Day #15, Upper Hooch

Again with few options, Bret and I looked hard to find another run. Bret's shoulder was still hurting (Doctor appointment on Monday), so we took it easy on the Upper Hooch.


We left around 10:30 and found out gas is officially $4.00 in Duluth. :(


However, we can report good news that happened on the way up! We stopped at Jeager farms, which has the best apple fitters ever! That is right...EVER!!! If you haven't had them you don't know........you don't even know................you don't know...................you don't know.

They are the best ever!



Anyway after that HUGE "pick me up" we stopped at Subway to get lunch for later (on the river). I love Subway, but holy cow!..............the girl making our subs was CRAZY! I would like to tell you the whole dialogue, but I'll spare you. It was VERY entertaining though. The good thing is they have to make the food in front of you! ;) I'll always go back to Subway, but maybe just not that one......or I'll look in and see if "Cathy Bates" is working.

We finally arrived at the Hooch and had a nice paddle down to Wilde Wood Outfitters. Nothing to note other than Bret's shoulder is still hurting like crazy and I hand paddled again, but this time with actual hand paddles! lol. ........................Oh, and we saw like 50 turtles.

Unfortunately it looks like Bret is done for the rest of the VC. The Hooch was supposed to be easy on his shoulder, but it looks like it is more serious than we thought. I hope everything goes as well as possible on Monday (Doctor). Oh, and for Laura as well. Laura was also supposed to paddle on Team Eagle Ray, but broke her foot 4/10 on the Green. She also has a doctor's appointment next week at the same place as Bret. They are both in good hands and I hope the best for both of them.

Tomorrow maybe a Section IV day. I am thinking maybe the Ocoee for Saturday and Sunday before I leave with Edgar for CO.


Jason

Day #14, Back to the Grind.....

Well, again the rain didn't show up like it was forecast. Ugh! I ended up running some errands to help prepare for the CO trip and got in a late Metro Hooch run. Even though it is not a lot of feet it is actually nice to hit the hooch every so often. It is easier on my shoulders, but a nice workout at the same time.

I am not sure what I am going to paddle tomorrow.............probably section IV. I though the Ocoee would be running, but was mistaken. I am SOOOOOOOOOOO itching to leave for CO. I would leave tomorrow, but Laura said I can't. :( She did say she has a going away present for me, so................................. :)

Anyway, someone do a rain dance for the SE? Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease.

Jason

p.s. Good news our team has now raised over $1100.00!!!!

Day #13, Green................again. :)

Today Bret and I woke up happy after all the BBQ and a restful sleep at the Cramers. Thanks again..............oh and if anyone is every up in Asheville ask Rich to show you his wrist watch. It is one of a kind and your jaw will drop!

Bret being the gamer that he is wanted to get back on the Green and test out his shoulder. We put in on the Upper Green, which was a nice warm up and a great run. I am actually surprised more people don't talk about the Upper Green. It is a really fun stretch of river with two really fun drops and boofs everywhere, but I guess the Narrows cast a pretty big shadow. ;)

Anyway, Bret and I had a very fun warm up on the "Upper" and within an hour we were at Bride. Everything went well. We both had a great time today. The weather was great and we only saw one other person on the river today (for about two minutes), so we basically had the river to ourselves. We took our time resting in eddys, talking it up and enjoying each rapid. Bret did end up "stressing" his shoulder some more so he is going to take tomorrow off and with the rain heading for GA and not WV we decided to head home for a short break and to our own beds.

Tomorrow looks good for some GA paddling. I am keeping my fingers crossed and reminding myself we are leaving for the water filled lands of CO this weekend! :)


Jason

Day #12 1/2, Beers & Que

The beers were cold and the grub was delicious at The Cramer's estate. I'd like to thank Rich & Beth for the generous hospitality shown to Jason and I today. After not paddling due to a tweaked shoulder, the smoked salamon, chicken and ribs were just as good as running hammer factor without a swim. The folks in Asheville are good people. Tommorw we'll try for another Green run,....I hope the shoulder holds. If not I just might consider squatting in Cramer's unfinished bathroom.

P.S. Thanks to JB for the solid lines on the Narrows

Day #12, The Green

Today we hit the green again. We were already in NC so it was nice to sleep in AND we had time to hit the upper green. Unfortunately Bret was still sore from yesterday, so I had to hook up with some local upper green and green narrow boaters.

It was another great sunny day. I am looking forward to tomorrow and hopefully paddling with Bret for our last lap on the green. After tomorrow we are going to follow the rain to WV. I can't wait.


Jason

Day #11, The Green.....finally

Today, we headed to the Green. It was a short 7-12 release, but I knew we could get in two laps and three if we push hard. It was a beautiful day.......all sunshine, which was great for Bret's first time down. Bret ended up doing great. We got out to look at Frank and Zwicks. Brent ran everything well, but did decided to run Zwicks another day along with the big three (Go Left, Gorilla and Sunshine). He did do something very rare. He walked Zwicks, but ran Chief, lol. All the folks I have ever seen that walk Zwicks also walk Chief.......but hey........Bret is everybody else! lol :)

Bret did end up tweeking his shoulder on Scream Machine (high brace). He is taking it easy tonight with some ice and hopefully will be good to go for more laps tomorrow and some video!!

All and all it was a GREAT day on an AWESOME SE creek!!!! I LOVE the green!!


Jason


p.s. Bret rules!!!! He has a ton of travel points on his VISA that he never uses, so we are styling in a hotel in Henersonville right now!!! lol. :)

Day#10, Tellico Ledges and the Middle Ocoee

Day 10, what feels like the beginning of the VC challenge for Bret and I. Bret finally has time off from work (all next week), so we are all set to start hitting some rivers. There has been little rain here in the SE, so there weren't that many options for today. Our best option was to knock out the Tellico Ledges and then with whatever time we had left we would paddle the Upper and Middle Ocoee. We woke up bright and early at 5:45 a.m. to make the 3 hour drive up to Tellico Plains. We finally arrived and put in around 10 a.m. The river was at 1.2 feet, which is a low level but its still very doable. We were able to knock out 5 laps by 1:30. We burned more time than we would have liked eating and filling up with gas. By the time we arrived at the Ocoee we had missed the Upper release. We managed to get 2 full laps on the Middle Ocoee. It was a very fun and productive day. We are already looking forward to tomorrow, Bret has decided to run the Green for the first time. We hope to get a couple laps on the 7-12 release Tomorrow and Monday before heading north to West Virginia on Tuesday.

Day #9, Marsh and Rottenwood Creek

WOW!........is all I can say. Today Atlanta received a nice afternoon shower that brought up the local microcreeks. I had never paddled any of the metro creeks (Rottenwood, Marsh or Sope). I had always assumed that the water quality was bad and there wouldn't be enough gradient to create anything really fun to paddle. I could not have been more wrong........well about the river quality not the water quality. :) I was shocked at how big and pushy Marsh and Rottenwood were today. I met up with local "metro creek" expert Bryce and his buddy Kirk. We hit Marsh first and it had two nice ledge/drops and big wave trains. We were able to do a second run, but the water had already dropped a foot and a half. After the second run we decided to go check out Rottenwood. Bryce thought Sope might be too high; it has a reputation for having some horrible hydraulics. We got to Rottenwood and it was high (over 7 feet) as well, but Bryce, who hadn't really paddled it much, didn't think much of the level. Once on the river, we were shocked by a huge slide that fed into a giant hydraulic. Bryce got caught in it and eventually was able to surf his way out. I barley punched though it. I had to dig (paddle) my way out after the hole stood my Nomad 8.5 straight up! Kirk came down into the hole and almost ran Bryce over, but made it out. After the big hole we had non stop wave trains and reactionaries for about 1/2 mile. It calmed down for a short time and as we were about to turn a corner some folks walking along the trail warned us to see what was coming up. Not being too prideful we took their advice and we're glad we did. It was a huge rapid. Starting left going over a ledge punching two holes/hydraulics then make a quick ferry to the right into two 10 foot standing waves that led to a wave train run out. It looked big and pushy, but doable. I led the way making all the moves, but did not realize how big those two waves were. After the first wave I found myself nearly vertical and then dropping straight down and quickly climbing up the second wave, which I did not make up. I got typewritered to the left and then ferried back to the middle to run the rest of the rapid. The creek continued for another mile of non stop class IV boogie water. We eventually made it to the Metro Hooch confluence where we were met by another nice size hole which Bryce decided to surf and ...........................well.............I'll let him tell you. ;)

All in all the best day so far during the VC. I am in LOVE with Rottenwood. I am looking forward to more fun tomorrow and hitting some rivers with Bret. Oh yeah, the second best part of the runs was that my girlfriend was waiting for us at the takeout with double cheeseburgers.

Jason

Day #8, Metro Hooch..........last time

After a hectic day at work I wasn't able to break away early and get to North, GA as we planned. We ended up having to go to the metro hooch again. Hopefully this was the last time. Bret is off for all next week and I am officially off for the summer, so we are looking to hit it hard starting tomorrow. It has been a very rough week watching many of the teams out west gaining feet and our team not really being able to do much. North, GA tomorrow!!!


Jason

Day #7, Metro Hooch....again.

Well, I really didn't have many options, so to complete Day #7, We went back to the Metro Hooch. There was water....more water than Monday!!! Thunderstorms are forecasted for the Atlanta area tomorrow, which will hopefully bring up a local creek. I'd like to hit Sope or Rottenwood and gain some VF! All in all, I added some feet and have stayed on track with my goal. I shouldn't really complain, it was beautiful outside and as of today "school" is out! I am REALLY looking forward to the weekend and being able to hit the rivers full on!!

Day #6, Upper Hooch

Today I ventured off to the mighty Upper Hooch. Again, we had Laura to help us run shuttle, which made life a lot easier. We arrived at the put in after barely escaping the onslaught of Atlanta rush hour traffic. I got out.........got the boat off the car................got geared up and then I realized I never got my paddle into the car. Ugh! So.......with no paddle, no hand paddles I had no choice, but to do it with just my hands. We were already up there, so really what was I supposed to do? Not paddle?

It took me a bit longer to finish the river, but all in all we had a great time. I hadn't paddled the Upper Hooch in a long time and I forgot how beautiful and scenic this stretch of river can be during the Spring. It honestly was one of the best times I have had on a river.........very peaceful.

Day #5, The Metro Hooch

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! Our biggest day yet! 35 feet!!! lol. It isn't much, but I really want to make my goal of paddling for 32 straight days. There wasn't many other options with myself and Bret getting out of work at 4:00, so off we went down 285W. Oh, yeah Bret. Bret and I finally paddled together!! Oh and he is no longer tied with 20 other people for last place! :) Just joking, Bret has been busy and will be throwing up some big numbers in the coming weeks.

We really had a good time today. We floated down the river surfing a bit and enjoying good conversation. We did one lap then attained back up to the 75 bridge, which was a great work out. After the attainment work out we headed for shore and some much deserved dinner.

We have rain in the forecast for tomorrow. Hopefully we can hit Rottenwood, Sope or Marsh Creek.......if not it is on to the Upper Hooch!! :)

Day #3 and #4, Cheoah

We arrived nice and early Saturday morning to beautiful sunny skies in Robinsville, North Carolina. We met up with my friend Greg and had my lovely girlfriend Laura there to run shuttle for us, which was a tremendous help. Greg and I moved at a surprisingly quick pace and had completed 3 full laps by 4:30. We had time to do a fourth, but thought better of it with the five lap limit. We figured we would two on Sunday and possibly hit the Cascades on the way home. Sunday was just as good, although a bit overcast and rainy. We ran our first lap with a large group: myself, Edgar, Eric, Ken and Greg. Everything went well but unfortunately on the "west prong" line after Bear Creek Falls, Ken flipped and hit his face hard enough to blow his eardrum. Ken was a real trooper about it, as he had blown an ear drum before and took it in stride. He is doing well now and went to see a doctor first thing Monday morning. We should thank the NOC for always being a class act. One of their raft guides helped get Ken to safety at the Topoco Lodge. We ran our second lap in the rain, went back and broke camp and gorged ourselves on some Sweetwater BBQ. All in all a great weekend, with great friends and great paddling. Make sure to check out the few video clips below.

Day #2, Sweetwater Creek

Well..................

The rain that came didn't fill up the rivers very well. We found out the Green would be 100% from 7-12 and 60% for the entire weekend. Ugh!

Again we have found ourselves with few options and though we could have paddled 16 miles again (lol, yeah right) we chose to go to Sweetwater State Park. It was over 3.5 feet which is an ok level. We set off and did our maximum allowance of 5 laps. We looked at possibly going to Big Creek (Rowsell, Ga), which was running. Unfortunately it barely drops any feet (20 feet over 2 miles). We chose to pass and call it a day. We will try to get some MEGA-feet tomorrow at the Cheoah (NC) and hopefully the Cascades (NC). :)


Jason



Sweetwater:
http://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/River_detail_id_502_

Big Creek (Roswell, GA)
http://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/River_detail_id_466_

Cheoah:
http://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/River_detail_id_3146_

Cascades:
http://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/River_detail_id_1100_

Day #1, Chattooga

Today was our first day of kayaking for the First Descents Fund Raiser/EddyFlower Competition. I woke up nice and early to head to North Carolina, but learned at the last minute that the Green River release schedule had changed and water would not be released. In addition, the rain that was forecast did not materialize. With few options available my friend Allen and I headed to the reliable Chattooga. We planned on doing sections III and IV and hoped that some rain would fall in the mean time. It ended up being a nice day. I had not boated section III before. There were some pretty cool rapids, rock formations and fauna to see, so I ended up being very happy that I finally got to paddled it. We paddled a total of 16 miles all the way through section IV to Lake Tugaloo. Not much rain fell throughout the day, so with no other rivers to paddle plus the dwindling amount of daylight, we called it a day.

Good news came on the way home. It was raining like crazy. Looking forward to tomorrow!!!!


Jason


Green:

http://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/River_detail_id_1080_

Chattooga Section III and IV:

http://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/River_detail_id_475_

http://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/River_detail_id_476_

Practice Weekend on the Cheoah in North Carolina

This weekend we went up to North Carolina and practiced some TVF (Total Vertical Feet) lapping.

It was a great weekend. Saturday started off rainy, but ended great with the sun coming out and warming up all the kayakers. Sunday was the best with clear skies and the sun shining throughout the day. We were able to get in a full 9 mile lap as well as two "bridge down" laps on both days. You'll see a nice video of Bret running the double drop line at Bear Creek Falls below.


I also wanted to post a few links that might be helpful to everyone:

http://www.firstdescents.org/cms/

http://www.eddyflower.com/


Donor Letter: http://burtonbiology.com/eddyflowerletter.doc


Thanks again to everyone who has already sent donations and please feel free to forward this on. :)


Jason

It begins.........

Today we created this blog to keep everyone updated on the fund raising activities and what rivers our team has paddled.

Our team name is "Team Eagle Ray". It is named after my best friend Ray who passed away due to brain cancer on January 19, 1999. "Eagle" for the obvious symbolic reasons and that it was our college mascot. Also, Ray and I grew up swimming with and catching eagle rays along the south western coast of Florida. They are very captivating the way they glide through the water and we'll be doing alot of "gliding" on the water for this fund raising effort. :)

This blog will serve as a way for donors, family and friends to keep up with our travels and fund raising. The official start date is May 15th at dawn, so everyone can expect daily updates from then on. Our daily post will include river trip reports, pictures, the amount of feet we have accumulated and of of course the amount of money we have raised.

Yesterday we send out donor letters to family and friends. We have already started to receive donations and we thank everyone for jumping on board so quickly.

I am really looking forward to the next month and a half. It should be very special.


Jason