Island Creek, Tennessee, US |
|
| Usual Difficulty | III-IV+ (for normal flows) |
|---|---|
| Length | 2 Miles |
| Name | Range | Difficulty | Updated | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Island Creek near Nemo | ||||
| virtual-10484 | 250 - 500 cfs | III-IV+ | 01h07m | ~ 36.35 cfs (rc= -0.9 ) |
Island Creek has been described as "the Gem of the Cumberlands". It is certainly one of
the most scenic and continuous runs on the Cumberland Plateau.
Over the last few years, we have made a concerted effort to remove the many strainers that had
made the river almost unboatable. We have done this in the most unobtrusive way leaving the river
aesthetics intact. However, please use utmost caution!!! Due to pine beetle and
ice damage, there are numerous trees both upstream of the put-in and along the run that are
awaiting their turn to become a strainer. Therefore, be very alert just after high water. There
are a few logs in the creek but they are not in bad spots and no portages are required.
Access for the put-in on this lower reach of Island Creek is on Catoosa Road going
southeast from the game check station. While the area is controlled by the Tennessee Wildlife
Resources Agency (TWRA), the 3/4 mile stretch of Catoosa Road to the low-water bridge put-in at
Island Creek has traditionally been open to traffic during managed hunts. The regional TWRA
manager for the area has said that the road would remain open to boaters accessing Island Creek
during managed hunts. I am in the process of getting that in writing. Catoosa WMA is closed
for a deer hunt on December 11-13, 2008 and a boar hunt on January 1-3, 2009. The Non-quota
Turkey Hunt Handout shows that Feb 1 thru March 27, 2009 is a wildlife rest period and
access to the WMA is closed to all users and no vehicle access is allowed. April 3-5, 10-12,
14-16, 18-19 (Young Sportsman Hunt), 21-23, 24-26, and 28-30, 2009 are turkey hunts.
During hunting days, the Catoosa WMA access is restricted to all but hunters. There are
usually signs posted during hunts and rest periods alerting you that the area and roads
are closed to access. There may be a sign at the intersection warning you that the area is open
only to Big Game Hunters. Traditionally, the signs have only restricted the Catoosa Road leading
west of the game check station. There should only be "STOP" signs on the righthand road
leading west up Island Creek towards the Daddy's Creek takeout at Devil's Breakfast Table. If you
are uncertain, check at the Obed Wild and Scenic office in Wartburg or with TWRA. TWRA has fined
boaters in the past for illegal access and parking at river accesses in the WMA such as the
Devil's Breakfast Table parking area during restricted times. The fine has been as much as $142
per person. TWRA Contact: Jim Lane (931)456-2479. Please provide comments on any access issues
you find.
The first quarter to half mile is fairly tame just stay to the river left at the islands to avoid
any strainers. The first of these small islands recently had a log at the top forcing you to go
right. Work your way immediately back to the left to get back to the left side of the island.
Avoid the right side of the small island as it leads into a rocky blockage. If you end up there
exit the far right. The left side of this blockage is not advised as it has a 90 degree right
turn that has an undercut in it. The action picks up in the next 3/4 mile with several rapids
with small ledges. At about 1 1/2 miles, you will reach a horizon line as the river makes a left
turn with a rock wall on the river right. This is the most difficult rapid "Compound
Fracture". You can scout on the island above where the river constricts to form the rapid.
If you do not feel confident, this is a good one to walk! The best portage is on the river right
along the old railroad bed on the rock wall. Some of the rocks in this rapid are from the
creation and demise of the old narrow-gauge railroad on river right and are jagged and spaced to
thwart a clean line. Also be aware of the potential undercut at the bottom on river left;
although I have never seen anyone get in trouble there. The usual run is down the right center
angling right. Several fun rapids are below including "The Slide" and
"Rockhouse". "Rockhouse" has one of the neatest surfing experiences in the
super large undercut on river left in the semi-dark. There is a new obstacle at the bottom
of Rockhouse rapid. A large rectangular block stone on the river right side at the bottom
creates a pinning potential. The top of the stone is near the water level so look for the
telltale wave. If the water is high enough stay left. If not, your going to have to
squeeze between the pinning block and the large boulder sticking out of the water blocking the
right side.
Near the end of the run there is a large pool with an old RR bridge pier just above an island. Either side of the island can be run depending on wood that collects here. This rapid has been changing. I now recommend running the right side of the island as the left has a potential to push you into an undercut. The right side has a shallow entrance and less water than the left side but is a fun rapid with a nice boof/slide drop. Both sides of this island are historically very bad debris traps and more wood will collect from all the dead wood from pine beetles and weather damage. The stretch from the last island down to the confluence with the Emory was cleared of strainers in December 2007 but boaters will need to pay attention for years looking for loose wood and new wood that can cause strainers. The cut-up logs will push on to the Emory after a big rain but watch for logs particulary in the last stretch of Island Creek.
For more information please click on the link below:
http://www.waldensridgewhitewater.com/obed_emory/IslandCreek.htm
Have painted a new gauge on bridge on downstream center pier. This gauge is equivalent to the old gauge. Minimum is ~.2' and Optimum .8'. Gets pushy with large ledge holes above 1.5'. Drops very quickly after a rain. Usually must run within one day after a big rain. Need a recent heavy rain and a minimum of around 5,500 cfs on Obed and ~1,600 cfs on Daddy's Creek. Best gauge for comparison is the Daddys Creek gauge. I am developing a virtual gauge for Island Creek based on Daddy's Creek flows. Please send in staff levels from runs on Island Creek to compare with Daddys Creek flows.
Island Gauge Daddys Gauge
0.0' 1400 cfs
0.2' 1650 cfs
0.4' 2000 cfs
0.5' 2200 cfs
0.6 2300 cfs
0.8' 2700 cfs
| Name | Range | Difficulty | Updated | Level | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Island Creek near Nemo | ||||||||||||
| virtual-10484 | 250 - 500 cfs | III-IV+ | 01h07m | ~ 36.35 cfs (rc= -0.9 ) | ||||||||
|
Speculative, but sound basis. Comments are welcome. |
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No rapids entered. If you know names, and locations of the rapids please contact and advise the StreamTeam member for this run. 
reach
state
reachlink
Catoosa Bridge to Emory River, Island Creek Tennessee, US (mobile)
User Comments
later. This felt like a good medium-low level where the run felt like a creek but was scrapey in
only a few places. A sizable rain event came through four days earlier that dropped 1.6" at the
Crab Orchard rain gage and got Daddy's creek up to 4500 cfs. Today, there was 0.8" at Crab Orchard
and an even 1" at the Wartburg rain gage. The rain stopped around noon and our first lap was around
5:30pm. As we neared the put-in, we picked up some boaters that were hitch-hiking back up to their
car at teh put-in. They said that the level was just under a foot on when they put on so I assume
it was on its way down when we started our first lap.
Fracture starts at 7:40 and ends at about 8:00. The paddler takes the left line at the main drop of
Compound Fracture which is a very runnable line and in my opinion the easier line. However, you'll
need around 0.8ft or more of water on the bridge gauge. http://www.vimeo.com/11470518
the logs from the slide will move at some point, but the cave rapid is runnable at this time.
entire river and was still falling somewhat when we floated up on it. The ledge is still runnable
before you get to it though. This was still a great run at 1 ft. You can easily skirt. Pictures to
be posted
of rain had fallen at the Crab Orchard gauge between 3am and 11am. 1.7 inches had fallen at the
Wartburg rain gauge between 1am and 8am. Island was at a healthy 1.5 feet (medium to medium-high)
when we put on for our first lap. Then it was 1.4 when we put on for our second lap, 1.3 for our
third and 1.2 for our fourth and final lap that featured a sunset sky with vivid blues, purples and
pinks. Unforgettable day! Daddy's was spiking when we left the house and when we checked on our
Blackberrys an hour or so later, but the graph hadn't updated in over four hours and was still just
under 500 cfs. The graph for the Wartburg rain gauge can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/yep5yxm Edit
and you didn't brin your gun there is a login road that with a 1/4 mile cary you come out at the
put in. You paralle the login road ( which is quite growed up) as you come down the hill to the
fork in the road where the old checkin station use to be. Call me for other details. 803 319 1719 Edit
previous runs had been low (0.4'-0.6'). Two people put-on about an hour before we did and reported
1.7'. They saw 1.8' before they set shuttle. Now for the correlation with the Crab Orchard rain
gauge. It has been a pretty good spring in ETN. There had been several good soakings that got many
plateau runs running, some at high levels. But there had been two weeks with little to no rain
before we put on Island today. Three quarters of an inch had fallen throughout the day yesterday,
and then another 3/4 of an inch fell between 4 and 8 am this morning. The 1.8' reading was roughly
4 pm and the we put on at about 6 pm. The Crab Orchard Rain gauge: http://tinyurl.com/knkot7
feet with only ~45-50 minutes of daylight left. Jim and I climbed into our drysuits and stuffed a
total of three head lamps into our dry bags. We paddled past the first rapid that usually has a
slight undercut/sieve hazard if you don't run left. Then came the first slide that harbored a
couple of big, but managable breaking wave/holes (big relative to normal flows on Island). They
weren't very alarming, but I knew that a bigger slide was just around the next bend to a left. We
eddied out on RR and wondered if this is where our expected hike out would begin. We scouted the
next slide that typically has two drops, but we only saw one drop with a bigger wave/hole in the
middle. The difficult decision to hike out was then made. If we had had more time/daylight, we
would have proceded. The view downstream was actually very inviting, but to complete the run before
dark we knew that we would have very little to no time to scout the bigger drops downstream. I was
tempted to push on, but my judgement told me that bombing into Compound Fracture and the next
several drops without scouting would be beyond reckless. If we only had more time! On our way out,
we crossed side stream dumping into Island on RR and saw a couple of fun class III slides. So we
hiked up the tiny creek and dropped somewhere around 20 vertical feet in about 30 yards. Then we
continued our hike to the put-in on the over-grown, abandoned logging road and made it to the car
just before it got dark enough to necessitate the head lamps. Daddy's was over 6000 csf and
climbing, Clear Creek at Lily was probably between 4000 and 5000 cfs and rising (the internet graph
isn't working), and the Emory was just under 20,000 cfs and rising. The Southeast had been in a
relentless drought, but the Crab Orchard rain gauge showed 3 inches of rain the morning before we
put on (yesterday) with an additional 2 inches of rain today. What's a little perplexing is that
people had run Island the day before (after 3 inches of rain) and the level was just under a foot.
But they did put on around 4 pm - about 11 hours after the rain stopped. During our drive from Oak
Ridge (via Coalfield and Wartburg), it was raining hard nearly non-stop. I guess that shows how
fast the levels on Island can rise and drop! I hope to return at 3 feet .... but with more light
and time!
visual gauge at the put in. I do think that Daddy's is a good indicator, but I'm guessing that
Island could be peaking when the Daddy's gauge begins to shoot upward. Also, I think that this rain
gauge could be useful when there's been rain on the plateau and you need to spring into action
before the Daddy's gauge updates. Slimerboy reported 0.3' (low but runnable) on Island on 3-20-08.
There had been just over an inch of rain 12-18 hours earlier. It had been a relatively wet spring
on the Plateau and many of the common runs had been running pretty frequently.
http://dwarfurl.com/88d72
"http://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/Gauge/detail/id/10484/">Island Creek at Nemo</a>
holes are much bigger, and more sticky. There were no strainers that required portaging on our run.
However, scouting Compound Fracture required several trips across flowing knee deep water. It is
definatly a good level for the creek, but is pushy, and upgrades most of the rapids a step. Still
nothing over IV+ in my opinion, but be sure to scout if you have only ran it 1-1.5 feet. There are
several blind turns that lead to surprisingly strong holes, of which each member of our party spent
at least a little time in. Who says the Blunt isn't a playboat, you should have seem my linked
cartwheels!