So a small crew, with one larger fellow, decided to venture deep into the wilderness of southeast Tennessee this past weekend. What we found was a river full of wild beasts, lots of color and rock & roll whitewater...the Ocoee! If you haven't yet heard of this little-known gem, add it to the tick list.

OK so the wild beasts were the thousands of boaters and customers in brightly colored rafts, but the whitewater was A+.
Adam, Dot and myself met up with Team Ocoee, JBob and Elizabeth, early saturday morning. It was Dot and Adams first ever run, so they started below Slice and Dice, ferrying, surfing, getting the feel for push and funkiness that is the Ocoee. JBob and I start above Grumpy's, bomb down to meet the gang and we hit it...Moonshoot...Adam nails a rock right away, flips, rolls...bashes his hand up pretty good. Fractures an already injured finger. So what does he do...paddles on down, no problems, just a few flips and rolls, all smiles, even surfs...at Hell Hole. Tough kid!
After the first mishap the rest went by smoothly. Huge props to Elizabeth, she is an incredible Ocoee trip leader. I hung back with JBob, we ran some creekier lines while E led the noobs down the regular lines. It felt like cheating in the creeker, but I was glad I had it for saturday's 2 runs. They opted to head to the hospital in Cleveland to get the hand checked out, and we would re-group at OAR for beers and grub later that night.

Run #2...we meet Sandman and Darren Hines at the put-in, and the 5 of us head down...I've never run Broken Nose, always hit the left side sneak. Today is the day...not hard at all, 2 moves and hit the ledge just right...little did I know until we were at the bottom that the surge hit us at the top of Broken Nose...about 800cfs came down rather quickly, according to a couple of raft guides, pushing the Ocoee over 2000cfs for the rest of the run. WOW! what fun. Slice and Dice was 1 huge mess of a rapid, just hang on and go...I had my best combat roll to date here, thankfully because a swim at surge levels would not be fun. It was constant smiles and laughing the rest of the way down...Tablesaw was just big. huge. gigantic. I braced 437 times, I think. That may have been the most continuous and challenging whitewater I've ever run, and I can't wait to hit the surge again. and again. Thank you creek boat!

Day 2...the crew reunited...I ask Adam if he's gonna boat..."it ain't broke, only fractured...of course I'm boating!". I like this kid...we meet up with them right below Grumpy's, this time I'm in the itty bitty playboat...completely different river. Wow. 3 roll attempts in an eddyline, a swim...shit this isn't even a rapid, what have I gotten myself into...down to Broken Nose, and we run the sneak...eddy hopping to river left, the Walk the Plank move, and I hit what seems like a tiny, innocuous hole sideways........I finally get the beating I've been waiting for, how I've escaped this yet is beyond me. Stuck, head pounds the rock ledge, set up to get flushed out and roll...not moving. At all. Can't get out of my boat, helmet feels like its going to take my head with it...finally get out, pull myself along the bottom using the cracks in the rock, kick the boat away and flush.
Finally regroup, talk myself into finishing, and try to relax the grip. The smiles return after the next few rapids, got the game back, and before you know it the powerhouse is in view.
Who would have thought that the Ocoee could throw so much variety at you. And what I've heard is correct...the better boater you become, the more fun the Ocoee gets. For you aspiring boaters who want to start moving up from class III, the Middle Ocoee is the place. The only consequences are the floating undercuts, and a few finger-eating rocks. Sure its a zoo, but go with no expectations and focus on the whitewater...this place is tailor made for improving the skills while running some of the best rapids around.

Adam surfed like a pro and we both left some blood behind, Dot styled every rapid, Elizabeth and JBob rocked it leading and sweeping, and the beer was cold. Another great weekend 'yakin in the southeast.

Elizabeth's enthusiasm was so infectious. She was a perfect river guide and Jbob was the perfect consultant/playboat mentor. I loved running the Ocoee. I was definitely scared out of my mind at first from hearing all the past carnage stories. Going to the roll sessions has been key in upping my game, not just in rolling but I've been working on my brace. I can't believe I never flipped, though I did throw in some hard braces.

I am definitely left hankering for a playboat. Both Adam and Brandon deserve huge props for continuing to ride the Ocoee pony since both got munched early on in the river run, their mental state was cured with continuous water therapy.

One of my favorite memories (I can say this b/c he's ok) was seeing Brandon slowly getting sucked into a vertical position back into the Plank with a gleeful smile and last parting words before flipping being "Ha Ha!".

I can't wait to go back though my heart is happy to have a break before the next run.

D*t =)

That sounds like a fun trip too! Not sure what the walking the plank move is you are referring to, unless it is between the ledges at Broken Nose, which is a fun move, but I will say the lower ledge hole at Broken Nose loves playboats! I surfed upside down there a couple times on my first two trips there my "return to boating season". An interesting place to roll out of too. I'm also very jealous that you caught a nice surge ... sounds fun! Congrats on those newb runs guys!
Wes

Congrats to Dot and Adam on an incredible first weekend at the O-coee! It was so fun showing friend down this super secret run! You guys had no problem and looked like old hats.

Seriously, they did awesome especially considering it was a really rafty weekend.

I talked to some guides today and they said it spiked up to 2700 when it surged Sat pm. It was about 445-5pm for reference. Brandon you did awesome. The surge really amps it up.

Anyone with either a decent brace OR roll (I am much more of a roller!) and that feels pretty solid on the Nanty or BSF Canyon should get to the Ocoee after the natural stuff goes away. It is a great place to build skills like Brandon said.

The Walk the Plank move is the ledge river left below the enterence of Gonzo Shoals and the Boardroom eddy. It has a really stick hole that eats playboats,

You all did awesome!

Elizabet

Man, high water Ocoee, bookmark that one in your memory. High water Ocoee runs are pretty rare if you don't live there. Really continuous and punchy, but fortunately not as rocky. Actually, I don't think I've done it that high, so now I'll have to be jealous and stop talking to you.

Regular release level Ocoee is a great place to work on stuff. It's rocky enough to punish you for mistakes, but has surprisingly few undercuts and/or pinning spots. Like Brandon said, the portable undercuts are your biggest concern.

My buds from down that way used to say, "Momma never could teach us not to play in traffic."

Hanley

That surge run may be the most fun I've had with my clothes on in a long time. I'm glad I was already on the river, and past Broken Nose before I knew it was surging...otherwise I probably would have sat it out!

Yep, big and fast. I told Elizabeth to please not hit the eddy before Tablesaw...I don't want to see what I'm about to drop into...lets just gun it. Weeee!

I said I'm not talking to you.

Hanley

It's my understanding that every time they shut off the Upper Ocoee there's a surge of high water for the Lower. I've caught several of these surges which happen late in the afternoon typically around 5pm.
barryg

Well, my info is pretty ancient these days. High water surges on the lower Ocoee may be as regular as clockwork now that the upper has regular releases. I worked on the Ocoee during the summer of '88, and I've been back since, but not for several years. These days I value my on river solitude too much.

Let's put it this way, given the choice of traveling from Lexington to the Ocoee or to the Gauley for 200 CFS on the Upper G, I'd pick the Gauley hands down every time.

Hanley

First off, hats off to Elizabeth and Jbob! This was my first time down the Ocoee and my first time on water this big and they both made it an awesome experience. Their happy-go-lucky attitudes and knowledge of the river made it so much fun. Great, easy-to-follow lines and instructions. Thanks y'all!

The first day Dot, Elizabeth and I surfed below Slice 'n Dice while we waited for Brandon and Jbob. This was a good warm-up, got some rolls in and got my adrenalin pumping. My second time in the hole, I hear: pop! Great...my backband is F*ed after just fixing it. No big deal. Eventually Jbob and Brandon meet up with us and we head down to Moonshoot. We're making our way through, Elizabeth in the lead and we go to ferry across to the left side of a boulder. I'm paddling seeing where I need to be, then quickly realize I'm not far enough left! I start digging harder but made the mistake of looking at the rock instead of where I needed to be. I end up hugging the rock, but the water pushed me sideways and almost flipped me against the rock. I make a move to get off to the left side and end up upside side. Rock, rock, rock, rock...I'm thinking, d*mn, its shallow, then roll up. My head and knuckles took a good beating with my gimpy finger (previously broken and unable to bend) getting it the worst. After spending a minute to bandage and recover we made it through the rest uneventfully. Got some rolls, but no more rock-eating. We hit the hospital afterwards for x-rays...not anything to write home about, although I finally got to see how badly I messed it up previously.

The second day went much smoother. Dot and I met the crew below Grumpy's and paddled down. As we went past Moonshoot I made sure to give it the finger, just for good measure. When we got to the Plank, it d*mn near window-shaded both me and Dot. Brandon followed, but ended up getting sucked back and eaten. I was really impressed, though. He was a little shook-up after the hole had its way, but quickly got his composure and attitude back and finished as his cheerful self.

I think my favorite parts were 1: getting to meet the rocks firsthand and 2: surfing at Hellhole...kickass!

Thanks everyone for an awesome weekend. I learned a ton and definitely got to up my game!

-Adam