nights. To make a long story short (which I do not claim to be good at): I had the time of my life and I cannot wait to return.
Volcan Antesana.
Rady Bug.
Chillin' in Tena.
Arriving in Quito on Christmas day was a surreal experience. Clearing customs, I walked out and was greeted (scared) by Ken Kastorff, my lovable boss. He's the best! Once I realized I wasn't in trouble, I met Angel (pronounced on-hell, not angel), our driver. Angel is definitely one of the coolest human beings on the face of the planet. We rode through La Mariscal, through the party plaza, to our hotel. I knew immediately this was going to be a little bit of a different scene than Costa Rica.
Flying in to Quito.
Party Plaza, near our hotel. Photo: Craig Parks.
Quito.
Week 1 was excellent, although it didn't start out excellent for me. Craig "El Martillo" Parks and I went to scout the Oyacachi, near the town of El Chaco (where the sandals reside), and within the first mile I flipped and broke Craig's paddle. Sweet. Craig continued the run solo, and I got a ride to the takeout. Two days later I found myself, and The Hammer, being dropped off deep in the jungle, to run a flooded Piatua. I was pretty nervous putting on, but it ended up being one of the greatest runs of my life. Huge white boulders and about 2,000 cfs: sick brah. I also ran the Upper Misahualli and the Cosanga, both great class IV(+) rivers. The week ended with New Years in Quito, which I don't need to expound upon. What an introduction to this country!
Mmmmm...
Monkey Lodge, Archidona.
Upper Miss. Paddler: El Martillo.
Take-out path up to the Monkey Lodge.
Middle Quijos Canyon.
Looking in to the lava canyon, Middle Quijos.
Week 2 was definitely a treat. Stephen Cameron and Jenna Watson joined us for a week of class IV+ action. The previous week I had only paddled one section of the Quijos, the Middle Canyon, which is an incredible class III and IV section that drops through a few beautiful lava gorges. Week 2 introduced me to the Upper Quijos (Baeza to The Property) and the Lower. The Upper Quijos is continuous class IV creekin' until the confluence with the Cosanga, where it turns it to a class III/IV bigger water run (depending on the level of course). The Lower Quijos is a BIG water class III/IV run with one of the biggest and hardest rapids on the river: "Gringos Revueltos" (scrambled gringos) which could be re-named "Joe's Backender". The Lower gradually turns to flat water, amidst National Geographic quality scenery.
Upper Quijos.
Our driver hard at work.
Week 2 also included runs on the Piatua, where we put-on at ideal flows and managed to out-run 2500+ cfs towards the bottom, Cosanga, Upper Miss, and the Oyacachi. It was quite a week of "work."
Jenna Watson on the Upper Miss.
Angel is the man.
Bridge Rapid, Oyacachi. Paddler: Stephen Cameron.
Lower Cosanga rapid. Paddler: Stephen Cameron.
El Martillo on the Middle Cosanga.
Middle Cosanga put-in.
Piatua. Paddler: Dan Dixon.
Upper Miss rail slide. Paddler: Stephen Cameron
Shooting Antesana.
Week 3 featured the infamous "Juicebox Gang." We always look forward to this group, and this year they did not disappoint. They stepped it up and ran some solid class IV, in both the creekin' and big water categories. The highlights included my introduction to the big water Jatanyacu, just outside of Tena, the Upper Miss., and the Lower Quijos. The only downside was David Grey coming down with Ecuadorian flu, which I've heard is contracted from excessive interaction with livestock. Thanks guys for an awesome week!
Scouting "Gringos Revueltos"
Juicebox Gang on the Lower Quijos.
Middle Quijos Canyon, Lower Put-in.
Crazy geology on the Middle Quijos. Paddler: David Gray.
Fairly obvious who wears the pantalones in this relationship.
Chillin' on the roof in Borja.
Sauna.
Hot Springs on the way back to Quito.
Week 4 was a great class III+ week, after which we had 2 weeks off. Craig and I shot down to Banos, and spent a week running the Topo and partying a little bit. We were joined by a flotilla of dudes who knocked out the first group descent of "Chuchaqui Falls" on the Rio Verde east of Banos.
Bus station in Quito, headin' to Banos.
Hostal Princesa Maria, Banos.
Topo.
Topo stick bug.
Looking upstream at the bottom of the Topo.
Coolest shuttle vehicle ever.
Hiking up to La Virgen, Banos.
Banos, Ecuador.
Heading to run a waterfall.
Bone scouting the drop.
Chuchaqui Falls, Paddler: Charlie Watt.
From there, Jake, Charlie, Scotty, Dano and I spent 2 days getting to the put-in for the Rio Cofanes. This was probably the highlight of my time in Ecuador. We were the 3rd crew to run this section of river, which began as class IV/V creeking and ended with class V big water. It. Was. Epic.
La Sofia.
Jake exiting the first gorge, Cofanes.
Scotty B. droppin' in to the 2nd gorge, Cofanes.
Dano at the 1st campsite, Cofanes.
Returning to Baeza, I finished my 2 weeks off with a Cheesehouse run. The Cheesehouse section is the upper most section of the Quijos, below the confluence with the Papallacta. It is super continous class IV+ (I would say V-) boulder drops, for approx. 4 miles. I had been hearing about Cheesehouse for a long time, and was stoked to finally run it. It was definitely harder and pushier than I expected, even at "low" flows.
1st rapid, Cheesehouse. Paddler: The Hammer.
For our final week of trips, we were joined by a veteran cast. We had a fun "low" water week, which was odd because, apparently, Tom Cowden always brings the rain. Low water is without a doubt better than the alternative, as we got to run ever river on our planned class IV itinerary. Even in my final week, I was running sections and rivers I had never seen prior. The lower section of the Middle Quijos included "Curvas Peligrosas" and a few other big class IV rapids. We accomplished a Jondachi/Hoillin mission, which began with a group of women (one of them pregnant) carrying our boats down a brutal path to the put-in on the Jondachi. About 5 miles downstream, the Jondachi converges with the Hoillin, which continues on for another 7 miles or so. This run is probably the most gorgeous run I paddled this season (which is saying A LOT!). My final day in Ecuador was spent on the class IV+ Oyacachi and partying in Quito.
Scouting the 1st rapid, Oyacachi.
Lower Cosanga, Paddler: Tim Propes.
A few very nice ladies, about to carry our boats down a brutal trail.
Aforementioned brutal trail to the Jondachi.
Jondachi put-in.
Thanks to everyone who made this season happen, namely Ken, Juliet, and Craig, who put up with me for yet another year of adventure travel.
Next up: I have no idea. I'll be in Pagosa Springs, CO slaying POW for an undetermined period of time, and there might be some CO paddlin' to be had before returning to the Southeast for another season in the Nantahala Gorge. Maybe it will rain this year...
