Lost Cove Creek, North Carolina, US |
|
| Usual Difficulty | III-IV(V) (for normal flows) |
|---|---|
| Length | 5 Miles |
| Avg. Gradient | 104 fpm |
Pristine Wilderness Creeking!
Trail 464A is over a 2 mile hike-in and permits you to run the entire 5+ miles or so. This upper section is mainly technical boulder gardens with many strainers. 2.5 miles in is a steeper section less than 1 mile in length that starts with Hunt Fish Falls (Class IV+/V-) and culminates with Air Baker. Hike back up the MTS trail (TR262) and huck it again. Nice hike & huck!
If you want a shorter hike-in, less strainers, and get right to the hike & huck you should use down Trail TR263 (Hunt Fish Falls trail) to trail TR262 and put-in a drop or 2 above Hunt Fish Falls. There are strainers in the class II/II paddle out - but at last check in February 2008 only 2 required portages at low water.
Watch the water level because you don't want to run the 2 miles class II/III paddle out at low water. Very beautiful, with many "Lost Coves" along the way. You may bump into boaters coming down from their Dragstrip induced adrenaline rush. If so, too bad you missed out on Gragg Prong (GP) which has a much smaller watershed/window than LCC.
From this point just cardio it down to the bridge by Wilson Creek.
Please send visuals, and the date and time of your trips with a comment about the level to wilsonvizual@yahoo.com (L,M,H,VH...) Thanks!
| When | River/Gauge | Subject | Level | Reporter |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7y148d17h56m | Lost Cove Creek [NC] |
Hunt Fish
|
1.5 | Christopher McFadden |
| Mile | Rapid Name | Class | Features (Legend) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2.5 | Hunt Fish Falls |  | |
| 2.8 | Hike & Huck Slides and Slots | IV | |
| 3.3 | Air Baker | IV | |
This 18 foot double-drop is the most difficult drop on the creek.
An 8 foot vertical into a very short but deep perpendicular-left flowing ledge & eddy followed by a steep ten foot slide with a bottom left piton flake and ending in a big pool. At low water we run the top drop right to right center. At higher water you can land a sweet boof on the far left and stay in control to slide on the right and avoid the piton flake on river left.
You tell us, some say it is IV, some say IV+ and some say V-, some guidebooks say V.
Below Hunt Fish there is another half mile or so of fun slides, troughs and slots before Air Baker. We don't know if they have names but immediately below the Hunt Fish falls pool is a 12 ft slide, then a tight slot/trough type of drop followed by a boulder garden.
Since it has a name it must be a IV - someone please share the story of the name.
reach
state
reachlink
Trail 464A to Wilson Creek, Lost Cove Creek North Carolina, US (mobile)
User Comments
the creek low but doable. As with most small creeks, there is a lot of wood. The mile or so
starting with Hunt Fish Falls was fun and probably worth a hike back up to run an extra lap or two.
After Gragg Prong comes in, it mellows out to Class II for the most part. A good option when Wilson
is too high but you don't want to tackle Gragg or one of the other Gnarly runs up that way.
Hunt Fish Falls and 2 strainer portages on the paddle out. Hike & Huck section was gtg but on the
low side. Not a soul around.
southeast. Unfortuately it's only a half-mile long and sits in the middle of a 5-mile class II run
with a 2 mile hike-in(serious 4WDrivers can make it shorter). Most of the lead-in is a mess of
trees, islands and shallow shoals, with most of the paddle out about the same but deeper. I counted
about three class IIIs, and two IV's. The first is a IV+ called Hunt-Fish Falls, a stunning 8 ft
drop onto a 6 footer. Definately the highlight of the trip. The run kinda reminded me of the Upper
Green; alot of hard work for just a few drops but mayby a little more difficult run overall. IF you
like wilderness runs, picturesque waterfalls and a full body workout this might be your cup of tea.
Well Bell, You oughtta know what I ran 'cause you were with me. After meeting in Hampton and seeing
the Watauga and Doe on their way to 4k cfs, Lee Belnap led us over the hill and through the woods
to Cabin Cove Creek, a trib of Wilson's. A<br>
2 mile carryin (with the open boat) to a lovely 5 mile run on the creek which drops at 100 ft per
mile but with most of the drop in the middle 2 miles. Maybe 7-8 big drop/pool class IV rapids, lots
of tight woody places. I walked one cause I did not like the strainer but everryone else ran
everything. I swam one after coming out of my thigh straps while getting hammered in a hole. Broke
my boat a little; banged up both elbows, scratched my face on trees, All in all, a great creeky
run.<br>
The carry in is a bitch, the paddle out is long, class II romp in the trees and you need a lot of
water but if that is your cup of tea then this is a super run with no super hard drops but lots of
challenge, at least for me.<br>
(This was Saturday.) Chris Kelly